Tuesday, February 14, 2006

Funeral Services For Producer J Dilla To Take Place In Los Angeles

Funeral services for Detroit rapper/producer J Dilla, who died Friday (Feb. 10) of complications from lupus, will take place this week in Los Angeles. He was 32.
A viewing for J Dilla, born James Yancey, will be held Monday (Feb. 13), followed by a funeral on Tuesday (Feb. 14).
A memorial concert is also being planned.
Sources told AllHipHop.com that rappers Q-Tip and Common are among the
concert organizers, though the venue has yet to be determined.J Dilla, also known as "Jay Dee," was a founding member of the rap trio Slum Village. He left the group in 2003 to pursue a solo career and has since produced songs for Common, Erykah Badu, Busta Rhymes, The Roots, De La Soul, The Pharcyde and others.In 2004, J Dilla revealed that he had kidney problems and in 2005, the rapper spent a considerable amount of time in the hospital fighting the disease, which causes the immune system to attack the body's own tissue and organs, including the brain, heart, lungs, blood, kidneys, skin and other vital organs.According to the Lupus Foundation of America, approximately 1.5 million Americans have a form of the disease, which affects men and women of all ages.
Lupus is two to three times more common among African-Americans, Hispanics, Asians and Native Americans.
In the most severe lupus cases, the immune system cannot tell the difference between foreign substances and its own cells and tissue. The immune system then creates antibodies to protect against its "self."Before his death, J Dilla had been working on The Shining, the follow-up to his 2001 solo debut Welcome To Detroit.
The album was slated to drop independently, via BBE in June.
While in the hospital and in his home studio, J Dilla also crafted the recently released instrumental album, Donuts."Jay was one of my favorite Hip-Hop producers of all time," said BBE Founder Peter Adarkwah. "His passion for music was a rare thing amongst people in the music industry. His music and presence will be sorely missed for many years to come." Detroit rapper Guilty Simpson, who worked with J Dilla on various projects, is featured on The Shining.
"J Dilla was the best to do it. He influenced a whole movement in Hip-Hop," Simpson told AllHipHop.com. "There isn't a top-notch producer in the game [who] wasn't influenced by his sound. I just appreciate being able to work with him and soak up some of the knowledge he gave me. He will never be forgotten."