Jay Dee We Hardly Knew Thee

Woe is me. Detroit's hidden jewel, aka J Dilla, aka Jay Dee, aka 1/2 of The Ummah has passed. J Dilla was the one who really put Detroit on the map, possessed the real talent of the sapped city, broke open the doors for scores of intelligent Detroitian urban artists in a manner that would've made Berry Gordy proud (notably Slum Village, Dwele, etc...) Only 32 years old, J Dilla passed away in his sleep on Friday, February 10th after a bout with liver disease. Last year, he told URB Magazine he had been performing in a wheel chair because his health had decreased so rapidly as a result of working too hard and not eating well (or at all). But let's remember the happy times. J Dilla was responsible for some of the last decade's greatest hip hop tracks, including A Tribe Called Quest's "Stressed Out", De La Soul's "Stakes is High", Common's "The Light", Busta Rhymes' "Woo Hah" and one of my personal favorites, Pharcyde's "Runnin". He was also a member of the famed Soulquarian band, a mystical outfit filled out with likeminded geniuses James Poyser, ?uestlove and D'angelo. After a phenomenal pairing with Madlib last year on the Jaylib project, who knows what could have been in store for the Dilla. We can only speculate, and in the meantime, lean back and appreciate the treasures he's left behind.

The Pharcyde - Runnin' (Jay Dee Instrumental)