This is relatively old news, but I completely missed the boat on it when it first came out, and it’s dope, so I’m posting it anyways. 14KT is a producer from Ypsilanti, Michigan. Apparently, the beats on Nowalataz were made as a sort of tribute to Dilla. Here’s 14KT describing it in his own words: […]
Electric Wire Hustle, J Dilla music video and more
Electric Wire Hustle is an “electronic/organic trio” from New Zealand who’ve been getting mad love from across the ol’ blogosphere. I honestly don’t know a lot about them, but this track, called ‘Perception,’ definitely got my attention. Based on a sample from “Inside my Love” by Minnie Riperton (a joint that was best flipped, in […]
More tributes to the King of Pop
Michael Jackson’s passing has inspired countless tributes from, it seems, every corner of the pop culture landscape. A testament to both his transcendent artistic influence and his catalog’s massive revenue-generating potential, the man has to date been remembered (slash exploited) on film, television, in print and, of course, by a variety of professional and amateur […]
J. Sands giving you a free mixtape
Sites all over the internet have been going crazy for this new mixtape. Okay, definitely not new, since it came out back in Feb of 2007. But somehow I, and many others, slept on this. J. Sands of Lone Catalysts fame decided to lay down a bunch of tracks over some Dilla beats. The mixtape, […]
100% Pure Poison: St. Germain, Pete Rock & J Dilla
In the early 1970s, nine American servicemen stationed in Germany formed a soul band. They called themselves 100% Pure Poison (it was the seventies, after all). After sneaking in to a music industry conference and snagging a deal with British EMI, they released their first and only album, Coming Right At You. According to All Music […]
Dilla’s estate is suffering because of piracy
Our boy J Dilla has some major posthumous issues. He was never a very rich man (he actually ended up crazily in debt since he had huge health care bills) and the small amount of royalties flowing in are decreasing all the time thanks to rampant piracy and biting of dope Dilla beats. His estate […]
Slum Village – Fan-Tas-Tic Vol. 1 (1997)
It’s been a minute since we’ve posted any music on 4080, so I figured it was time to upload some auditory dopeness. And Fan-Tas-Tic Vol. 1 fits that bill perfectly. Recorded in 1996 and 1997, Fan-Tas-Tic Vol. 1 is Slum Village’s debut album. Produced by J Dilla and recorded entirely in his home studio, the album […]
Exploring The Foundations, Vol. 1: Bossa Nova
Welcome to the first post in a series intended to explore hip-hop’s musical roots. Although not an expert musicologist by any means, my aim with this series is to demonstrate how hip-hop’s uniqueness lies in its ability to incorporate a limitless variety of sounds and styles. This idea is critical, I think, because it is […]
New Music For You To Ride With
Atmosphere, your girl’s favourite hip-hop group, released their latest ablum, When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold, last week. I’ve had mixed feelings about Atmosphere since I first heard tracks like “Modern Man’s Hustle” and “A Heave And A Ho” (does anyone know where to find this?). On one hand, Ant is […]
That’s Professor Def to you
I managed to catch Mos Def playing in Ann Arbor the other night. His show was on MLK Day and was dedicated to the memory of J Dilla, the slain Detroit producer. I’ve got to say it was a really interesting style of show. For those of you who’ve ever been to the Hill Auditorium […]