This Youtube Channel Has Been Uploading J Dilla Rarities for Months
A trove of obscure instrumentals from the late producer has surfaced.
In the 15 years since J Dilla died, the internet and his estate have worked, at times in tandem, to excavate the producer’s vault. Yet, year after year, an unheard beat or two still manages to manifest by way of a peer or devoted collector. And occasionally, a few dozen rarities will all land in one place.
Take for instance, a Youtube channel run by a user named LA Trojan, where a trove of obscure instrumental and edits from the producer can be found. There’s standouts from the countless batches that circulated in the early phases of the rap blog era, unreleased Slum Village demos, and even a few beat tapes uploaded in full. So if you’ve been itching to fill some gaps in your personal collection, or hell, just need a soundtrack for a weekend afternoon, look no further. There’s more than enough heat to keep you busy until the next posthumous collections drop (which have been fewer and farther between in recent years.)
For those in search of more polished (read: remastered,) pieces from the archive, a 25th-anniversary “deluxe” edition of Busta Rhymes‘ debut album, The Coming, was released this week, featuring the first digital releases of three J Dilla remixes, previously only available on the 12″ versions of “Woo Hah” and “It’s a Party.” Additionally, in celebration of the late producer’s own solo debut, Welcome 2 Detroit, a 20th-anniversary edition was released in January with nine previously unreleased alternate versions of songs from the album, along with reinterpretations from Azymuth and DJ Muro.
Scroll through some selections from the newly unearthed archive below and head over to LA Trojan’s Youtube page to hear them while you still can. Chances are they won’t be up for much longer.