Soulquarian: The Love Tribute

Damn, it’s finally beginning to hit me. No more Jay Dee or J. Dilla or James Yancey, period. I mean unless he was like Tupac or Prince and has a grip of beats in the vault, we are hearing the end of the “soulquarian” sound (aka neo-soul). I didn’t know him personally, but who the man has blessed speaks for itself: A Tribe Called Quest, D’Angelo, Pharcyde, Macy Gray, Busta Rhymes, Ghostface Killah, Common, Erykah Badu, De La Soul, MF DOOM, Janet Jackson, etc. I remember a time (the late ‘90s), when it seemed like there was no other sound out there besides soulquarian soul. It just seemed to be in the air everywhere, whether cruisin’, clubbin’, or uckin’. Now there’s no longer what seemed to be an infinite amount.

The prototype producer who not only had a signature sound, but was skilled enough to change & grow, yet remain relevant. On the humble too. He was the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar of hip-hop. Able to dominate the game with finesse and remain relevant. His influence is all over the great producers of today: Madlib, Danger Mouse, 9th Wonder, etc. Below are some of my favorites off of J. Dilla’s last work The Shinning which drops in August sometime. Enjoy it, revisit your old favorites, and discover new gems that you didn’t know about the first time around because there was a cap placed on this sound, this era and most unfortunately this man. RIP James Yancey.

At the same time, life must go on and The Roots seem to be stepping up their game again. Hip-hop’s equivalent to the Grateful Dead is coming back strong with Game Theory, as they show in this album that they not only remember J. Dilla’s life (see “Can’t Stop This” below), but celebrate it as well by continuing his legacy. To be honest, I had my doubts about how this Roots album was going to end up. I wasn’t really feeling the last 2 albums since Things Fall Apart & the fact that they moved over to Def Jam under Jay-Z, raised some concerns. But they came more than correct and hopefully will finally, finally, finally get their due and get that mainstream success while maintaining their artistic integrity (just like Dilla did for all those years).

[MP3] J. Dilla feat. Pharoahe Monch :: Love
[MP3] J. Dilla feat. Common & D’Angelo :: So Far To Go
[MP3] J. Dilla feat. Black Thought :: Love Movin’

[MP3] The Roots :: In The Music
[MP3] The Roots feat. Peedi Crakk :: Long Time
[MP3] The Roots :: Can’t Stop This

{Couldn’t have said it better myself}

J. Dilla’s myspace
The Roots site, not okay player?

:: MISTA HIPPO ::