Tag Archives: j dilla

mpfree lanks, muzak, writings

C.O.A.C.M presents…5 Questions with: CB010

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1. what’s your name, where are you from & how did you get involved with music?

peace.
my name is CB010 hailing from South American Surinamese roots and experiencing life lessons in the city of Rotterdam, Netherlands.
at the early age of 4-5 years i got injected with the music serum via my parents record collection. they played their records mostly on weekends and moulded my knowledge of the usual suspects: Stevie, Curtis, James, EW&F, Diana, Micheal, P-Funk and all sorts of soul. Pops introduced me to a lot of Led Zeppelin, Iron Maiden, Zappa, Ozzy and Bob Marley.
when i was about 8 years old i took a first glance at my uncle’s homestudio. finally i was old enough to enter his room. the first thing i saw was a beat machine, i believe it was a Boss DR-55. pushed my wig back!
from that day on i was in search of all the kicks, snares and hats i could find and knew i wanted drum lessons.

2. how did your particular track in the mix come about/is there a story behind its creation?

i’m just going to dissect the beat and name the original samples.
the bassline is from Ronnie Foster‘s “Mystic Brew“. i dont know what it is about minor key chords/notes but i just know that i love ’em.
Tribe already sampled RF so i wanted to make it different from theirs. so the notes are chopped and replayed in a 1/8th pattern.
the drums are stock sounds i believe. I tried to EQ them but sh*t this beat was made in 2008 i think and really, i didn’t give much about EQ-ing mainly because i just didn’t know what i was doing. the programming of the kicks also point out the fact that i was still trying to figure out how to lay out my drums.
the kicks are all over the place!
flute and guitarish sample are from Gil Scott-Heron/Brian Jackson‘s “Winter In America” record. i sort of tried to emulate Pete‘s usage of horns with the guitar sample hence the delay lol.
vocals *uh* and *yeah* are from a friend of mine. instead of sampling James‘ grunts i wanted to do it myself. he recorded it in his phone, i made a copy of it in .wav and got it poppin’.

3. who or what inspires you to create? and how do you STAY inspired?

my brother from another, beatmaker/MC BlackMagick.
when i was figuring out sampling, he already made a beattape with Nas‘ vocals.
always one to share he introduced me into proper EQ-ing, compression and mixing your own music.
since we made the decision to go record digging we got the idea to do a beattape together wich is currently in the making.
i stay inspired by different beatmakers all over the world who uphold the legacy of sampling raw drums and samples. next to the ususal suspects Dil, Lib, Kev, 9th and many more, there are some DOPE beatmakers on OKP and i’m naming names!:
e-classic, MISTA MONOTONE, A Love Supreme, jp, Admbmb, philpot, DVS and much more keep me inspired to not make any wack sh*t.

4. your opinion on copyright and the sharing of music? (specifically tunes made by unsigned, under-the-radar and bedroom artists that are then shared by fans?).

to each his own.
you wanna download all your stuff go ahead and do it. i love artwork though and reading about the process of making the album (liner notes).
personally i love music and the effect of discovering new artists. every once in a while i stumble upon some new music from independent artists. if i dig it i know my folks will also dig it so i share. now if someone releases music on iTunes or Bandcamp for a buck/euro or 2 i will support it for the development of the artform.

5. the best place to listen/download/buy your tunes? and any final words you’d like to say to the Internets?

well besides Soundcloud, OKP Boards and Bandcamp i would say support your local record store! shouts to my love, the fam, Okayplayer and the world!
one love!

@SOUNDCLOUD | @TWITTER

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peep “Raise The Bar” on CONFESSIONS OF A CURLY MIND Vol. 1 along with 23 other golden tracks you probly ain’t heard before.

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artworks

#DILLAMONTH: Art (by Aivy B.)

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over the coming month of Feb (known as Dilla Month) i will be once again spotlighting different tributes from around the world ranging from music, writing and artwork to the always great and always late James Yancey (aka Jay Dee/J Dilla). starting with this awesome Dilla piece by Aivy B.

u can squizz more of Aivy’s work at her official website. and of course another happy bday to the man himself who influenced and continues to influence legions around the world (his bday was on the 7th).

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muzak, youtubery

Dilla Month: The Roots – Make Em NV

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i know i know, it’s gonna be April soon and i’m still posting Dilla Month shit. what can i say, sometimes i make moves like a tortoise, FULL o’ rigor mortis (i dunno why that quote popped into my head, i guess it’s always been stuck in there). regardless, i’m pushing on into the coming month with more Dilla greatness. apart from a mix of his beats n instrumentals, i’m also working on compiling all the various Dilla tributes into one collection (there are more out there then ppl know of). but to tide myself over i’ve upped a Dilla Joint to YouTube, it’s from a bunch of live re-interpreted Dilla beats from last year played by none other than The Roots.

Make Em NV appears on the Ruff Draft EP. OG version below.

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mpfree lanks, muzak

Dilla Month: Stray Phrases perform “Donuts” @ The Tea Lounge, Brooklyn (03/02/2011)

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okay, i realise technically Dilla Month is over at the end of Feb, and in the southern hemisphere it is already the 1st of March, but since i got a late start in the celebrations & whatnot i’m extending Dilla Month probably for another 2 or 3 weeks, just cos there’s still a few cool Dilla-related items i would like to share (chief among them a mix by yours truly that highlights nothing but Dilla beats and instrumentals, including some obscure shit). what is TIME, anyway? a man-made concept that i choose to bend to my wants and needs as a lover of music and all things J Dilla…is what it is..in case u thought that was a rhetorical question (was it…? ok i’ll stop now). a little while back i posted up a live performance of jazz trio Stray Phrases very expertly covering and re-interpreting Dilla’s Donuts album from back to front (originally posted by Metal Lungies). since then the performance seems to have taken on a life of its own (at least among the ever-growing circle of Dilla heads), for they re-appeared on Feb 3rd to again pay tribute by playing the album in their own jazz/fusion style. this time the recording comes courtesy of live music recording stalwarts All The Way Live, and i’m told the quality of the recording this time around is way superior to the 1st.

:::DOWNLOAD:::

Stray Phrases are Storm Siegel (drums), Dave Mainella (piano) & Evan Crane (bass).

[original blog post + link here].

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mpfree lanks, muzak

Common – The “Electric Circus” Outtakes (2002/2007)

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in 2007, ?uestlove (drummer and bandleader of The Roots) leaked 4 unreleased tracks from Common & The Soulquarians Electric Circus sessions circa 2002. i was hip enuff to this development that i managed to record all 4 tracks at the time (streamed from his Myspace page). however, the sound quality on all the songs are pretty low-fi due to their unfinished nature & crappy stream quality, and they’re all instrumentals. i’ve done my best to clean em up and sound serviceable. at any point, the production players may include: James Poyser, J Dilla, Pino Pallidino, ?uestlove & Jef Lee Johnson (but since they don’t make liner notes to unreleased shit, i dunno who’s playing on what track, but we can safely assume all or most of em are present).

show fo ro (step into the ro) (2:47)
the dark (4:01)
the electric circus (4:38)
the selma hyjak show (2:48)

:::DOWNOAD:::
zip | rar

LINKS UPDATED AS OF 07/01/2019.

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muzak, youtubery

Dilla Month: Miguel Atwood-Ferguson’s “Suite For Ma Dukes”

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Dilla tributes have come in many interesting forms over the years since his passing in 2006. one of the richest and coolest ones has been the awesome efforts of Miguel Atwood-Ferguson and his Suite For Ma Dukes Orchestra re-interpreting Dilla’s classic productions. here are some clips of a few of em. i’m told there was a full dvd of these released at some point last year.

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muzak, youtubery

Dilla Month: “J Dilla – Still Shining” Documentary (by Brian “BKyle” Atkins)

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it’s taken me almost all month to work up the emotional fortitude to really blog my little broken heart out about James “J Dilla/Jay Dee” Yancey, a true musical spirit who departed our plain of existence on Feb 10, 2006 due to an on-going battle with lupus. i feel like, instead of giving some half-assed tribute, i wanted to make a string of “Dilla Month” posts from now until the end of the month spotlighting all things Dilla, and really concentrate on how he changed MY life and how i approached music (so i guess a more introspective personal take on his lasting legacy). i would however like to begin with a documentary video shot and compiled by long-time Okayplayer affiliate BKyle, most of the footage being from 2006 (post-funeral) mixed in with some rare live footage of Slum Village performing, and candid scenes of Dilla’s fam + extended fam (including testimonials from Common, Bilal, Erykah Badu, ?uestlove (of The Roots), Pete Rock, James Poyser, Karriem Riggins, Houseshoes, Phat Kat, Dwele & others).

props to BKyle & The J Dilla Project, which are hosting the video on their website via Vimeo: The J Dilla Project.

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mpfree lanks, muzak

J Dilla’s “Donuts” as performed by Stray Phrases

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swiped from Metal Lungies:

Stray Phrases is a jazz trio consisting of Storm Siegel on drums, Dave Mainella on piano, and Evan Crane on bass. On Sunday October 17, 2010, they covered J Dilla’s classic instrumental album Donuts from beginning to end. Metal Lungies is proud to bring you a recording of the whole set.

:::DOWNLOAD:::

i gave this a spin last night and it was pretty damn good. they jump from track-to-track with precision and the right amount of Dilla swagger, all with a light jazz touch. everyone sounds talented on their respective instrument, and together they bring the legacy of Dilla to life with a performance that i’m sure the man himself woulda co-signed. nicely done.

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