As soon as I heard The Chinoiseries I was hooked. It was very apparent that Onra, a Parisian producer of Vietnamese decent who grew up on ’90s rap, was into beat aesthetics that mirrored my own. His subsequent work was equally as moving and I’m glad that after a few years later, I was able to catch up with him and nerd out on over records. Ahead of Dilla’s bday month, I spoke to Onra for Ego Trip about his favorite Jay Dee flips–peep it HERE.
Pete Rock’s long-awaited followup to his Petestrumentals album is finally here. But unlike its predecessor, and partially due to the ever changing landscape of how people get their music, Petestrumentals 2 is available totally for free, featuring a memorable, head nodding tribute to Dilla (“Dilla Bouce (RIP)”). Go HERE for a listen.
Hearing this reminded me of a talk I did with Pete a while back; we discussed his famous production histories and essential records that profoundly inspired his own style. For example, when asked about the last time he spoke with Biggie, said Pete: “Man, it was right before he died. He told me: ‘Pete, my raps sound best with you and Large Pro. I love that shit!’ That was the last thing he said to me before he died, I swear.” You can read the article in full HERE.
This mix is further proof of Japan’s love affair with Dilla. Recently in Tokyo, I saw his image on magazines and a lot of hip-hop flyers. There were also ‘Ma Dukes’ t-shirts and more than one free mix cd. This is one of those mixes and has a lot of Dilla tracks found on newer releases, like this one with Black Thought or this with Raekwon. I hadn’t heard of DJ Tsubasa but, in a sea of Dilla mixes, this isn’t as obvious as others have been– and is probably the best, most inexpensive thing I got in Japan.
?uestlove is one of those dudes whose intelligence allows him to wear many hats. We touched on his hectic schedule a couple years back in a piece I did for The Metro, a local outlet based in San Jose. While he’s now essentially The Roots’ frontman on Jimmy Fallon (which I’m sure is time consuming) his productivity however hasn’t slowed. He maintains a blog, still gigs, writes liner notes, produces albums, acts, AND dropped this Dilla Tribute Set last week on Tony Touch’s radio show. It’s all Dilla related material thrown together in a very low-key fashion, first reported by It Takes A Nation….
Here’s a track mixed and mastered by Bob Power, the grammy award-winning producer who worked on Tribe’s and De La’s early records. It’s from the Timeless Series which were held earlier last year. The DVDs and music will be released as an ultra-deluxe boxset this March, but for now, here’s the orchestral version of “Take Notice” off Dilla’s Rough Draft EP and a link to the video. The “Suite For Ma Dukes”, and said track, really add dimension and a sense of epicness to Dilla’s beats. Take notice.
“Take Notice” by the Miguel Atwood-Ferguson and the Suite for Ma Dukes orchestra
