Producentlegendaren avled 2006.

Det är snart 16 år sedan producentlegendaren James “J Dilla” DeWitt Yancey lämnade jordelivet, endast 32 år gammal. I dagarna kommer ny biografisk bok om Dillas musik, karriär och liv skriven av Dan Charnas. Författaren har tidigare skrivit den uppmärksammade boken “The Big Payback” och stått bakom hiphop-serien “The Breaks”. Den nya boken “Dilla Time”, på 480 sidor, beskrivs i lika delar vara en biografisk skildring, musikjournalistik och ett kulturhistoriskt dokument. Förlaget skriver följande om boken:

“…chronicles the life of Yancey, from his gifted childhood in Detroit, to his rise as “the producer’s producer,” to the rare blood disease that caused his premature death; and follows the people who kept him and his ideas alive. He also rewinds the histories of American rhythms: from the birth of soul in Dilla’s own “Motown,” to funk, techno, and disco. Here, music is a story of Black culture in America and of what happens when human and machine times are synthesized into something new.”

Detroit-producenten var medlem av gruppen Slum Village, kollektivet Soulquarians och producentteamet The Ummah och kom att samarbeta med otaliga artister under sin karriär; A Tribe Called Quest, Busta Rhymes, Common, De La Soul, Erykah Badu, Ghostface Killah, Guilty Simpson, Madlib, MF DOOM, Oh No, The Pharcyde m.fl. Vidare beskrivs boken gå på djupet kring hans musikaliska gärning:

 
“Dilla’s beats, startling some people with their seeming “sloppiness,” were actually the work of a perfectionist almost spiritually devoted to his music. This is the story of the man and his machines, his family, friends, partners, and celebrity collaborators. Culled from more than 150 interviews about one of the most important and influential musical figures of the past hundred years, Dilla Time is a book as delightfully detail-oriented and unique as J Dilla’s music itself.”

“Dilla Time” släpps i USA den 1 februari 2022 och finns tillgänglig via Adlibris.

Foto: Stones Throw Records / MCD