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Aug 05, 2009 J Dilla aka Jay Dee By Jim Scott

After his tragic death at the age of 32 from lupus, James Dewitt Yancey has gained the kind of notoriety and popularity he never quite achieved in life. There’s a certain nakedness to the title and contents of Jay Stay Paid; the album clearly hopes to pay off some of Dilla’s debts and support his children. It’s difficult to take offense to this plain shilling, especially when the music (the album was produced by Pete Rock) is so great.

The thought that beats, and little else, could create such a spell seems ridiculous. But Dilla’s Donuts is more than background music, and while Jay Stay Paid doesn’t reach those heights, it proves a reasonable follow-up.

If Dr. Dre’s beats are the chronic-inspired, slowed-down Cali life style, RZA’s frenetic references and murky strings are the grimiest sections of New York, and Timbaland’s jittery dancebeats are the rhythm of the South, then Dilla is straight hip-hop. All of it. What one imagines makes him so appealing, and his appeal so broad, is that he doesn’t sound exactly like anybody else, but in a way, he sounds like everybody else. His timing on the boards was impeccable, his beats precise but free flowing at the same time. In a way, the fact that it’s hard to pin down a specific sound that screams Dilla is exactly what made him so amazing.

Though the star is obviously the beats, guest spots are scattered here and there on Jay Stay Paid, from DOOM to Raekwon. Blackthought of The Roots turns out a killer performance on “Reality TV,” which takes a somewhat tired premise (the influence of television) and wins it over by sheer force and emotion.

Elsewhere, it’s all Dilla. The ridiculous “On Stilts” shows Dilla had more room to grow, more experiments to make real. (www.myspace.com/jdilla)

Author rating: 7/10