James Yancey a.k.a. Jay Dee a.k.a. J Dilla produced 3 of my favorite hip hop albums- De La Soul’s Stakes Is High, Slum Village’s Fantastic Volume II, and Pharcyde’s Labcabincalifornia. He passed away just a couple of years ago, but he was one of the best. Too many people hadn’t heard of him until after he died. Some of his music was sample-free, while some of it was masterfully crafted with samples. One of Dilla’s most recognized tracks is “Runnin’” on Labcab. Dilla built the track around samples he masterfully took from Stan Getz and Luiz Bonfa’s “Suadade Vem Correndo” originally released in 1963. The original is classic Stan Getz and the way Dilla uses it is just genius.
Stan Getz & Luiz Bonfa – Suadade Vem Correndo
Pharcyde – Runnin’ (Philippians Remix)
