{"id":5541,"date":"2018-10-31T12:00:09","date_gmt":"2018-10-31T16:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/splice.com\/blog\/?p=5541"},"modified":"2019-08-06T15:31:08","modified_gmt":"2019-08-06T19:31:08","slug":"around-the-world-jay-dee-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/splice.com\/blog\/around-the-world-jay-dee-part-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Around the World with Jay Dee: Part 1 – South America"},"content":{"rendered":"
Illustration:\u00a0Jeremy Leung<\/a><\/h6>\n

\u201cIt’s a fusion with Dilla, with whatever he would do, and he evolved from one type of music to another. It was like he was just traveling the globe, because it was always a change in something he was doing.\u201d – Ma Dukes, mother of Jay Dee<\/em><\/h1>\n

Jay Dee (aka J Dilla)\u2019s crate-digging was not unlike the great globetrotters of our time – plucking sounds and flavors from all types of music across the globe. This week, we explore Jay Dee\u2019s world of sample choices in \u201cAround the World with Jay Dee,\u201d starting with South America and his love for Brazilian jazz.<\/p>\n

Our “Around the World with Jay Dee” series is powered in partnership with WhoSampled.com<\/a>, the world’s largest community for fans of sampled music, cover songs, and remixes.<\/em><\/p>\n

Brazil<\/h2>\n

\u201cI fell in love with Brazilian music the day I listened to a S\u00e9rgio Mendes album,\u201d Jay Dee recalled on the liner notes for his debut album, Welcome 2 Detroit.<\/a><\/em> \u201cWe used to have jam sessions in the studio after work was done, and one day my man Karriem Riggins came through. I asked him for \u2018bossa nova\u2019. He gave me exactly what I needed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Known for its rhythmic sophistication, it\u2019s no surprise that Brazilian music has lent itself so abundantly to Jay Dee\u2019s sampling. He was one of the greatest proponents of this cultural exchange, circling back to the sounds of Rio, S\u00e3o Paulo, and Bahia. The South American polyrhythms and tranquil textures beyond Brazil have made their way into some of Jay Dee\u2019s most beloved works as well.<\/p>\n

Mad Skillz\u2019 \u201cIt\u2019s Going Down\u201d samples \u201cBoa Palavra\u201d by Sergio Mendes.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Before the Detroit-born MC Mad Skillz allied himself with Missy Elliot, Timbaland, and The Neptunes, his debut LP on Atlantic enlisted the production skills of Jay Dee, perhaps most memorably on \u201cIt\u2019s Goin Down.\u201d The record\u2019s bossa nova\/boom-bap fusion is fueled by a Sergio Mendes sample. Mendes\u2019 landmark 1968 LP, Favourite Things<\/em>, was the source from which Jay Dee plucked the silky 2-bar loop of \u201cBoa Palavra.\u201d<\/p>\n