Having J Dilla as an older brother would surely be a troubling task for any budding emcee/producer to face, but Jay Dee’s younger Illa J hasn’t let that stop him thus far. The younger Yancy brother recently spoke to AllHipHop.com about his recently released EP 4 Past Mid Nite, which is currently available for purchase via iTunes, and how the project finds him stepping out from under the shadow of Dilla.
“This album we have a sense of direction,” Illa J said. “[We are] kind of stepping away from the box, just on the real, the Dilla box that I was in. [We are] going just a little bit left, but still Hip Hop, still soul.” (AllHipHop.com)
Illa J also talked about working with producer Young RJ on the EP. Yancy says that RJ – who has worked extensively with Slum Village, Black Milk, G-Unit and others – is carrying on the tradition that his older brother upheld throughout his career s a producer.
“He’s a very underrated producer,” he said. “They still don’t realize, this is me saying this as Dilla being my brother. If anybody he was truly passing the torch to, I hate to [say] this, [but] it really would be RJ.” (AllHipHop.com)
