Pay Jay Productions
| J Dilla | |
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J Dilla in 2005
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | James Dewitt Yancey |
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| Born |
February 7, 1974 Detroit, Michigan |
| Died | February 10, 2006 (aged 32) Los Angeles, California |
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| Years active | 1993–2006 |
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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 and rapper who emerged from the mid-1990s underground hip hop scene in Detroit, Michigan as one third of the acclaimed music group Slum Village. According to his obituary at NPR, he "was one of the music industry's most influential hip-hop artists", working with big-name acts including A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, Busta Rhymes, Erykah Badu, The Roots, The Pharcyde and Common. Yancey died in 2006 of the blood disease thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura.
James Yancey was born in Detroit, Michigan. He was the eldest of four children, including a sister, Martha, and two brothers, Earl and John; John later began doing music as Illa J. The family lived at a corner house near McDougall and Nevada, on the east side of Detroit. He developed a vast musical knowledge from his parents—his mother is a former opera singer and his father was a jazz bassist. According to his mother, he could "match pitch perfect harmony" by "two-months old," to the amazement of musician friends and relatives. He began collecting vinyl at the age of two and would be allowed to spin records in the park, an activity he enjoyed tremendously as a child.
Along with a wide range of musical genres, Yancey developed a passion for hip hop music. After transferring from Davis Aerospace Technical High School to Detroit Pershing High School, he met classmates T3 and Baatin, and became friends with them through mutual love of rap battles. The three formed a rap group called Slum Village. He also took up beatmaking using a simple tape deck as the center of his studio. During these teenage years he "stayed in the basement alone" with his ever-growing collection of records, perfecting his craft.
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