IT HAS BEEN ALMOST THREE YEARS SINCE JAMES YANCEY AKA J DILLA LEFT US AND THE MUSIC INDUSTRY HAS NOT BEEN THE SAME SINCE. LUCKILY WE WERE BLESSED TO HAVE HIS MUSICAL GENIUS PROVIDE US WITH 12 PLUS YEARS OF BEAUTIFUL MUSIC. ALTHOUGH HE LEFT THIS EARTH PREMATURELY, HIS MUSIC WILL STILL CONTINUE ON BECAUSE FOLKS LIKE WAAJEED, BLACK MILK, MANUBUA, Q-TIP, KANYE, FLOYD THE LOCSMIF AND MYSELF WILL MAKE SURE THAT HIS INFLUENCE WILL BE FELT THROUGH THE MUSIC THAT WE ALL CREATE. FURTHERMORE, THE MAN'S CATALOG WAS THICK WITH BEAT TREATS. SO, I AM SURE THAT WE WILL STILL BE HEARING FROM THE LATE-GREAT.
ATTACHED IS THE FIRST VOLUME THAT I DID THE DAY J DILLA PASSED. THERE WILL BE SUBSEQUENT VOLUMES COMING SOON!!!!
What can one say about "The King Of Pop"? Well, whatever one chooses whether it be good or bad, everyone can agree that the brother is talented. Me personally, I enjoyed all of his music. I have followed him through the highs and the lo's, through his kid years to his young adult years and unto his status now. Many years later his music still shines through, which is evident by the enormous catalog this man possesses. Once again, I stumbled across a rare gem while shopping at the local "Wax-N-Fax" in little 5 points. This particular album was one of the solo projects that Motown released before cutting Michael and his brothers loose from the then fledgling record company. Amid all of the legal turmoil that the group was enduring at the time, Michael was able to release a gem of an album with "Forever, Michael". One can automatically sense that Michael was going through puberty as his voice changes between songs throughout the entire album. This album was a nice mix of mid-tempo grooves and sentimental slow jams. However, one particular cut that stood out to me was the track, "Dear Michael". Dear Michael is about a hopeful fan who is so in love with Michael that even though he receives many letters and no matter how many times she writes him she believes that one day he would read the letter.
All in all, it was such a groovy track that I immediately had to put my touches on it.....all out of due respect that is . Attached is both the original and my version of the song that will be released on my upcoming beat cd entitled "The Nod Factor". I hope you enjoy!!!
When Sade first came on the recording scene in the '80s, her record company, Epic, made a point of printing "pronounced shar-day" after her name on the record labels of her releases. Soon enough the world would have no problem in correctly pronouncing her name. Born Helen Folasade Adu in Ibadan, Nigeria, about 50 miles from Lagos, she was the daughter of an African father and an English mother. After her mother returned to England, Sade grew up on the North End of London. Developing a good singing voice in her teens, Sade worked part-time jobs in and outside of the music business. She listened to Ray Charles, Nina Simone, Al Green, Aretha Franklin, and Billie Holliday. Sade studied fashion design at St. Martin's School of Art in London while also doing some modeling on the side. Around 1980, she started singing harmony with a Latin funk group called Arriva. One of the more popular numbers that the group would perform was a Sade original co-written with bandmember Ray St. John, "Smooth Operator," that would later become Sade's first stateside hit. The following year she joined the eight-piece funk band Pride as a background singer. The band included future Sade band members guitarist/saxophonist Stuart Matthewman (a key player in '90s urban soul singer Maxwell's success) and bassist Paul Denman. The concept of the group was that there could shoot-offs. In essence, a few members within the main group Pride formed mini-groups that would be the opening act. Pride did a lot of shows around London, stirring up record company interest. Initially, the labels wanted to only sign Sade, while the group members wanted a deal for the whole band. After a year, the other band members told Sade, Matthewman, and Denman to go ahead and sign a deal. Adding keyboardist Andrew Hale, the group signed to the U.K. division of Epic Records. Her debut album, Diamond Life (with overall production by Robin Millar), went Top Ten in the U.K. in late 1984. January 1985 saw the album released on CBS' Portrait label and by spring it went platinum off the strength of the Top Ten singles "Smooth Operator" and "Hang on to Your Love." Her second album, Promise (November 1985), featured "Never As Good As the First Time" and arguably her signature song, "The Sweetest Taboo," which stayed on the U.S. pop charts for six months. Sade was so popular that some radio stations reinstated the '70s practice of playing album tracks, adding "Is It a Crime" and "Tar Baby" to their play lists. In 1986, Sade won a Grammy for Best New Artist.Sade's third album was 1988's Stronger Than Pride and featured her first number one soul single "Paradise," "Nothing Can Come Between Us," and "Keep Looking." A new Sade album didn't appear for four years. 1992's Love Deluxe continued the unbroken streak of multi-platinum Sade albums, spinning off the hits "No Ordinary Love," "Feel No Pain," and "Pearls." While the album's producer Mike Pela, Matthewman, Denman, and Hale have gone on to other projects. The new millennium did spark a new scene for Sade. She issued Lovers Rock in fall 2000 and incoporated more mainstream elements than ever before. Debut single "By Your Side" was also a hit among radio and adult-contemporary listerners. The following summer, Sade embarked on her first tour in more than a decade, selling out countless dates across America. In early 2002, she celebrated the success of the tour by releasing her first ever live album and DVD, Lovers Live.
Nine years since her hiatus, Sade's music still lives through. What you are about to experience is my interpretation of her music in the form of "House Music". Attached is a mix that I did when her Lover's Rock album was out. Please enjoy!!!
IT HAS BEEN ALMOST THREE YEARS SINCE JAMES YANCEY AKA J DILLA LEFT US AND THE MUSIC INDUSTRY HAS NOT BEEN THE SAME SINCE. LUCKILY WE WERE BLESSED TO HAVE HIS MUSICAL GENIUS PROVIDE US WITH 12 PLUS YEARS OF BEAUTIFUL MUSIC. ALTHOUGH HE LEFT THIS EARTH PREMATURELY, HIS MUSIC WILL STILL CONTINUE ON BECAUSE FOLKS LIKE WAAJEED, BLACK MILK, MANUBUA, Q-TIP, KANYE, FLOYD THE LOCSMIF AND MYSELF WILL MAKE SURE THAT HIS INFLUENCE WILL BE FELT THROUGH THE MUSIC THAT WE ALL CREATE. FURTHERMORE, THE MAN'S CATALOG WAS THICK WITH BEAT TREATS. SO, I AM SURE THAT WE WILL STILL BE HEARING FROM THE LATE-GREAT.
