Common has reminisced about Kanye West and J Dilla “bonding” at his house before the legendary Detroit producer died.
During an interview with Ebro in the Morning on Hot 97, the Chicago rapper detailed the time the two of them met and Dilla gave Kanye a beat tape.
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“I remember Kanye coming over to the crib where Dilla and I stayed,” Common said, referencing the Los Angeles home he shared with the Slum Village member in the 2000s. “Kanye would sample Dilla’s drums off his beat tapes.
“Ye came over, it was Mother’s Day. We were going to a Mother’s Day brunch with Ye and his mother and my mother and then Dilla was at the crib. Ye was talking to him and they was just bonding, and then Dilla gave Ye these drums on a record.”
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Common then remembered Kanye’s effusive reaction to Dilla’s gift: “I promise you, Ye was like, it was the golden chalice. We went to the studio later that day and Ye was telling Gee [Roberson], ‘Yo, Dilla gave me these drums!’ I forgot what song it ended up being but as soon as we got there, he was working on those songs.”
He added: “Dilla had a lot of love for Ye. And Ye had love for Dilla. It was great to see somebody who was as great as Ye just be like, ‘Dilla gave me these joints!'”
Check out his story at the 19:30 mark below.
Kanye West previously discussed meeting J Dilla in the 2013 Stones Throw documentary Our Vinyl Weighs a Ton, where he told the same story from his perspective.
“I met J Dilla at Common’s crib just down the street here in L.A.,” he said. “They were staying together and I just remember looking at that MPC. And those drums came out of that MPC, arguably the best drums in Hip Hop history. I just remember vibing with him and having so much respect and just wanting to work with him more.”
Kanye also gushed over the nuances of Dilla’s revered production: “He had the organic feel but still the sonics were breakthrough, and he could give you a warm sound that still cut through speakers. It’s like he was making Quincy Jones production sessions inside his MPC.”
Neither Common nor Kanye revealed when the meeting took place, but both producers worked on the Chicago rapper’s 2005 album Be. Dilla passed away the following year after suffering from a rare blood disease and lupus.
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Common, who has also collaborated with the likes of No ID, Q-Tip, DJ Premier and The Neptunes, is currently forging another creative partnership with a legendary Hip Hop producer.
The 51-year-old is set to release a new album with Pete Rock that he says is inspired by classic ’90s Hip Hop like A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul and Brand Nubian.
