a J Dilla beat story

This is the kind of stuff that convinces me that Dilla was on another level. The link has audio embedded.

Questlove vs. Jay Dee: The “Little Brother” Beat Story

"As told by Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson on Okayplayer.com.

there was a small airport in detroit that had direct flights to jersey and nyc that me and com use to take so much i swear they were gonna offer us stock in the business. it was early 1999 and this was before the jet blueitization of america. matter of fact, america looked down on those small companies after one of them crashed some months before. now we take that shit like its no thing.

anywho. we got word of a blizzard that was coming to the D and com wanted to take no risks and wanted to leave asap so he could make a show. so that left me dilla and frank of frank n dank.

i decided to stick to my normal schedule and stay til monday when i was scheduled to leave.

com decides to take the sunday afternoon jawn on the fly. of course i say he’s overreacting and im proven wrong once there was about 7 inches on the floor a few hours later. frank nitty laughs at me cause now im stuck in the D. we actually make the most of it. ran to blockbuster to stock up on flicks (detroit is the only place on earth street cats will let prince get away with murder so it was nice to rent under the cherry moon without cringing in front of non prince experts. we also rented my new favorite film of all B films Hav Plenty. stocked up on food. and for the first time ever just chilled for 2 days without the prime motivation being “work”. but of course that dont mean dilla didn’t provide me with the most amazing display of workmanship ive ever seen.

i mean i knew dude was the crazy when skillz let me hear a beat tape.

and i knew dude wasn’t right when booty brown played me a precabincalifornia.

and i knew i wouldn’t be the same when dangleo and tip played me the ENTIRE fantastic cassette over the phone LONG DISTANCE to germany (my bill was $382 bucks and WORTH EVERY FUCKING CENT)

and i knew i was in for a treat the many times i came to the crib.

and i knew i was witnessing history when him and pete rock re created half of “mecca and the soul brother” in the basement the weekend “dynamite” was created.

but man…..

what i learned eavesdropping 8am the following day made me a believer. that shit made me the stan of ALL stans.

if you are on my computer and need to find dilla. go to genre, and if he had something to do with it? it will be known for its tag: DILLA is GOD.

i won’t go into reasons why….for it could be longer than this post. and at this rate its just baiting those who disagree or who refuse to see it or who just wanna be contradictory (aka okayplayers lol)

so i heard this bassline playing for like a good 30 mins

initially i was asleep on the couch upstairs so i knew the bassline from pete’s interlude. which i thought “oh he’s gonna recreate that interlude”

so i came downstairs and asked what he’s up to and he was like

(think brotherman on martin)

“…..nuttin…..just….you’know…..zonin…..tryna figure our how to freak this shit….i got an idea in my head but i have to figure out how to solve the puzzle…..its gonna come to me….but i got to figure out how….”

so then he plays

for like 40 mins straight.

—now this is the first straight up beat i saw him make from scratch. most of the time he just grabs the ram file and blamo the beat is up (day we first met the “got til its gone” parts were already in the machine and he just created “let’s start” for tribe so i had missed those)

first thing i notice is his patience factor….when i make beats i play the record on 45 im skipping parts i aint got time to listen to a record over and over and over and over again….

i ask him about this and he said its better to suffer for 30 mins with a record than to skim through the shit and next thing you know you hear someone else use a part you coulda freaked better but cause of lack of patience you opted not to.

hmmm novel thought.

so i asked which approach is his gonna take….and he said he wanted to see if there was another juicy part for him to take…

so now we a half hour into it i was like “well…..there are no clean parts…..roy is talking all over that shit over and over….its impossible to find a juicy spot.”

lol i wonder if he was appeasing me like “you mere mortal do you not know i created heaven and earth in 7 days? muahahahahahaah” in his head.

he just said

“yuuup….pssshhh man…..i dunno how imma freak it”

so he made a cassette copy for his range and we grabbed food before it was time to take me to the airport.

we went to greektown and came back and he decided before he was going to put the record to bed (this aint the first time he gave up on a loop….the breath and stop sample frustrated him so much he gave me the record to which he would reluctantly find something to give to tip on a last minute attempt) so before the airport he decided to record every piece of the song that had 0 talking on it.

so its like…

an hour later and he has made about 20 pads on the 3000 with samples no longer than half a second each.

he even did a “be my guest” and let me get on to see if i could make some chitterlings off the table scraps from the big house.

nothing.

he retired the thought and drove me to the airport.

i got home and he left a message on my machine.

“whoooooooooooooooooooooooo!! yo! i figured it out!!!!”

check it!!!

(this is okp’s own JP’s version of the beat so you can have a clear idea on how fucking impossible it is to find the open spots on this beat)

when i heard it my jaw dropped.

i was speechless. again. to understand dilla you must first immerse yourself in the music that he uses to create beats. and only when you hear this song more than 20 times you will soon see how fucking impossible it is to make this beat as a mere person (so what is JP up to by the way?)

then i was like “yo pete is gonna be fucked up when he hears THIS shit!”

dilla: NONONONONONONONONO!! naw man….you can’t let him hear this man i cant afford that!

?uest: afford what? this shit is a miracle!!

dilla: nah man….like i dont want no tension. that’s my idol i dont wanna give off the impression that im trying to outshine him….

?uest: but dog im saying if you shine then…..

dilla: nah man….

?uest: so all this shit i got with samples he’s us—

dilla: yeah man dont let that shit get out man….i just do it for practice….

?uest: wait….so this beat is never going to see the light of day ever? you just made it and lost sweat over it for…..sport?

dilla: yeah man….i just practice……

thank god…..kweli had a cassette which had this beat on it for like 15 secs.

they looped it from the cassette.

but it was too late and he shrugged it off….

but man……that humility.

if i found a way to bust somebodys ass for the world to see?

sheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeit i be the first to be like

“oh yeah chris? but can you play with drumsticks in yo pinky toe chump?!?!!?!?!?”

my man.

dilla."

sorry, tahts an asshole response.

yeah j dilla is good

btw,

So Far to Go...is probably the best hiphop beat ive ever heard...i try to sex to it all the time.

that ain't the queen's english

  takeshi said:

This is the kind of stuff that convinces me that Dilla was on another level. The link has audio embedded.

Questlove vs. Jay Dee: The “Little Brother” Beat Story

 

"As told by Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson on Okayplayer.com.

 

there was a small airport in detroit that had direct flights to jersey and nyc that me and com use to take so much i swear they were gonna offer us stock in the business. it was early 1999 and this was before the jet blueitization of america. matter of fact, america looked down on those small companies after one of them crashed some months before. now we take that shit like its no thing.

 

anywho. we got word of a blizzard that was coming to the D and com wanted to take no risks and wanted to leave asap so he could make a show. so that left me dilla and frank of frank n dank.

 

i decided to stick to my normal schedule and stay til monday when i was scheduled to leave.

com decides to take the sunday afternoon jawn on the fly. of course i say he’s overreacting and im proven wrong once there was about 7 inches on the floor a few hours later. frank nitty laughs at me cause now im stuck in the D. we actually make the most of it. ran to blockbuster to stock up on flicks (detroit is the only place on earth street cats will let prince get away with murder so it was nice to rent under the cherry moon without cringing in front of non prince experts. we also rented my new favorite film of all B films Hav Plenty. stocked up on food. and for the first time ever just chilled for 2 days without the prime motivation being “work”. but of course that dont mean dilla didn’t provide me with the most amazing display of workmanship ive ever seen.

 

i mean i knew dude was the crazy when skillz let me hear a beat tape.

 

and i knew dude wasn’t right when booty brown played me a precabincalifornia.

 

and i knew i wouldn’t be the same when dangleo and tip played me the ENTIRE fantastic cassette over the phone LONG DISTANCE to germany (my bill was $382 bucks and WORTH EVERY FUCKING CENT)

 

and i knew i was in for a treat the many times i came to the crib.

 

and i knew i was witnessing history when him and pete rock re created half of “mecca and the soul brother” in the basement the weekend “dynamite” was created.

 

but man…..

 

what i learned eavesdropping 8am the following day made me a believer. that shit made me the stan of ALL stans.

 

if you are on my computer and need to find dilla. go to genre, and if he had something to do with it? it will be known for its tag: DILLA is GOD.

 

i won’t go into reasons why….for it could be longer than this post. and at this rate its just baiting those who disagree or who refuse to see it or who just wanna be contradictory (aka okayplayers lol)

 

so i heard this bassline playing for like a good 30 mins

 

initially i was asleep on the couch upstairs so i knew the bassline from pete’s interlude. which i thought “oh he’s gonna recreate that interlude”

 

so i came downstairs and asked what he’s up to and he was like

 

(think brotherman on martin)

 

“…..nuttin…..just….you’know…..zonin…..tryna figure our how to freak this shit….i got an idea in my head but i have to figure out how to solve the puzzle…..its gonna come to me….but i got to figure out how….”

 

so then he plays

 

for like 40 mins straight.

 

—now this is the first straight up beat i saw him make from scratch. most of the time he just grabs the ram file and blamo the beat is up (day we first met the “got til its gone” parts were already in the machine and he just created “let’s start” for tribe so i had missed those)

 

first thing i notice is his patience factor….when i make beats i play the record on 45 im skipping parts i aint got time to listen to a record over and over and over and over again….

 

i ask him about this and he said its better to suffer for 30 mins with a record than to skim through the shit and next thing you know you hear someone else use a part you coulda freaked better but cause of lack of patience you opted not to.

 

hmmm novel thought.

 

so i asked which approach is his gonna take….and he said he wanted to see if there was another juicy part for him to take…

 

so now we a half hour into it i was like “well…..there are no clean parts…..roy is talking all over that shit over and over….its impossible to find a juicy spot.”

 

lol i wonder if he was appeasing me like “you mere mortal do you not know i created heaven and earth in 7 days? muahahahahahaah” in his head.

 

he just said

 

“yuuup….pssshhh man…..i dunno how imma freak it”

 

so he made a cassette copy for his range and we grabbed food before it was time to take me to the airport.

 

we went to greektown and came back and he decided before he was going to put the record to bed (this aint the first time he gave up on a loop….the breath and stop sample frustrated him so much he gave me the record to which he would reluctantly find something to give to tip on a last minute attempt) so before the airport he decided to record every piece of the song that had 0 talking on it.

 

so its like…

 

an hour later and he has made about 20 pads on the 3000 with samples no longer than half a second each.

 

he even did a “be my guest” and let me get on to see if i could make some chitterlings off the table scraps from the big house.

 

nothing.

 

he retired the thought and drove me to the airport.

 

i got home and he left a message on my machine.

 

“whoooooooooooooooooooooooo!! yo! i figured it out!!!!”

 

check it!!!

 

(this is okp’s own JP’s version of the beat so you can have a clear idea on how fucking impossible it is to find the open spots on this beat)

 

 

 

when i heard it my jaw dropped.

 

i was speechless. again. to understand dilla you must first immerse yourself in the music that he uses to create beats. and only when you hear this song more than 20 times you will soon see how fucking impossible it is to make this beat as a mere person (so what is JP up to by the way?)

 

then i was like “yo pete is gonna be fucked up when he hears THIS shit!”

 

dilla: NONONONONONONONONO!! naw man….you can’t let him hear this man i cant afford that!

?uest: afford what? this shit is a miracle!!

dilla: nah man….like i dont want no tension. that’s my idol i dont wanna give off the impression that im trying to outshine him….

?uest: but dog im saying if you shine then…..

dilla: nah man….

?uest: so all this shit i got with samples he’s us—

dilla: yeah man dont let that shit get out man….i just do it for practice….

?uest: wait….so this beat is never going to see the light of day ever? you just made it and lost sweat over it for…..sport?

dilla: yeah man….i just practice……

 

thank god…..kweli had a cassette which had this beat on it for like 15 secs.

 

they looped it from the cassette.

 

 

but it was too late and he shrugged it off….

 

but man……that humility.

 

if i found a way to bust somebodys ass for the world to see?

 

sheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeit i be the first to be like

 

“oh yeah chris? but can you play with drumsticks in yo pinky toe chump?!?!!?!?!?”

 

my man.

 

dilla."

 

Cool read, thanks!

you gotta peep the original page to check the audio to get the full effect of this one

illa dilla

still not impressed

there are interestingconversation in comments

?uesto

Dec 2, 2008 3:53

focused

Nov 27, 2008 10:03

This is ridiculous … beat is dope , but CMON! … theres a lot of music to sample on that record without voice , like Questlove said he just a STAN , that shit is mad overrated … producers do that all the time…

i knew someone would have something negative to snark about this story. and the fact that you just HAD to add your two cents in tells me i was correct in my some people just dont wanna see it. (of course i can see the retort of “but i said “shit is ridic…..i said it was dope, so how could i be hating?”

so im not going to get into the back and forward of shit cause the point is lost. and i also think its disrespectful to dilla’s memory to even fall for this bating (obviously you are a beatmaker and you feel as though either a) “not THAT big of a deal” or b) YOU could do better.

because the intricate chopping (i used the jp version to show you what it sounds like simply because jp’s samples aren’t decayed and thus you can HEAR the numerous EDITS used so you can have an idea the he damn near used a GAZZIlion pads to make this beat. the fact the dilla’s sounds so seemless shows you just how much work he put into cooking up this gem (and mind you this shit was done by HAND, now adays i got mad programs that help you chop and truncate and decay samples just by a command button.)

there are cats who chop shit up lovely ALL the time props to nicolay and 9th and black milk, cats from houston too numerous to name, cats in dallas, the demo of pac div i had before they signed, sheeeit even kanye’s

“spaceship” is a classic chop albeit not as intricate but when you can turn a song into something entirely different that is some special shit……(im writing this on the fly cause im late to airport so there are 20 cats i overlooked)

but i’ll see your “aint no thing” and raise you a “well show me dude”

show me a beat made in 1998/99 that required at least HALF of the pads used for “little brother” from the same RECORD.

you could say “oh well “night of the living baseheads” had shit all over the place.

but im talking ONE RECORD. in which the parts were chopped to micro bits to the point shit was spread out over the course of about 10 pads. (not even the 17-20 pads i saw with my own eyes, but HALF that)

the only producer that had dill losing REAL sleep was madlib. that was the only time ever i got a call AFTER midnight from jay EVER ever EVER.

(he called electric lady like 2am told me to get D and put speakerphone on….and with the same passion that im stanning him he went on for like 10 mins about lootpack and madlib. and even said “i dont think you two are even gonna get it cause to the naked ear its gonna sound regular…but trust me this cat is cut from a cloth so different it aint funny yo….he makes me wanna retire or work harder (jay and pharrell are the ONLY cats i know who kept business hours when beatmaking: they get up at 7am and make music like its a real job….take a lunch break come back and if they were STILL in the studio after 7 then that shit was a MAJOR event in their lives. all work STOPPED at 7pm for both these cats….so again for dill to be making beats at 2am was a major “oh shit….he really must be fucked up about THIS shit)—

actually i was insulted when he hung up like (to D)

“wait…is he saying that we are mere mortals who wont get this shit?!?! dag man…i dunno how to take it

*family guy cut edit to the next day*

(at fat beats paying for 4 lootpack records…….at electric lady listening and like…..

“hmmm i mean its cool…..its no “fantastic” but *shrug*”***

so again. with all due respect mr “cats do this all the time”

show me the cat in 1998, who was doing this all the time and ill show you a drummer who will gladly miss the plane and blog about it with a blog the size of the koran

***dear madlib no disrespect what so ever. i wrote that for comic effect

thanks for this.

  modey said:

that ain't the queen's english

yeah i hard a really hard time finishing it, in fact i didn't and im a fan

Tekishi how did you manage to get away with having a snuff photograph of an actual severed head as your avatar?

wow...?uestlove writes more than sini....maybe a little more focused.

  Producer Snafu said:

still not impressed

I'll try to find stories about how people make shitty breakcore next time.

  blicero said:

thanks for this.

Glad someone appreciated it.

  Awepittance said:

Tekishi how did you manage to get away with having a snuff photograph of an actual severed head as your avatar?

It's not snuff and apparently I didn't.

awesome... and i thought I had read everything about dilla... thanks homie

i am currently in the middle of painting a portrait of Jay Dee. one of my all time favorites.

fun read, thanks.

  takeshi said:

first thing i notice is his patience factor….when i make beats i play the record on 45 im skipping parts i aint got time to listen to a record over and over and over and over again….

 

i ask him about this and he said its better to suffer for 30 mins with a record than to skim through the shit and next thing you know you hear someone else use a part you coulda freaked better but cause of lack of patience you opted not to.

I've heard something similar to this said about Dilla before. Very impressive and inspiring.

  Producer Snafu said:

still not impressed

I can never tell if all of your posts are sarcastic to be funny, or if you're just a douchebag? I mean I've been wondering this for a while and I really don't like to talk people down but why are all of your posts so negative man?

Awesome read. Dilla is the man.

That part about Madlib is great too. No disrespect, but in my mind Madlib > Dilla.

good read, dilla is one of the guys that i'm going to listen to in 20 years and think "man this guy was ahead of his time"

  blicero said:

hes so humble...

nice bump, i enjoyed this first time round, and again the second

Cool stuff, I recently bought an mpc and even chopping samples in audacity, it can be a real bitch to make it seamless.