It was J Dilla’s birthday Feb. 7, the man many agree was the best hiphop/R&B producer of all time, and today is the anniversary of his death (by blood disease) in 2006. In his time with us, the low-key beat giant heavily influenced all “urban” musics, as well as dozens of dance music splinter genres, and will continue to do so for decades. His sample-based compositions ranged from smooth and meditative to wildly experimental, and especially for young producers today, worldwide, it’s hard to find a more God-like figure.

To salute Dilla’s life and music, Renton 20-somethings 10-4 Roger (Roger Habon) and DJ Sosa (Tony Sosa) created dillasalute.com, which launched at midnight this morning. It offers five remixes by Habon (trust me or ask around: the man has a way with a remix) and 73 minutes of Dilla tracks mixed live by Sosa. Full tracklisting is at the site, but in an email, Habon wrote the mix was structured thusly:

1) dilla productions for other artists 2) work with slum village 3) dilla’s relationship with his brother illa j and madlib as jaylib 4) dilla’s own rhyming career.

In the near future, I’ll post impressions of the mix and break down some of the remixes. Right now, I need to listen. Props to Sosa and Habon, @blakediamond for producing dillasalute.com and Valerie Penera for the site’s superclean design, and most importantly R.I.P. J Dilla.

By Andrew Matson

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