14. Slum Village - Climax (Girl Shit) (Fantastic, Vol. 2, 2000)

This part of my “Twenty Jimbits: The Tastiest Dilla Beats” list marks the first appearance of FOUR beats from the perfectly polished smoothness that is the Fantastic, Vol. 2 album (which I personally feel is Mr. Yancey’s greatest accomplishment). Climax accurately captures the vibe of the album, which I always felt was the hip hop brother of D’Angelo’s Voodoo (although commercially released in the same calendar year, Fantastic, Vol. 2 was birthed in 1998). I would later find out that, although he never received a producing credit, Dilla was in the studio overseeing the creation of Voodoo with D’Angelo, ?uestlove and James Poyser. And their number one inspiration for the overall vibe of the album? Fantastic, Vol. 2, of course! The fact that Dilla, his greatest album, and the sound he helped to pioneer became the main inspiration for the best album so far from perhaps this generation’s most talented soul man, says much more than I could ever articulate in this post.

15. Elzhi - Concrete Eyes (Witness My Growth, 2004)

From the kick ass Elzhi mixtape. Dilla basically doing Flashing Lights before Kanye did it, flipping the ending to Curtis Mayfield’s Little Child Runnin’ Wild (which Ye would tweak ever so slightly to use as the backbone of Graduation’s best track, thereby not needing to pay Mayfield any royalties this time out…smart). A wonderful vibe conjured up by this track, with the lyrical wonder Elzhi riding the snap snares and light kicks beautifully. In other news, Elzhi is beyond ill. His rumoured solo album, which apparently is dropping this summer, is long overdue.

Twenty Jimbits continues…

16. Jay Dee - Give It Up (Welcome 2 Detroit, 2001)

From Dilla’s first solo album and what would ultimately become his only contribution to the famed and fantastic BBE Beat Generation series (which also includes the works of Pete Rock and DJ Jazzy Jeff). This is one of those tracks that gets you hyped, not only because of the hook (“all my live bitcheehhzzz!!!”), but sonically as well; there is so much going on that, with the right speaker and sub setup, you can feel and even see (with your eyes closed) the multiple elements that Dilla (then known as Jay Dee) laid out for this composition (i.e. the keys, the horns, the whistle(?!), the hollow drums, the trademark vocal chops in the intro, etc.). And on top (or the bottom) of everything, this beat bumps something fierce and nasty with a deliberately prolonged vibe, further cementing Dilla’s position as a “drum god” (as Kanye once put it). Welcome 2 Detroit is currently out of print, although I got lucky a couple of years ago and snatched a copy off Amazon when they had 5 available. Track it down however which way you can to experience the true sounds of the Dee.

Man, this Twenty Jimbits list is moving like molasses. I think I have like 4 other lists going on this tumblelog that have yet to be completed. Anyways, here’s the next one…

17. The Pharcyde - She Said [Jay Dee Remix] (She Said 12” single, 1996)

Arguably my favourite track from The Pharcyde (with the other 2 candidates being Drop and Passin’ Me By). I always looked at the original She Said as the unofficial sequel to the seminal Passin’ Me By track off The Pharcyde’s Bizarre Ride… album. But the remix took it to the next level. Chilled out to perfection, this track moves like molasses, but in a good way. I don’t smoke weed, but this seems like one of those tracks where you kick back and spark up a joint to.

Dilla was in his early 20s when this single was released. Wow. And to think he was still in his teens when he was laying down beats that would ultimately end up defining the sound of Labcabincalifornia. Anyways, this remix is perfect and probably should have been placed higher on this list, now that I think about it (I admit, I’m winging it with the rankings).

18. Common - Come Close [J Dilla’s Closer Remix] (feat. Pharrell, Q-Tip & Erykah Badu) (Come Closer 12”, 2003)

With an all-star lineup of artists laid out all over this track, Dilla takes things back to the essence, when love is all that mattered (similar to the intention that Tribe had on the mostly Jay Dee produced Love Movement). Speaking of Tribe, the backbone of this whimsical beat is of course the flipping of the Bonita Applebum “twang” (with an assortment of electronic disturbances in the background). And as big of a Neptunes fanboy as I am, Dilla clearly out did Pharrell and Chad, who produced the original version of Come Close from Common’s avant-garde Electric Circus album. A picturesque beat, perfect for Q-Tip’s sumbliminal declarations of love to Nicole Kidman (whom he was getting friendly with at the time…according to rumours). Listen to the lyrics.

Twenty Jimbits continues on (sorry for the delay)…

19. J Dilla - Track 05 (BEAT CD #3, 2005)

From one of the famed Dilla Beat Tapes (thank God for the Internet, otherwise regular folk like me would NEVER get to hear these hallowed tapes). I could actually do a TOP 20 of my favourite Dilla Beat Tape beats (there are that many good ones). But I decided to go with this particular beat to represent the whole lot because I feel it gives you a good sense as to what these tapes were about (if you’ve never heard them from start to finish). A simple yet sweeping soul sample (still digging to find the source), with a beat change in between, finishing with a flip of The Look of Love (not sure which version). Beautifully laced with Dilla’s trademark drums (in stutter style perfection). If this beat has been rhymed over officially, I have yet to hear the track. In fact, I like it better untouched.

Update: I realized that this beat (the first part) has actually been rhymed over on a mixtape. Elzhi’s incredbile Witness My Growth mixtape to be exact, on the track entitled Love It Here.

20. J Dilla - Mash (Donuts, 2006)

By combining audio from a live dance contest conducted by Frank Zappa during a concert in New York City with the strategic looping of the keys from Galt MacDermot’s Golden Apples part II, Dilla created a deliciously intriguing donut from this mish-MASH of source material. Mash is one of the standout tracks on Donuts, with its effective juxtoposition of tone: elegant and refined, but with the perfect touch of quirkiness a la Zappa. “They’ll be mashed”, indeed.