Hailing from San Diego, “bonafide sample chopper, storyteller, and bar dropper” recently released “The Sound (Dilla Tribute)” as an ode to someone who has influenced him musically – the legendary producer J Dilla. February marks not only J Dilla’s birthday month (2/7/74) but also the release of his last project (not including posthumous releases) “Donuts” 12 years ago, which blessed the ears of fans just a few short days prior to his death. Thus, it is an honor to feature the talent of someone who was not only influenced by J Dilla but also helps to keep his legacy alive. But before you get into the track, see El Blue’s response when he was asked how J Dilla has inspired his craft:
“Ahhhh… Dilla was everything for me as a producer. He showed me the possibilities of how much I can do with a sample. The man gave us freedom in terms of sample choice and really showed off how anything can be chopped. The whole mystique behind Dilla lead to my initial interest, but I just took it and ran with it from there. I consider myself a versatile artist and Dilla is a main reason why. He had so many styles ranging from soul, to jazz, to electronic, to funk, to neo soul… I mean that made me say “Imma be the same way… Imma do it all” and I do now. Beyond Dilla’s sampling ability, he made me realize how important it is to learn how to play instruments and sample yourself, which is something I do all the time. Freedom was the biggest thing Dilla gave me.”
– El Blue
R.I.H. James Dewitt Yancey aka J Dilla. And, El Blue, thank you for allowing TGSofHH to feature your tribute and keeping J Dilla’s legacy alive.
El Blue is working on his next project “two sides”, which TGSoHH can’t wait to hear, but in the meantime, you can enjoy listening to the sound chopper’s music on bandcamp and SoundCloud.
