One day we were in the studio with Eminem and D-12, who we’d known from Detroit through Proof. And then Dre was there, and he and Dilla got to talking and hanging out. We left for a little bit and when we returned Dilla was like, “Yo, I ain’t using samples anymore.” The thing was that we had already made 10 of the 13 tracks on the album, but it didn’t matter.
Dr. Dre inspired J Dilla to go sample free. This story is news to me, but I’m not the Dilla expert. Stan, yes. Expert, no. Dre, Eminem, and Dilla! If only someone had a camera in that room! This also brings to mind this quote from a May 2009 interview with Dilla’s mom Maureen Yancey:
And from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m., Dilla had people coming daily to learn to do beats or for him to help with their music. These same young men who are big in the industry now — they would be outside my door at 6 p.m. every day, waiting. Eminem was one of them. Eminem and Paul Rosenberg — who turned out to be his attorney — Paul was rapping at the time, he wanted to be a rapper, too — they would be there at 6 sharp.
WHY aren’t there pictures from these historic meetings?
Standard, but well executed video for that song by that guy who I unnecessarily hated on that time. Laws sounds like Drake without the tampons. Maybe his meeting with DJ Khalil will spawn another smash.
Here’s Von Pea of Tanya Morgan with a leak from his mixtape So Motivational: The Most Skullduggery of Mixtapes. I detect a little Pete Rock influence, but maybe that’s just my knee-jerk reaction to the horns.
Our blowout interview with my new favorite Canadian (apologies to Pamela Anderson and ML’s AaronM) Moss will be up soon. It was delayed because of my two day power outage and the stream of OG Persian psychedelic rock Moss has been sending me. But my weekend wasn’t totally unproductive, I re-read the first Harry Potter.
Also, Eternia will be signing CDs at Fat Beats NY on Tuesday, June 29th at 7pm.
My power went out for two days the last time I tried to post this track, so download at your own risk.
Forget Diddy’s corny new squad (“The Dream Team” featuring Rick Ross, DJ Khaled, Busta Rhymes and, ooh! Red Cafe). Curren$y, Smoke DZA, and Big K.R.I.T. need to form the Green Team (no Green Team). Though I figure if the three of them got together they would be even less productive than Center Edge Territory (Curren$y, Mos Def, Jay Electronica) and CRS (Kanye, Lupe, Pharrell).
Backed by just a guitar, Janelle Monae impeccably covers “Smile” from Charlie Chaplain’s Modern Times with an angelic quality that stretches her already impressive range of styles. The ArchAndroid will make you dance and cry at the same time. Janelle, marry me. You’re Jewish, right?
I love it when big companies have good taste in music. If music sales ever completely dry up, it’s good to know that AdultSwim, Smirnoff, and Levi’s will commission a jam here and there. I know when I’m a billionaire, I’m gonna pay DJ Khaled $50 million to stop making music.
Today, Raphael Saadiq covers “It’s A Shame” by the Spinners for a song that would be right at home on his Motown-era throwback album The Way I See It.
Big Boi takes a beat that would just as well suit a Justin Timberlake summer smash and immortalizes it with his time-perfected flow and Atlanta drawl. I don’t want to jinx it, but it sounds like Sir Lucious Left Foot can’t miss. I think “Shutterbugg” might actually cure cancer.
