James Yancey

James Yancey

James Dewitt Yancey (February 7, 1974 – February 10, 2006), better known by the stage names J Dilla and Jay Dee, was an American record producer, rapper, singer, and songwriter. He emerged during the mid-1990s underground hip hop scene in Detroit, as a member of the group Slum Village. He was also a member of the Soulquarians, a musical collective active during the late 1990s and early 2000s.Yancey died at the age of 32 from a combination of TTP and lupus. Although his life was short, he is considered one of the most influential producers in hip hop and popular music. J Dilla's music raised the artistic level of hip-hop production in Detroit. According to The Guardian, "His affinity for crafting lengthy, melodic loops peppered with breakbeats and vocal samples took instrumental hip-hop into new, more musically complex realms." In particular, his approach to drum programming, with its loose, or "drunk" style that experimented with non-standard quantization, has been influential on producers and drummers.

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