Production: Jay Dee (J-Dilla)

James Yancey (Jay Dee) came out of the early 90's pre-Eminem Detroit undergground scene that produced other notable acts such as MC Breed. As a teenager he was introduced to the MPC and beat making by Amp Fidler; quickly putting together beats and a band, Slum Village. His big break came in 1994 while attempting to shop his bands sampler Fantastic Vol. 1, Amp Fidler introduced him to a guy named Q-tip of the band A Tribe Called Quest (ATCQ). This chance introduction quickly led to production opportunities with Pharcyde and De La Soul, resulting in the certified classics "Runnin'" and "Stakes is High" respectively.

Jay Dee, like most 80's and 90's hip-hop producers, cites that he was musically influenced by his parents funk and soul music collection - artists like Parliament, Zapp, Prince, the JB's, Jack McDuff and Sergio Mendez. Jaydee's production is heavily drum based and loop driven.

Jay Dee teamed up with Q-tip and Ali Shaheed of ATCQ to form The Ummah, one of the most progressive mid-90's hip-hop production teams, producing numerous tracks including from Busta Rhymes first album The Coming, "Woo Hah". The mid-90's saw Grand Upright Music vs. Warner Brothers Records (The Biz Markie Case) severely restricted the use of uncleared samples in hip-hop music and in so doing, the sample ladend production of the early 90's evolved into a primarily beat driven artform. As the primary driving force behind The Ummah, Jay Dee is often credited (or blamed) for the subdued sound of ATCQ's last album, The Love Movement. However the sound is probably as much a product of the decreased use of sampling as much as it was affected by Jay Dee's production style. The Ummah parted ways in the late 1990's.

In recent years, Jay Dee put out the Slum Village's Fantastic Vol. 2 album in 2000, a solo album Welcome 2 Detroit in 2001 and produced the majority of Common's Electric Circus in 2003. Jay Dee officially left Slum Village after their first album, although he has contributed beats on their subsequent releases. Jay Dee teamed up with MC Madlib to form the group Jaylib, releasing the album Champion Sound. In 2005, Jay Dee worked with Kanye West on the producing the new Common album, Be; contributing the tracks "Love Is" and "It's Your World (Pop Reprise)".

Other Notable 12" Singles:

The Pharcyde - Drop 1996

De La Soul - Itzsoweezee/Hot (Remix) 1996

Slum Villlage - 4th And Back 1997

The Brand New Heavies - Sometimes 1998

Floetry feat. CL Smooth - Floetic (Remix) 2003

Janet Jackson feat Q-tip - Got Til It's Gone (Remix) 1999

Most Recent Production Credits:

Jaylib - Champion Sound 2003

De La Soul- Shoomp 2004

Artists Produced For:

De La Soul, Phat Kat, Madlib, ATCQ, Brand New Heavies, Slum Village, Common, Busta Rhymes, The Pharcyde, Jay Dee, Amp Fidler, D'Angelo, Bobby Caldwell, Bilal, Poe, George Clinton, Rahzel, The Roots, Black Star, LSK, Lucy Pearl, Jack McDuff, Bahamadia, Talib Kweli

Originally Posted at: http://themongoslade.modblog.com