J Dilla - Ruff Draft

Fans of Dilla's early work with Slum Village and A Tribe Called Quest followed him loyally into the new sonic territories of the Champion Sound LP he produced with Madlib, as his traditional, jazzy boom-bap morphed into sample-heavy, synthesizer and organ-led experimentation. The rougher textures of the Stones Throw canon's sound recall the well-worn, fuzzed-out atmosphere of mixtapes on C90s; of records with grooves that pop and click with static, a testament to their authenticity. So to Ruff Draft, a rarity from the Dilla archives, being given a posthumous release. Much of Ruff Draft paves the way for the Jaylib collaborations; the influence of Madlib's production is ever-present. Dilla's cut and paste reductionism was a stylistic turning point in hip-hop, combining the downlow gangster attitude with dusty underground breaks and intricate, deceptively chaotic arrangements. Dilla could make any sample bang – on Wild, a badly-quantized infant sings Slade, while Dilla chants: "Get wild." As seminal a producer as Pete Rock or Premier, Dilla was a true innovator. [Bram Gieben]