Hello Friends,
I’ve been doing deep dives on some great music lately, and not only that - I’ve gotten to speak with several people directly involved with it - I love getting to do this because it’s better than just me, a guy, talking on the internet - it’s bringing in the voices of some of the people who were there.
That’s the idea with the new podcast and second channel - and I’ve recently released several videos and podcasts that tie into each other, and I think you’ll enjoy it.
Last week I released my breakdown of the De La Soul song “Stakes is High” - this was produced by J Dilla, earlier in his career, but later in De La’s. Digging into the samples, I found the same story mirrored twice (later career decisions to make). I dig into this story, recreate the beat, and compare it with the original demo that Posdnous recently shared.
Near the end of this video I talk about the unreleased remix that Dilla did of this song - it’s much more in line with the sound he would later head toward, but it was never officially released - that is until House Shoes bootlegged it (with Dilla’s permission) pressing “Jay Dee Unreleased”, featuring a bunch of incredible remixes that wouldn’t have seen the light of day otherwise, and introducing Dilla as his own artist.
I got to speak with House Shoes, a legendary DJ and Producer about his involvement with Jay Dee Unreleased, the Detroit Hip Hop Scene, his record label Street Corner Music, Fatherhood, and so much more. A clip from this interview was featured in the Stakes is High video, but you’ll want to check out the FULL conversation as well
This was such a great conversation, and it was so great to get to talk to Shoes, nerd out about music, and when I say “Full Interview” - I mean FULL - We talked for an hour and 50 mins - so kick back, relax, and enjoy my conversation with a legendary DJ and Producer.
That De La Soul album also features a song with Common, who was already an artist, would go on to be part of the Soulquarians, and then in 2005 would release one of his best albums, “Be”.
This album was produced mostly by Kanye West, with the exception of 2 songs that Dilla produced. It’s full of incredible 70s Soul samples, and in this video I get allllll the way into it. I talk about where this album falls in Common’s career, dive into the samples used, recreate several songs, and speak with Derrick Hodge, the bassist who played the iconic opening upright bass line.
Now, this is the TIP of the iceberg for Derrick Hodge. He’s an incredible bassist, arranger, and composer who has done everything from arranging live orchestra hip hop shows (one of which I’ve played), playing on legendary albums like Robert Glasper’s Black Radio and Q-Tip’s Renaissance, to conducting the Juneteenth Celebration at the Hollywood Bowl, and SO much more. He’s also currently on tour in support of his latest album, The Color of Noize.
A clip of our conversation appears in the Common video above, but the full conversation… you guessed it - dropping Monday on Digging the Talks (YouTube) and the Digging the Greats Podcast.
I am loving getting to speak directly with more and more people involved in the music I’m talking about, hearing their stories directly, and sharing it with you! And I’ve got even more coming soon that I can’t wait to share.
That’s it from me for this week, I’ll talk to you soon!
Brandon
Oh, actually one last thing - just since you’re on my email list - I’m currently working on a few merch things - so if that interests you, stay tuned - you’ll be the first to hear about it as soon as it’s ready.