I Love You Dilla. | DillaDay on MTVJams!

Just... act like you know.

February 7th, 1974 – February 10th, 2006.

Simply one of the greatest producers that hip hop has ever seen. Mastered and Crafted a sound that is specifically designated and attributed to him. The master of drums and bass lines in a hip hop song. King of the Boom Bap. Could give you something incredibly Hood Hip Hop… but could also make a good pop tune that Janet Jackson could rock to. His sound was legendary and unmatched before his UNTIMELY passing in 2006 from complications from a blood disease and Lupus. At the time, you knew he was sick… but not like that. One of the best things I ever did was attend his memorial… and say goodbye in person. Thanks go to the wonderful woman who is Ma Dukes (Mrs. Maureen Yancey) who allowed us that chance… and Kristen for making me go.

Now the average music nerd (who focused on hip hop) was already aware of who he was and his contributions to music. Maybe he was always appreciated and I didn’t pay attention…. but my biggest worry at the time of his passing was that he would never really be appreciated the way he deserved. However… its been the total opposite. His legend and music has spread exponentially since then… to a level I never thought he would reach. People who don’t know much about hip hop can tell you about Dilla. New generational kids who were born in 1993 are into Dilla and The Pharcyde like they were there to really appreciate it.
I guess it doesn’t matter if he’s not physically here to see the adoration build. His music is here forever… and we know he’s watching.

So with all this in the back of my head, I convinced some higher-ups at MTVJams that they should seriously consider doing a Dilla Block for his birthday today. Nothing but Dilla Produced videos. Anything we could find and get cleared to play. I put together a list of videos that should be played… I’m sure they added their own touch to the block to make it complete. But heres basically the rundown of the Dilla Block that’ll pop up around 6pm PST time…