Album Review: J Dilla Rebirth Of Detroit

The passing of Dilla, real name James Yancey, created a massive hole in the global hip hop community. In a world of ridiculous egos Dilla kept his remarkably in-check, quietly producing classics for the big names in hip hop from the mid-'90s right up until the tragedy of his early death a decade later.

The posthumous record has been assembled by a team instigated by his mother to ultimately raise money for his family while bringing to life some of the rumoured hundreds or thousands of unreleased beats that he left behind. It also features strictly Detroit-based rappers, with performances that all seem to be acknowledging the project – it's not a hastily assembled cash in. Musically it's a wide cross section of what he's capable of – smooth jazz-flecked soul with Amp Fiddler on Let's Pray Together, Boldy James on My Victory, House Shoes Was Spinning with Quelle Chris and the Dilla blueprint sound on Detroit Madness.

There's no shortage of hard and dark hip hop either, Big Thangs with Esham is bold, minimal and comes in hard as the second track. City Of Boom explodes and the appearances of Loe Louis and Beej are welcome elsewhere on the record as well. Do It Right has a glitched-out beat and multiple synth attacks allowing his more experimental side to come through.

There's so many other big Detroit names like Guilty Simpson, Danny Brown and Chuck Inglish from Cool Kids who all chime in with substantial contributions, but everyone who steps up to mic does so with a genuine respect for one of the true innovators and a real artist of the genre.