The Music Tank

Ever since J Dilla succombed from lupus early this year, the hiphop community has been mourning his loss. As a pioneer producer in soul-sampling, J Dilla also made his mark as a skilled rapper and influenced a lot of the neo-golden age artists.In tribute to his loss, the video for his track Won’t Do from his posthumous album “The Shining” (BBE, 2006) has morphed into a tribute form. Rocking cameos from Common, Black Thought, Will.i.am, Madlib, Talib Kweli and many others, the video boasts J Dilla’s younger brother, John Yancey, personnifying the late James Yancey.Good artistic glow on this one, props to director Mazik Saevitz.Discussions have been running through Stones Throw records’ offices for a re-release of his 2003 vynil-only album “Ruff Draft”. The album will be a double cd release, including an instrumental version of the album, due out early next March.Merry Christmas and happy new Year to all of you out there…don’t drink too much eggnog!