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Life & Arts

Master producer will be missed

Hip-Hop Update

Eli Jabbe

Producer J.Dilla, aka Jay Dee, died Friday in Los Angeles. The producer/rapper had kidney problems the last couple of years, but many were surprised that he died because it had appeared that he was recovering well. Dilla was known mostly for his production work, and his extensive discography includes production credits for artists like Common (his 2000 single "The Light" and "Love Is" and "It's Your World" from 2005's BE), D'Angelo, Janet Jackson, A Tribe Called Quest, just to name a few. The Detroit native was also a member of Slum Village, the Motown trio that was never commercially popular, with the exception of its 2004 hit "Selfish" which featured a show-stealing verse from Kanye West and John Legend singing the chorus. Dilla was definitely appreciated and respected by his peers.

The Roots' Questlove said, "I am fortunate to have known this man. He inspires me to perfect my craft in every way. Dilla was and will always be my hero."

Legendary producer DJ Premier also paid homage to Dilla: "a true warrior and one of the hottest producers in the world of Hip Hop."

Dilla will definitely be missed. Rest in peace.Jadakiss and Styles P. strike back at 50 Cent

The latest diss track (in today's hip-hop climate, no week is complete without one) comes from The Lox's Jadakiss and Styles. Of course, this isn't the first beef between 50 Cent and Jada; 50 inexplicably dissed Jadakiss (and several others) on "Piggy Bank" in an obvious attempt to boost record sales, to which Jadakiss responded with "Checkmate."

Both of these diss tracks were released almost a year ago, so this latest track is a little surprising. Of course, Jada brought his usual creative lyrics on this track, but the title of the song is the funniest part of it. Jada and Styles borrowed the classic Outkast song "Sorry Ms. Jackson" and diss 50 (real name: Curtis Jackson) on the track. Both rappers refer to 50 Cent as a "she", such as when Jada refers to and the horrendous "Candy Shop" saying, "I did the song with Ja Rule bigging the city up/she did the Magic Stick Remix with Olivia".

Jada deserves props just for coming up with the idea of using Andre 3000's singing on the chorus as a reference to 50 "Curtis Jackson" Cent, which is hilarious.

In other news, Kanye West won three Grammys, including Rap Album of the Year, which was expected, but didn't win Album of the Year for the second year in a row (many expected that West would win this year because he didn't win for debut The College Dropout, which was overall a better album than his sophomore effort).

There will also be an interview with rap legends Nas and Jay-Z on MTV on Thursday. They will discuss Nas' new album, and their classic beef, among other things. Also, fans shouldn't be surprised if Cam'ron's name is mentioned: the Dipset rapper has had beef with both Nas and now Jay-Z.
 

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