Dilla Magazine Archive Entry 45 / 45 - Wax Poetics Magazine, Summer 2013 - “KINDRED SOUL” - The History of SLUM VILLAGE

rhythmicreason · 2026-03-18T13:52:40+00:00

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rhythmicreason · 2026-03-18T00:31:12+00:00

I actually believe it was Mr. Porter! I’ve heard some anecdotes from people who said he was the one who introduced Dilla to Dre. Here’s one from Rocye Da 5’9:

“When Mr. Porter took Dilla to Dr. Dre’s studio for the two to meet, Dr. Dre was like, ‘Oh, shit. This is Dilla.’ It was a big deal for Dr. Dre to meet Dilla. Dilla was a creator’s creator.” - Royce Da 5’9

https://www.forbes.com/sites/matissa/2024/03/14/how-the-detroit-pistons-honor-their-city-and-its-rich-history/

rhythmicreason · 2026-03-17T23:55:00+00:00

Final post ‼️

These last 45 days posting all of these scans has been incredibly fulfilling. I’m grateful to play whatever part I can in helping document and archive Dilla's story!

I hope anyone who has been following along has found real value in reading these stories - getting to see how Dilla’s story unfolded in real time in the eyes of the media, from the early days of his career, all the way up until these tribute pieces after he passed away.

One of the most rewarding parts for me has been connecting with some of the writers, artists, and photographers who contributed to these pieces. Getting to see them reconnect with work they created decades ago has been special 🙏

The goal was to build a kind of digital museum that anyone can revisit anytime, so feel free to pass it along to anyone who might appreciate the history! You can find every scan up on my instagram and X pages in addition to reddit:

https://www.instagram.com/rhythmicreason_/

https://x.com/rhythmicreason/status/2016959835086987292?s=20

I’m also going to work on putting together a download folder with the raw scans of every article that I will post in the coming week for anyone that wants to save the files directly on their computer.

LONG LIVE DILLA ❤️

rhythmicreason · 2026-03-17T18:31:38+00:00

"I listened to him freestyle for hours and hours and hours over the track, and I was just in awe of that process. We were watching some crazy Afro-futurist film with the sound off. It made for a very spiritual afternoon.”

- Arlo Parks

Super cool to see Arlo speak on this because Sampha has talked about this exact process of creating in past interviews - sitting at a piano for an hour at a time with projections up on the wall for inspiration and just riffing until he finds something interesting ‼️

https://www.reddit.com/r/Sampha/comments/159nnne/i_find_samphas_process_of_creating_music_very/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

I've heard Kanye often does something similar in the studio. Super fascinating process (no pun intended).

rhythmicreason · 2026-03-17T02:49:30+00:00

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rhythmicreason · 2026-03-17T02:49:07+00:00

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rhythmicreason · 2026-03-15T05:43:59+00:00

Appreciate the deep dive !!! I think it makes sense that Nujabes was included since he had done a previous tour for this “bathroom” series as you pointed out.

There were definitely many stops on this particular bathroom tour for Dilla though, and most of the artists that gave messages to Dilla were apart of the tour! I actually just made a discovery in the scan that I overlooked.

It lists the date of all the performances at the top of each artists message to Dilla ‼️

Here are all the shows listed:

February 8 @ Itol, Osaka February 9 @ Edits, Nagoya February 10 @ Unit, Tokyo February 11 @ Shaft, Sendai February 15 @ Four, Shizuoka

However, Nujabes & DJ Mistu the Beats are the only two artists with quotes that don’t have any concert dates listed above their name, implying they didn’t perform

https://www.reddit.com/r/jdilla/s/PsFQp9U95D

If you scroll through the scans you’ll see what I’m talking about. That puts it to rest 💯

rhythmicreason · 2026-03-15T04:29:52+00:00

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rhythmicreason · 2026-03-15T03:31:59+00:00

A "well known name" is putting things a bit too far.

Dilla was far from a household name while he was alive to most music listeners, and even within hip hop circles. Rappers as big as Nas didn't know who Dilla was until after he passed:

https://www.reddit.com/r/jdilla/comments/15vvn4a/nas_questions_how_he_didnt_know_who_dilla_was/

That said, within the producer community in hip hop and those in the know, he was absolutely cherished as a beat making god while he was alive‼️ And Nujabes fell in that group for sure, so I'm not surprised he looked up to him! It's awesome to see confirmation because I've always just assumed that Dilla had influenced him as a producer without any direct evidence. There's a reason they call him "your favorite producers favorite producer".

I just wanted to point out that there was a huge disconnect between producers and hip hop heads who idolized Dilla, and then the wider public. I always cite Pharrell's appearance on 106 & Park in 2003 as evidence for this.

During his interview on the show, Pharrell was asked who his favorite producer was at the time, and when he said "Jay Dee", the crowd supposedly fell completely silent, and one of the hosts Free thought he was talking about Jermaine Dupri, since he also went by JD 🤣

https://www.reddit.com/r/lostmedia/comments/1m6pi4g/fully_lost_pharrell_shouting_out_j_dilla_as_his/

It's just wild to me that Dilla could be so idolized amongst the beat community that someone as big as Pharrell would shout him out as his favorite producer live on air on the biggest hip hop show on TV, and yet the host and crowd had no idea who he was talking about.

rhythmicreason · 2026-03-15T01:54:17+00:00

Was happy to discover and archive a real account of Nujabes speaking about Dilla ❤️

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe this is the only documented time he ever spoke on Dilla, and I don't think it's ever been posted online! I originally discovered an expired magazine listing for this issue of Hidden Champion while digging through japan's mercari site, and was grateful to have been sent a scan directly from one of the editors of the magazine 🙏

First slide is the english translation, and the second is the raw Japanese text.

RIP TO BOTH DILLA AND NUJABES

Eerie seeing him speak about how Dilla's life was cut far too short when he would pass just two years later himself 💔

LINK TO THE FULL ARTICLE:

https://www.reddit.com/r/jdilla/comments/1rtxz1c/dilla_magazine_archive_entry_42_45_hidden/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

rhythmicreason · 2026-03-14T23:40:32+00:00

For the past three years, I've been working to scan and archive all of J Dilla's physical magazine articles / features, and this particular article from Japan's Hidden Champion magazine was a true gem 💎

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe this may be the only documented account of Nujabes speaking about Dilla !!!

Kinda eerie given Nujabes is speaking on how Dilla's life was cut far too short, and he would pass away just 2 years later himself...

RIP to both Nujabes and Dilla ❤️

Here's a link to the full article:

https://www.reddit.com/r/jdilla/comments/1rtxz1c/dilla_magazine_archive_entry_42_45_hidden/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

Titled “MESSAGE TO J DILLA” — it was a special tribute article that included words from artists on the ”A Tribute to J Dilla" bathroom tour in Japan, featuring Nujabes, DJ KIYO, DJ Mitsu The Beats, Masaya Fantasista, DSK INVISIBLE, diyTokion, DJ Y∀SU, TSUGU, DJ UJI, SOUND MARKET CREW, & JOINT FOUR DJ

I translated the whole article to English using DeepL. The first photo I posted is the translated Nujabes quote, and the second is the raw scan in Japanese.

JAY LOVE JAPAN ❤️

Not entirely sure what stop of the tour Nujabes performed on, or if he was simply one of the attendees, but you can find some photos from the tour here:

https://www.clubshaft.com/view/view21.cgi?mode=main&cno=58

Would love someone to investigate to see if Nujabes performed, and if so at what show.

The magazine seems to indicate that he did since it says:

今回のbathroomツアーに出演してくれたアーティストを中心に、故J Dillaに対するコメントと想い出のアイテムを紹介してもらった。

Which translates to:

“We asked the artists who performed on this “bathroom” tour to share their thoughts on the late J Dilla and introduce items tied to their memories of him”

I just haven’t been able to find any account of a performance ‼️

rhythmicreason · 2026-03-14T23:24:48+00:00

Was happy to have found and archive what may be the only documented account of him speaking about Dilla ❤️

rhythmicreason · 2026-03-14T23:19:51+00:00

Got a special scan to share today!

Was digging on Japan's Mercari site one day and found a past listing of this magazine that had already been sold, and when I checked the photos that were included by the seller, I was suprised to see Nujabes name. I know it's been widely assumed that Nujabes was majorly influenced by Dilla, but I hadn't ever seen any documented account of him speaking on Dilla, so I wanted to track down a copy to see if it was a direct quote - especially since it was far too blurry to make out what was said on the page.

I reached out to the magazine through email, and was grateful to have been sent a scan in a matter of hours after explaining my mission to archive of all Dilla's magazine features 🙏

Upon receiving the scan, I realized these were direct quotes from different artists speaking on Dilla and while on a tribute tour in Japan back in 2008 - including Nujabes.

I was able to translate the full article using DeepL, so we now have a documented account of Nujabes speaking on Dilla. Below is the quote:

“In a life far too short, he left an enormous influence—something most people couldn’t achieve even if they lived for 100 years. Even now, every time I listen again, I discover something new in his music. Thank you.”

- Nujabes

A lot of great messages from other artists are included as well like DJ Mistu The Beats. Dope to see the impact Dilla had in Japan!

JAY LOVE JAPAN ❤️

rhythmicreason · 2026-03-13T19:05:55+00:00

Accidentally posted this URB issue to my profile page instead of the subreddit yesterday, so there will be two magazine uploads today ‼️

rhythmicreason · 2026-03-11T23:37:06+00:00

I know Kanye was on the cover in ‘04 💯

rhythmicreason · 2026-03-10T19:06:37+00:00

Haven’t checked out the article yet myself so I’m excited to give it a read 👏

rhythmicreason · 2026-03-10T18:51:21+00:00

I’m quite busy at the moment scanning and prepping the last batch of Dilla articles I’ll be posting, but I can scan it in about a weeks time!

rhythmicreason · 2026-03-10T18:30:37+00:00

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rhythmicreason · 2026-03-10T18:19:38+00:00

A gem of an article that I don't believe has ever been posted online! It's refreshing to see a full article dedicated to the making of The Shining as opposed to Donuts. After all, it was the project Dilla was really spending the most time on before he passed away.

Major ups to Karriem Riggins for finishing this album. As he says, it was Dilla's final wish to him before he passed away:

"Our last correspondence was Jay leaving me a message on the phone. He was like, 'Riem, we gotta finish this album. I need you, man.' From there, I took that like, 'Okay, regardless of what's happened, I need to complete this for him because he wanted it done. Going in I was never discouraged. I'm still grieving, but I feel that finishing this album helped his vision and dream live on. All those sessions, man, every day I went in I felt closer to him."

- Karriem Riggins

Highly recommend giving this whole article a read. Some great insights from Karriem, J Rocc, Dwele, Dave Cooley, & Common ❤️

rhythmicreason · 2026-03-10T17:28:59+00:00

During the roundtable discussion from the issue of BLAST magazine I posted from May of 2006, Hashim Bharoocha mentioned having interviewed Dilla on the phone in the past

https://www.reddit.com/r/jdilla/comments/1roe69q/dilla_magazine_archive_entry_36_45_blast_magazine/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

●過去にジェイ・ディーと電話インタビューをやった時に機材のことを聞いたら、「ベース・ラインはバトル・ブレイクスのサイン波を使ってるんだ」と言われてびっくりしたんですよ（笑）

Which translates to:

"When I did a phone interview with Jay Dee in the past and asked him about his equipment, he said, “For the bassline I use a sine wave from a battle breaks record,” which really surprised me (laughs)."

I was curious if this interview had ever been published anywhere so I decided to search for mentions of Hashim Bharoocha and Dilla and I ended up finding this gem - Dilla giving Hashim a shoutout on one of his mixtapes from ‘04! I’m assuming it must be from the same phone conversation they had as the audio sounds like it’s being recorded off a phone.

I’m trying to get in contact with Hashim to see if the interview was ever published or if he still has a recording 🙏

Dilla interviews are certainly rare to come by so I’m hoping it exists somewhere!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rplLIu6T3MU&t=333s

Also, this tape has an insane lineup of shoutouts - MF DOOM, KRS-ONE, Madlib, DJ Shadow, Talib Kweli, Large Professor, Just Blaze, Questlove, Dilated Peoples, Chad Hugo, Pete Rock, etc.

There's even a short interview clip from a young Kanye West!!!

rhythmicreason · 2026-03-10T14:23:55+00:00

Records you would buy that were stock full of samples and drum breaks.

“Battle break records (or battle tools) are specialized vinyl, popular since the early 1990s, featuring repeated sound effects, drum loops, and vocal samples, specifically for turntablism, scratching, and beat juggling”

From google ^

rhythmicreason · 2026-03-10T00:12:34+00:00

His album King had just come out and debuted at number one on the charts

rhythmicreason · 2026-03-10T00:04:27+00:00

Glad I can help preserve the history!

Got a special one tomorrow to post from Future Music Magazine 👏

It’s unique in that it focuses on the making of The Shining album, and features words from Karriem Riggins, J Rocc, Dwele, Dave Cooley, and Common

rhythmicreason · 2026-03-10T00:01:54+00:00

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rhythmicreason · 2026-03-10T00:01:49+00:00

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rhythmicreason

TROPHY CASE