
Pay Jay
J Dilla - Ruff Draft: Dilla’s Mix
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-
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
Dillaís
involvement.
This
version
of
the
album
takes
Dillaís
mixes
of
the
album
and
restores
his
vision
for
the
project.
“Straight
from
the
mothafuckin’
cassette,”
as
he
phrased
the
sound
he
was
going
for
on
the
EP’s
intro.
A1.
Intro
A2.
Let's
Take
It
Back
A3.
Reckless
Driving
A4.
Nothing
Like
This
A5.
The
$
B1.
Interlude
(feat.
Dank)
B2.
Make'em
NV
B3.
Interlude
B4.
Crushin'
(YEEEAAH!)
B5.
Shouts
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