Nuja Dilla Day 2/7/19
Today is Nuja-Dilla day, one of my favorite days of the year. If I had it my way, today would be a national holiday and everyone would chill at home and listen to music all day.
Feb. 7th, the birthdays of the infamous J. Dilla aka Jay Dee, and Nujabes. These two are legends in the annals of Hip Hop Glory. If you don’t know either of these names then you are in luck. Below is a playlist I put together today that has a variety of music from both producers.
J. Dilla represents Detroit and all of its grittiness. He is the master of the MPC and he has a unique ability to bring out the rawness from his drums, that still no one has been able to replicate. He perfectly weaves these intense drums with melodic samples from all sorts of genres. If I had to pick a favorite sample it would probably have to be Slum Village – The Look of Love. That is the type of beats that you can close your eyes and let your imagination take you on a journey. Dilla not only made his own music under his name, but he also produced some classics for A Tribe Called Quest, Pharycde, Common, Busta Rhymes, and many more.
Nujabes hits the soul but in a slightly different way. He was more of a classical musician so you will find a lot of composition in his music with pianos, flutes, and saxophones. Seeing him live today would probably be a 10 piece band. There would be at least two drum machines and he would be in the back behind the turntables.
What always intrigued me about him was that he was always so low key. He actually passed away in a car accident but his circle was so close-knit that it became public news a full two weeks later. His Hydeout Record Label still exists today and his Hydeout Record Store is still one the largest and most prominent record stores in the world.
Sadly, in 2006 we lost J. Dilla and in 2010 we lost Nujabes. They were definitely too young and had incredible music futures ahead of themselves. Their music is an extension of who they were and for that reason, they along with their music will be timeless. The trippy part to me is that they were both born on Feb. 7th in the same year, 1973.