Subscribe to Read
Sign up today to enjoy a complimentary trial and begin exploring the world of books! You have the freedom to cancel at your convenience.
Dilla Time: The Life and Afterlife of J Dilla, the Hip-Hop Producer Who Reinvented Rhythm
| Title | Dilla Time: The Life and Afterlife of J Dilla, the Hip-Hop Producer Who Reinvented Rhythm |
| Writer | |
| Date | 2025-04-19 17:49:32 |
| Type | |
| Link | Listen Read |
Desciption
WINNER OF THE PEN/JACQUELINE BOGRAD WELD AWARD FOR BIOGRAPHYNEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER“This book is a must for everyone interested in illuminating the idea of unexplainable genius.” ―QUESTLOVEEqual parts biography, musicology, and cultural history, Dilla Time chronicles the life and legacy of J Dilla, a musical genius who transformed the sound of popular music for the twenty-first century.He wasn’t known to mainstream audiences, even though he worked with renowned acts like D’Angelo and Erykah Badu and influenced the music of superstars like Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson. He died at the age of thirty-two, and in his lifetime he never had a pop hit. Yet since his death, J Dilla has become a demigod: revered by jazz musicians and rap icons from Robert Glasper to Kendrick Lamar; memorialized in symphonies and taught at universities. And at the core of this adulation is innovation: a new kind of musical time-feel that he created on a drum machine, but one that changed the way “traditional” musicians play.In Dilla Time, Dan Charnas chronicles the life of James DeWitt Yancey, from his gifted childhood in Detroit, to his rise as a Grammy-nominated hip-hop producer, to the rare blood disease that caused his premature death; and follows the people who kept him and his ideas alive. He also rewinds the histories of American rhythms: from the birth of soul in Dilla’s own “Motown,” to funk, techno, and disco. Here, music is a story of Black culture in America and of what happens when human and machine times are synthesized into something new. Dilla Time is a different kind of book about music, a visual experience with graphics that build those concepts step by step for fans and novices alike, teaching us to “see” and feel rhythm in a unique and enjoyable way.Dilla’s beats, startling some people with their seeming “sloppiness,” were actually the work of a perfectionist almost spiritually devoted to his music. This is the story of the man and his machines, his family, friends, partners, and celebrity collaborators. Culled from more than 150 interviews about one of the most important and influential musical figures of the past hundred years, Dilla Time is a book as delightfully detail-oriented and unique as J Dilla’s music itself. Read more
Review
Huge Dilla fan here since 90s pharcyde and tribe days and not going to lie, had apprehension on how the life of Dilla would be described by Dan Charnas and if there was any clout-chasing by the author. I'm an absolute fan of him now with also the utmost respect for his journalistic integrity and understanding the scope and endeavor he undertook to describe someone such as Dilla, which could be quite sensitive for many fans such as myself having seen during his time and influence to not get credit, appreciation, etc until he was long gone and have now become trendy to be a fan.Dan did an amazing job in all angles. Describing the life, breaking down his style technically with music theort, and being critical of dilla as well where warranted with all fairness and objectivity.Finished this book in basically two sitting as I could not stop. Reading it just brought me back to my high school and college years and all the details within the book just helped complete the picture of stories I was already aware of during those days as fan of his music and sound. Dan did not shy away from critique where it warranted, where many authors may romanticize a subject. Dan was absolutely fair and consistent and even critical of Ma Dukes with appropriate context. It all makes the objectivity of the book even more compelling. All items I recall, growing up during those times were consistent as well, with the much more detail and color Dan brought helping bring much more clarity for me and the background story of many of these things I recalled and why Dilla made those decisions at the time.Dan also being a music journalist as well as I believe a record scout, also brought a great music theory ability to break down the music at a interesting technical level on what made dilla unique and where we also see many of the musicians after dilla were influenced and where current music has been influenced.I definitely found myself many times in reading the book, to pull up these tracks he was describing to listen to it in his way of breaking it down to bring even more color to many of these songs I've had on constant rotation for years.I have such great appreciation to the author for doing this book and dilla's legacy such incredible justice and beyond just any basic romanticized biography.
