Play Jay all day

by MORGAN STEIKER

The child of an opera singer and a jazz bassist, J Dilla will forever be a towering tree in the landscape of soul music. A shining star in the galaxy, a pearl in the ocean. For all hip hop heads, there’s before Dilla and after Dilla. The first taste I got of Jay, the golden “producer’s producer,” came with Beats, Rhymes and Life, passed on to me by my older brother. That album’s been on rotation through my whole life ever since.

I remember countless nights sitting on my rooftop looking over the city, spliff in hand and head floating in Dillaland. When I was a youngster, no one else really knew about Dilla in my high school. Glitchy drums, abstract basslines, chopped-up vocals, mind-altering jazz samples. Nothing but pure and unfiltered soul, all there for you to just close your eyes and bop your head to.

The love people have for Dilla and his music is exponential in the true sense of the word. It stands in a very small league of music that gets greater and greater with time. It’ll never be a simple fad or a style or a genre, it’s too timeless.

Dilla moments are magic. The most recent one I witnessed was last week at Coda, when ?uestlove, one of Jay’s closest collaborators and torchbearers, educated the dancefloor with Stan Getz’s “Saudade Vem Correndo,” the song Dilla sampled for Pharcyde’s “Runnin’.” When the track reaches its bridge, the infectious guitar looped by Dilla for the beat, every fan in the house that night felt a true Dilla moment, one which words could never capture. With the additional sprinkle of Getz’s sax solo at the end of the track, it’s enough to make a man tear up right in the middle of the club. That’s why today, 1.5 grams of J Dilla is equal to a mountain of gold.

So come celebrate Dilla Day on Saturday, Feb. 7 (his birthday) at Inspecteur Epingle (4051 St-Hubert) with DJ Naes and DJ Ephiks from Payz Play, DJ Sev Dee, DJ Manzo and Egypto. A night to remember the musical legacy of our favourite producer.

Same night, on the other side of town at le Social, homeboy Malicious will be rockin’ the crowd with NYC’s own Cause, local collective Underground Realroad and fellow Dilla aficionado Jonathan Emile. And to bring the night full circle, make a stop at Coda to see some backsides shaking at Bootyshots, the monthly dedicated to all forms of booty music with buttcheek puppet master, aka the Plateau’s Most Improved Player, Rilly Guilty alongside Khiasma and Speakerbruiser. For more info, go visit

booty-shots.blogspot.com, a spot full of goodies including the true jump-off dance-e-oke contest running until March 1, and which all ya’ll can and should unleash your inner Chris Brown to.

WE GOT SO FAR TO GO…DABEATSEEKER@GMAIL.COM