This beat is too smooth. Vintage Dilla on production and his younger brother linking up with Debi Nova for the vocals. Off Illa’s Yancey Boys album, which is entirely produced by Dilla if you didn’t know. Cop that.
Sidenote, I wish they would have got Debi in this video…she’s a dime.
As with other WLotD winners that I actually enjoy listening to, I feel like I should preface this post by saying I dig Illa J. It’s been sad to see how much hate dude is getting from damn near everyone – casual listeners, Dilla diehards, bloggers, fellow artists, etc.. Is he stepping into Dilla’s shoes right away? No. Does he have potential? Yes. Am I salty that he’s using his brother’s unreleased beats to help support his family? Helllllllllll no. Do your thing Illa.
I peeped the Yancey Boys album over the weekend and I really dug it. The beats are clearly top notch, and they’re the exact kind of Dilla sound that I’ve always loved. Illa’s rhymes actually remind me of some early SV stuff: laid back, somewhat rambling, and centered around everyday ish. That said, we played this joint on Sound Session last night and this line was kinda painful:
“I see you outside, gettin’ in the club free/
Lookin’ lovely, as soon as I seen you, I wanted to f*ck thee”
–Illa J, “DFTF”
Ahhh, I just hate when people force a rhyme and it’s so obvious. Anyway, this joint is still great. Who knew Affion Crockett could rap for real?
J Dilla’s younger brother Illa J is prepping the release of his debut, Yancey Boys, and he just dropped the first 12″. “We Here” has been going around the net for a minute, but since we premiered the b-side, “R U Listenin'” with Guilty Simpson, on Sound Session last night, I thought I’d post it up as well. This joint is crazy.
Illa J ft. Guilty Simpson – “R U Listenin'”
That beat right there? Woooooooooow. Reminds me of his brother’s remix for Crustation’s “Purple“…what y’all know about that jawn?