With Slum Village, and on his 2001 solo debut, Welcome 2 Detroit, J Dilla (as Jay Dee) was a cold cat. You can see why Dilla got along so well with Phat Kat and Guilty Simpson when it came to talking about accessorizing his truck, or enjoying carnal pleasures without... Read more

Alchemist & Budgie's The Good Book explores spirituality through Hip-Hop across a few faith groups. Not heavy-handed, the project seemingly uses track-by-track concepts to show a life, tell a story, make a connection. "With My Soul" is the sophomore leak, featuring ALC's go-to as of late in Action Bronson, who... Read more

Just before the 2014 Dilla Day Detroit lineup was announced, Phife Dawg released "Dear Dilla," a touching tribute. After all, in his solo career and earlier, with A Tribe Called Quest, the 5 Foot Assassin was instrumental to getting Jay Dee placements. Since the event last week, Phife Diggy drops... Read more

Years ago, J Rocc, the third member of JayLib, and Dilla's label-mate at Stones Throw Records made "Dill Jackson." The mash-up mixes meshed the worlds of Michael Jackson with Jay Dee. It's not designed to rock a party, or be cute. Rather, The Beat Junkies member took two artists who... Read more

Like his JayLib brother Dilla, one of Madlib's greatest attributes is his nonchalance. Like Afrika Bambaataa & DJ Jazzy Jay, 'Lib will play anything he feels like, from foreign breaks to Gospel to Children's music. He also has a deep penchant for album-cuts from Kurupt, Teflon, and Jadakiss. So when... Read more

Much has been written about J Dilla's Donuts. Seemingly, it's the most-discussed instrumental Hip-Hop project since DJ Shadow's Entroducing. With volumes upon volumes of "Beat Konducta" albums, it's disheartening that Madlib's works are often picked and chosen, as far as acclaim and notoriety. Now veering into a "Rock Konducta" series,... Read more

MED and J. Rocc (AXEL F.) come together with Oh No for this thumpin' day in the life cut, with a strong bassline and chorus from Rufus & Chaka Khan's vintage What Am I Missing. Axel F.'s Sofa Set EP is one of the better retail releases of the last... Read more