To this day, I still feel like its backwards how so many people love Dilla’s music with out Dilla becoming a household name like Dre, Timbo, Primo, etc. My feeling is that it sadly yet simply comes down to numbers and sheer sales. Most of Dilla’s fame has come from people who have heard his music LOVED it but never made it to the store to actually pick it up — which SUCKS. After hearing Fantastic Vol. 2 there was no way I wasn’t owning every piece of work he was associated with. Maybe it’s just timing; his music really started to pop off around the early Napster days back when Like Water For Chocolate and Amplified we’re dropping. So maybe the internet is to blame? I don’t know…Anyways, peep what Dilla’s manager has to say about it…I agree with home completely.

I catch a lot of slack for this but “The Love Movement” has always been my favorite Tribe album. Don’t get me wrong, “People’s Instinctive Travels…” and “Beats Rhymes and Life” are VERY close behind. Love Movement just has this smooth, consistent style about it that sets it two or three notches above their other projects in my mind. For me, the sound of the short-lived production team “The Ummah” IS this album which is why this is such a staple Tribe album.

On a seemingly unrelated note, the other day I stumbled on to this joint called: Love, Sex, and The Zodiac by Cannonball Adderley. First things first; that cover caught my eye instantly. I will always love the 70s for being able to add a touch of class to any record cover that featured a naked woman with an afro. The naked afro woman image seems to always make for a good record cover.

Next, I went to listen in on the music, and at first, I wasn’t incredibly impressed. Rick Holmes delivers some pretty entertaining monologues about Astrology and how it pertains to the Sex/Love life of each the 12 signs. The intro had a descent drum break in the beginning, but other than that, musically it seemed like a rather typical jazz LP. That is until I reached the end of the first half. Bam! The Original sample for Tribe’s “Steppin’ It Up” featuring Busta and Redman. I totally flipped when I heard it because, that weird bass/synth sound comes in on the very first 10 secs of the track, right before Rick comes in and starts his jibber jabbering. Dilla chopped the hell out of it! Dilla’s originals always pop up in places you never expect them, which is why I flipped again when I reached the end of the second side to find the original keys from “Pad & My Pen”!!! Again Dilla chopped up that first 10 secs and totally disguises it. The part that gives it away is that brush cymbal sound that you can hear in the beginning of “Pad & My Pen.” Next, I went back to see if there was anything more on this record that I missed the first go round. That open drum break on “Introduction” has to be the Snare that Dilla used on “Steppin’ It Up” and probably a few other tracks off of “The Love Movement”. There’s at least three more bits and pieces on this record that sound like they were used by Dilla.

How rare is it to find a Dilla original and on top of that 2 of them on the same record!

Once I was done listening I started looking at the record cover design again. Thats when I noticed how the Tribe cover designs revolve around Astrological symbols just like this Adderley record. Pretty incredible if you ask me. Not sure how this came about. If I ever meet Tip, I’ll ask him.

(Not album covers).
A hand full of inspired beat makers/musician/producers have put together their own variations of songs produced by Dilla. Listen to a few of my favorites below including a blend that I put together a few years back.

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Check out DJ Spinna & Phonte on Myspace.

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Hear more from Robert Glasper at his website and his Myspace page..

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Hear more from Carlos Nino and Miguel Atwood Ferguson here.

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