[Article] J DILLA's "The Diary" FINALLY Coming!

What can I say but wow?! J Dilla's "The Diary" (previously known as "Pay Jay") will finally see the light of the day! This has been among my most anticipated album for YEARS by now and all the teasing from MCA, Stones Throw and most recently RappCats about releasing this has been an ongoing drama since 2002. There has of course been a slew of posthumous releases since the great producer and rappers tragic passing of Lupus related illness - some have been brilliant ("The Shining" and "Jay $tay Paid"), some pretty damn good ("Lost Tapes, Reels & More" and "Dillatronic") and some weaker ones ("Rebirth Of Detroit", "King Of The Beats" and a bunch of mixtapes with various emcees going at it over Dilla beats). The huge difference between those albums (except for "The Shining" which was close to completed by the time of Yancey's death) and "The Diary" is that this is actually an album that Dilla put together and intended for release during his lifetime. As such it is the final true project the world will ever hear from J Dilla and as such I am grateful for the fact that it is being handled with the respect it deserves. 

"The Diary" was supposed to be the follow up to Jay Dee's first solo album after leaving Slum Village; "Welcome 2 Detroit" on BBE. After successes of producing Gold selling records by the likes of Busta Rhymes, Pharcyde, Common, De La Soul and Erykah Badu, MCA Records decided to sign J Dilla for an album contract. His only term was that they would also have to sign his friends Frank-N-Dank and release an album by them, fully produced by Yancey ("48 Hours"). As if that wasn't controversial enough, considering nobody outside of Detroit had ever heard of F-N-D at the time, the album Dilla was putting together for MCA would have him rhyming over beats by other producers. Grabbing Pete Rock, Kanye West, Wajeed, House Shoes, Hi-Tek, Nottz, Madlib, Supa Dave West, Bink!, Karriem Riggins and ?uestlove he set out to record the album simultaneously with "48 Hours" doing pre-production work at his home studio before doing the final sessions over at Studio A, Dearborn Heights in Michigan. As usual Todd Fairall was the engineer of the projects.

Perhaps not too suprisingly MCA didn't really know what to do with either album and when they were swallowed up by Geffen Records in late 2002 a lot of artists were dropped from the label - as was both Dilla and Frank-N-Dank with both albums getting shelved. A semi-official bootleg of the Frank-N-Dank album quickly hit online stores and some retailers but "Pay Jay"/"The Diary" was left as a mythical curiousity, save for the classic single "Fuck The Police" which became a favorite in many DJ's arsenal at the time. Soon after this unfortunate debacle Dilla left Detroit behind and moved to Sunny Los Angeles and Stones Throw Records. As former Stones Throw A&R Eothen "Egon" Alapatt tells it the album never completely left the great producers mind and around his last year he still wanted it to be put out to the world in the way it was supposed to be heard. All the beats and rhymes were finished though there was a lot of legalities surrounding the project (different labels, lots of different producers, guest artists, etc.) that made it hard to release. There were also some minor tweaking to be done on the LP before it could be presented as complete - for example the song "Gangsta Boogie" was supposed to feature Snoop Dogg and Kokane, but they had never managed to get the Snoop verse in time. This was problematic due to the fact that Dilla even shouted out the songs guest artist in his verse.

Then in 2008 an unathorized bootleg leaked to the internet featuring 10 songs of the project (and an alternative mix of one of the tracks). The "Pay Jay" bootleg was clearly unfinished, unmixed and unmastered, yet many fans uses this form of the album when dismissing any part of the project they didn't like. This is plain stupidity in my mind, considering that the sound quality is shit, the sequence is out of order, it is incomplete and wasn't even mixed properly. This became even more evident when RappCats started releasing EP:s of songs from the album to get the necessary funds to complete and release the album - not only did it show us that several songs featured completely different beats but the tracks that were musically the same (like "Diamonds") sounded miles better when properly mastered and mixed. In other words, no matter how many times you've heard that bootleg, you haven't REALLY heard the album as it is supposed to be heard yet. One thing I do find both intriguing and a bit irritating however is that the leaked unathorized copy had a song called "We Fucked Up" featuring Frank-N-Dank that was produced by KanYe West before "The College Dropout" made him a star. On the Pay Jay EP and upcoming album release this song has been replaced by a Dilla produced remix (or a premix?) renamed "The Anthem". To my ears the Kanye version clearly sounds like the original mix that the verses and chorus were recorded to which makes me wonder if the decision to exclude it has more to do with politics than any artistic choice on Dilla's behalf. Could it be that Kanye didn't want such an early beat to be presented on a new release? It all seems strange considering that West has voiced his admiration of Jay Dee many times before (most recently in the excellent Stones Throw documentary "My Vinyl WEighs A Ton").

Now it's February 2016 and the album is FINALLY getting a proper release, through a joint venture between Pay Jay, Inc. and the Nas owned Mass Appeal label. The album will be available on both vinyl, CD and digital and features a total of fourteen tracks (with an additional two short and untitled tracks attched to the iTunes version). Included are all the original songs from the leak (save for "We F'd Up"), the majority of tracks from the three 12" EP:s released between 2012 and 2014 and the previously unreleased "The Introduction" (listen above) and the aforementioned "Gangsta Boogie" featuring Kokane and Snoop Dogg. April 15 is the official release date so be sure to keep an eye on Rappcats.com for the latest news and information about the project.
01. "The Introduction" [prod. by House Shoes; add prod. by Dilla]
02. "The Anthem" (Ft. Frank & Dank) [prod. by Dilla]
03. "Fight Club" (Ft. Nottz & Boogieman) [prod. Wajeed]
04. "The Shining Pt. 1 (Diamonds)" [prod. by Nottz]
05. "The Shining Pt. 2 (Ice)" [prod. by Madlib]
06. "Trucks" [prod. by Dilla]
07. "Gangsta Boogie" (Ft. Snoop Dogg & Kokane) [prod. by Hi-Tek]
08. "Drive Me Wild" (Ft. Questlove, James Poyser & Pino) [prod. by Karriem Riggins]
09. "Give Them What They Want" [prod. by Dilla]
10. "The Creep (The O)" [prod. by Hi-Tek]
11. "The Ex" (Ft. Bilal) [prod. by Pete Rock]
12. "So Far" [prod. by Supa Dave West]
13. "Fuck The Police" [prod. by Dilla]
14. "The Diary" [prod. by Bink!]

[EP] EL DA SENSEI - "Try Again"

Redefinition Records is getting bigger all the time, churning out quality release after quality release. El Da Sensei has been featured on some of the releases but it's first now that the once Artifacts member is actually signed as a full blown solo artist and the starting blast is an EP entitled "Try Again". Only featuring three cuts, the EP's running times strictly flies away and once you know it's over but oh what powerful joints the three tracks are and is a promise of good things to come. El Da Sensei flows right on spot on whatever beat he's given although the production range from straight up boom bap to atmospheric and reflective joints like the title track - but it's always straight up hip-hop, no question about that. 

The aforementioned joint is produced by one of the most underrated producers in the game, long-time DJ Spinna collaborator Joc Max, who does a wonderful job here with the low-key production, complete with cuts from Damu The Fudgemunk. "Smoke to Me" is another relatively laid back joint with El in fine form, inspired by the lesser known D-Smooth, whose blend of haunting piano samples, progressive drum and bass, and some minor changes throughout the beat. The final vocal track is produced by House Shoes, a Detroit legend yet another underrated producer, and here he really shines on what might very well be the best song on the entire 10" sigle. Shoes give Sensei some real true school shit that formally screams boom bap and is sure to have your nodding your head more than the previous two joints as it's simply irrestible. Redefinition has put up the entire EP for stream below (or at least the vocal tracks) - and you can order the physical from Redefinition's Web Shop. Don't sleep on this and pump that volume up!

DANNY BROWN / APOLLO BROWN - "Contra"

Danny Brown's "Contra" originally appeared on Danny Brown's fourth volume of his "Detroit State Of Mind" mixtape series, as well as an eLzhi featuring remix which House Shoes used for his "Daily Bread" project. So no, it's not new by any  means but who cares as long as it's this damn dope. Brown's hyper charged flow and hilarious verbal gymnastics sound extra amplified over Apollo Brown's hardcore street soul and drums of death so prepare to get your head nodding.

The reason this joint resurfaces is now is because Danny Brown is reissuing his "Hot Soup" on 2xLP which will include no less than seven exclusive joints. "Contra" is not only one of them, but will also be the A-side on the bonus 45 that follows with the purchase. Released via DJ House Shoes' Street Corner Music imprint the disc(s) will be available on April 19. Spotted @ EgoTripLand,

[DJ Mix] HOUSE SHOES - "King James Version" (Tribute to Dilla)

I missed the original release of DJ House Shoe's much praised DJ mix "The King James Version" the first go around when it was released in '06 or '07, so this is some fantastic news right here for all you Dilla / House Shoes / Detroit hip-hop heads. For those of you not in the know on this one following James Yancey tragic passing, one of his closest friends and one of the first people to believe in the great producer/emcee's talents, DJ House Shoes wanted to a tribute mix to his fallen comrade. However, at the time of Dilla's passing, "best of-" and "rare- and unreleased" mixtapes were being released from left to right, so Shoes went to go in another, much more interesting direction if you're like me and own a large chunk of everything Dilla ever produced on either wax or CD. 

Being close to the family Shoes had access to Jay Dee's record collection, so for "The King James" version he created a 75 minutes mix of the samples the legendary producer used to create many of his classics as well as some of the more obscure joints - and from Dilla's own record collection nontheless, meaning the original source for this is the ACTUAL records that were used in creating albums like "Donus", "Champion Sound", "Welcome 2 Detroit", "Fantastic", etc, as well as records for Busta Rhymes, Q-Tip ...  When this first dropped it was a very limited CD only, now House Shoes and joined forces the always trustworthy quality label Redefinition Records (click to order), and on 2xLP nontheless - but hurry up and buy, cuz it's a limited release. If you're little light in your pockets at the moment, Redef even threw up the full thing on their Soundcloud page, not only for streaming but also as a free download, so be sure to check it out... A must hear for any Dilla connioisseur, and will definitely give you even more appreciation of how this genus worked! TURN IT UP!!!

[Mixtape] HOUSE SHOES x BIG - "Dreams"

Legendary Detroit DJ and producer House Shoes'' "Dreams: B.I.G. Re-Imagined" is a little different from the usual BIG tribute. Rather than rushing it out for a 9:th release, the initial idea came to Shoes on that date and since then he has been on work on the project. The initial idea was to send out a bunch of classic BIG accapellas to a bunch of his producer homies, resulting in fresh takes by innovative producers such as Nottz, Wajeed, Khrysis, Quelle Chris, Nameless, 14KT, Brenk Sinatra, and of course House Shoes himself. I'm usually not that fond of new interpretations of the true classics, but Shoes did a real great job here and there's a lot of music on it that deserves to be heard, so make sure to press play ASAP!

01. "Kick in the Door" [Nottz Remix]
02. "Dead Wrong" [Wajeed Remix]
03. "Dangerous MC's" [KNX Remix]
04. "The What" [Nameless Remix]
05. "Ten Crack Commandments" [14KT Remix]
06. "Everyday Struggles" [P.U.D.G.E. Remix]
07. "Bust A Nut" [Quelle Chris Remi, Bx]
08. "The Routine (Think BIG)" [Khrysis Remix]
09. "Ten Crack Commandments" [Brenk Sinatra Remix]
11. "Party & Bullshit" [HouseShoes Remix] [*]
12. "Flava in Ya Ear" [Nameless Remix] [*]
13. "One More Chance" [KNX Remix] [*]

HOUSE SHOES PRESENTS "DREAMS: TEN B.I.G. CLASSICS REIMAGINED"

House Shoes x Nottz x Oh No x MED

House Shoes, one of the foremost representants of the Motown hip-hop scene, is releasing his album "Let It Go" on June 19. From there, we hear the fat single "Last Breath", featuring Nottz, Oh No and MED ripping the mic. Other guest spots on the LP are held down by people like Guilty Simpson, Roc Marciano, Alchemist, Charlie 2na, and many others; all produced by Shoes himself. I'm especially looking forward to hearing another "Greneberg" collaboration. Pre-order here.

01. "Let It Go" (Ft. Shaqif Husaayn)
02. "Empire"
03. "Goodfellas to Bad Boys" (Ft. Moe Dirdee)
04. "Dirt" (Ft. Greneberg)
05. "Time" (Ft. Big Tone)
06. "Crazy" (Ft. Black Milk & Guilty Simpson)
07. "Last Breath" (Ft. Nottz, Oh No & MED)
08. "Keep On" (Ft. Co$$)
09. "Sweet / Noodles"
10. "So Different" (Ft. Charlie 2na)
11. "Everything (Modern Family)"
12. "Sunrise" (Ft. Black Spade)
13. "Trouble" (Ft. MarvWon & Moe Dirdee)
14. "Nails" (Ft. Quelle Chris & Guilty Simpson)
15. "Castles (The Sky is Ours" (Ft. Jimetta Rose)
16. "Cry Now"
17. "Roller Coaster" (Ft. Self Sayes & Fat Albert Einsteen)
18. "Empire (Reprise)" (Ft. Sam Beubien of Will Sessions)

HOUSE SHOES - "LAST BREATH" (Ft. Oh No, MED & Nottz)