« back

j dilla - ruff draft: dilla’s mix - pay jay - tapes

Genre: Hip Hop

1. Track 1
2. Track 2
3. Track 3
4. Track 4
5. Track 5
6. Track 6
7. Track 7
8. Track 8
9. Track 9
10. Track 10
11. Track 11
12. Track 12
13. Track 13
14. Track 14
15. Track 15
16. Track 16
17. Track 17
18. Track 18
19. Track 19
20. Track 20

The producer’s own mixes – recently rediscovered – of his seminal EP, expanded with bonus tracks now available in a collectible cassette edition.

.
When Ruff Draft saw its initial release in 2003, J Dilla possessed production skills on par with anyone in hip-hop – technically and creatively. “At the top of his game,” says longtime friend and collaborator, Karriem Riggins. After years of building while modestly deferring to others of both greater and lesser notoriety, Dilla finally completed the first solo endeavor on his own label, entirely on his own terms. The significance of such an autonomous success
often gets overlooked, and partly accounts for why Ruff Draft is one of the lesser-referenced entries in Dilla’s oeuvre. “It’s a mysterious little project,” says his mother, Maureen Yancey. “But out of his entire career, that was the happiest time.”

Prior to recording the EP, Dilla found himself at a crossroads. Estranged from his label, MCA, and separated from the mother of his youngest daughter, frustration abounded both personally and professionally. Dilla spent parts of 2002 and 2003 working on an album for MCA that featured his rapping over contributions from other producers with whom he had connected and whose music he respected. At the time, he was known primarily for his beats, yet
reviled for his MCing by most anyone not from his hometown of Detroit. The project was to be an intentional freak
of the industry.

The project would go on to spur his collaborative album with Madlib, Jaylib, and would first showcase the template that he would take to his greatest heights with 2006’s Donuts. The Stones Throw reissue of Ruff Draft from 2008 featured remixes of the songs from the album, done without Dilla’s involvement. This version of the album takes Dilla’s recently discovered mixes of the album and restores his vision for the project.

Tracklist:

A1 Intro 0:19
A2 Let's Take It Back 2:11
A3 Reckless Driving 2:42
A4 Nothing Like This 2:34
A5 The $ 2:44
A6 Interlude
Featuring – Dank (2)
0:52
A7 Make'em NV 2:25
A8 Interlude
Featuring – Lil-Bit(ch)*
0:45
A9 Crushin' (Yeeaah) 3:43
A10 Shouts 0:51
B1 Intro (Alt) 0:46
B2 Wild 2:19
B3 Reckless Driving 2:42
B4 Nothing Like This 2:35
B5 The $ 2:44
B6 Take Notice
Featuring – Guilty Simpson
4:26
B7 Make'em NV 2:25
B8 Interlude 0:45
B9 Crushin' (Yeeaah) 3:44
B10 Rock On 1:53