I can’t believe it is coming up on ten years since the great J Dilla passed away. James “J Dilla” Yancey was one of the most beloved and influential hip hop artists of all time.
Dilla died of blood disease in 2006, but it doesn’t actually feel like he is truly gone, as we have gradually had a large instalment of Dilla tracks released posthumously. Erykah Badu said that Dilla made “beats all day long,” and Slum Village’s T3 said Dilla had about 150 unreleased beats upon his untimely death.
With seven posthumous albums as well as numerous collabs, it seems Badu was right and fans will be treated to another album Dillatronic this Friday (October 30). Dillatronic features 41 rare instrumentals, and will be available as a 3LP set, on CD, and in a variety of deluxe edition packages with T-shirts, bags, cassettes, posters, and more. Pre-orders are available here.
Dillatronic is being released by Ma Dukes (Dilla’s mother) and Vintage Vibez Music Group. “I can smile in my heart, knowing my son’s work is being shared with the people as we planned before he passed,” said Ma Dukes in a statement. “I only share the best, and I only hope to continue introducing the world to the genius of J Dilla.”
Check out a couple of tracks from the album below.