A Tribe Called Quest - That Shit feat. Jay Dee of Slum Village [Prod. The Ummah]
This joint appeared on Funk Master Flex’s 60 Minutes of Funk: Vol. III. Popping said mixtape CD into my 3-disc changer back in the summer of 1998 would be the first time that I would hear the voice of a future legend (considering that this was one of Dilla’s first, if not THE first, appearances on the microphone). In addition, what you are listening to is the full version of the track as Phife Dawg’s verse was cut off from the mixtape version (which is weird because Phife Diggy’s verse is arguably the best of the 3).
All I knew about Jay Dee 14 years ago was that he was part of the Ummah (with Tip and Ali Shaheed) and had a significant hand in making many of the beats on The Pharcyde’s Labcabincalifornia and Tribe’s Beats, Rhymes & Life (the slept on Love Movement had yet to be released). For a producer, Dilla had a surprisingly nice flow that would continue to improve and IMO eventually earn him the crown of the best producer on the mic (although I find it’s a toss up between Dilla and DJ Quik). However it wouldn’t be until I blindly bought a copy of Slum Village’s Fantastic Vol. 2 in the summer of 2000 that I would really see what this soulful genius was fully capable of.
Happy 38th birthday anniversary to the late, supremely great James Dewitt Yancey aka Jay Dee aka J Deezy aka Dilla Dawg aka J Dilla aka your favourite producer’s favourite producer and a fellow Aquarian (FYI my birthday is exactly one week after Dilla’s). Happy Dilla week/month, hip hop heads, and just do what you do to celebrate the life and musical legacy of the beat-making demigod. Straight up, nobody chopped it better.
