J Dilla is back from the dead once again.
Since his passing in 2006, the legendary beat maker has had his collection of music slowly released. The past few years have seen the delivery of “The King of Beats” series, “Dillatronic” and “Rebirth of Detroit” — but The Diary is special.
This is the previously unsurfaced tape of J Dilla’s vocal displays over beats from legends such as Pete Rock, Madlib and of course, himself.
The Diary is an album featuring J Dilla’s vocals that he wanted released, but was sadly shelved back in 2001 or 2002. Thanks to Nas and Mass Appeal, however, we are graced once again by the brilliance of J Dilla.
Back when Dilla was in his prime, the man was a musical machine, pumping out tracks for brilliant acts like A Tribe Called Quest and Common — so it’s always special to appreciate music under his own name.
To be clear, The Diary is not Donuts. Never will there ever be a project comparable to Donuts, but nonetheless, The Diary holds its own as another great J Dilla collection.
A lot of tracks on The Diary have been previously released after J Dilla’s short career, but finally, there has been an official release where all of his music is in one, easily accessible place.
Most tracks are virtually the original from the early 2000s, but Mass Appeal has created a new J Dilla album, digging through his music and publishing a completely hidden album.
The album opens up with dueling synths on the introductory track, making a fleeting, yet devoted beat. What sparks the intro, however, is J Dilla’s flow on the opening line.
J Dilla heads will probably recognize some of the tracks, starting with “Fuck the Police.” This was one of the tracks that had been released prior to J Dilla’s passing. It would be an honor to hear the intricate live drumline accompanied by a funky flute line — you don’t hear that everyday.
Mass Appeal also added the “The Shining Pt. 2,” as it is referred to on The Diary. A Jaylib (J Dilla/Madlib) creation, Madlib’s usual genius is there with the decrescendo-ing synth bass and that brief sample of “Champs” by The Mohawkes. It’s reasons like these that J Dilla’s music will live on because of the legacy left behind in tracks like “Ice.”
Along with released classics like “Fuck the Police,” “The Shining Pt. 1” and “The Shining Pt. 2,” and added tracks such as the soulful “So Far,” “G-Funk Gangsta Boogie” featuring Snoop Dogg and the obscure “Trucks,” The Diary is the essential always-original J Dilla compilation.
This is not J Dilla’s Donuts, for that will always be the legendary album to use in reference to his genius. But The Diary should not be held out of this conversation. Just as with all other J Dilla posthumous albums — except Donuts — The Diary does not deserve a ranking or rating, for his impact on music is too important as a whole to be weighed against his and other people’s music.
As Snoop Dogg said in a recent interview about J Dilla, “One thing about people who [are] ahead of their time, they don’t even know they [are] ahead of their time — they are just playing the game.” As usual, rest in beats J Dilla.
