DJ J.Period celebrated J Dilla‘s birthday earlier this month in a unique way: by creating a mixtape mashing up the legendary producer’s beats with classic songs by De La Soul.
Dilla Soul, put out on what would have been Dilla’s 51st birthday, is described as “a re-imagining of De La Soul classics over J Dilla gems and anthems, featuring: De La Soul, J Dilla, Jungle Brothers, A Tribe Called Quest, Black Sheep, MF DOOM, Common and more!!”
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The seven-song EP is available on J.Period’s Bandcamp.
Check out the track “Stop! CoKane Flow” (a combination of Dilla’s “Stop” and De La and MF DOOM’s “Rock Co.Kane Flow”) below.
Dilla’s birthday was also commemorated in his hometown of Detroit this year with his own day.
During a city council meeting on February 4 attended by the late producer’s family, it was announced that Dilla’s birthday, February 7, will hereby be known as “J Dilla Day” in the Motor City.
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It represents the first official municipal acknowledgement of the work and legacy of Dilla, who died in 2006 aged 32 after suffering from the rare blood disease TTP (thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura).
Dilla’s daughter Ja’Mya Yancey expressed her gratitude for the prestigious honor during the council meeting.
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Words cannot describe how grateful we are for this declaration,” she said. “For years, he has been celebrated for the entire month of February all over the city, country and the world.
“My sister [Ty-Monae Whitlow] and I continue to try to uplift and honor his name and legacy, and this is such a monumental step to help us continue on the work he left behind.”
In addition, a street sign commemorating J Dilla’s legacy was unveiled on February 6 on the corner of Nevada and Charest, near his family home in the Conant Gardens neighborhood where he recorded many of his greatest songs.
“This is long overdue for my father,” Ja’Mya Yancey said at the event, per FOX 2 Detroit. “He left it up to us his family to continue to make sure that his genius was not left behind or forgotten about. And that’s exactly what we are doing, have been doing, and will continue to do.”
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“We were out here on foot getting signatures from people and it was so good to see,” she added. “People were like, ‘Oh yeah, I know exactly who you’re talking about, I sure will support it.’”
