Not a whole lot of new insight/information here but good to see him get a proper feature in one of the few magazines he probably read and/or cared about. Comments?
1. "RE: Wax Poetics - Dilla issue" In response to Reply # 0
I like how they kept the commentary to a minimum and just let those close to him speak- that was probably the best way to do it. I wish they spoke to Madlib, tho.
'Ma Dukes' anecdote about Dilla and "O.D." had me like O_O !
2. "I appreciated that too" In response to Reply # 1
From what the folks at Stones Throw told me when I was putting my piece together he was just too upset to speak on it and decided not to do any press related to Jay's death. It was the really obvious ommission.
3. "RE: Wax Poetics - Dilla issue" In response to Reply # 0
do yall have advance copies? when does this hti newsstands? I'm in VA, so we may get it a little later. I'm still only seeing the Bill Withers issue down here.
5. "RE: Wax Poetics - Dilla issue" In response to Reply # 3
I got mine at Dusty Groove America here in Chicago. I guess they got 'em a tad early, cuz it's the only place I've seen it so far. The Wax P site says the street date in June 5th.
7. "I wrote the Wax Poetics story..." In response to Reply # 5
And really tried to get people close to Jay instead of random cats with opinions. I also chased Madlib and Pete Rock as much as journalistically (!) possible, but cats are either down or they aren't.
Busta, Tip and Com all returned calls. Pete didn't and Madlib was ghost, despite the best efforts from Wolf, Egon and J.Rocc to get him on board. 'Lib's a different breed, however, and I'm sure Pete had his reasons for passing on contributing. Respect to all of them, though...they are all Jay's people, and still well represented, I think.
The article was very representative of Dilla's friends and peers. I was actually talking to Waajeed about it on Sunday and was saying that it was kind of fitting that all the magazines (Vibe, Source, Elemental, etc.) that ran blip articles on his music ran blip articles on his death. But as the article makes clear, that was never something that Jay really cared about and this was the kind of article he would have checked for (about someone else) and appreciated (about himself). Jeed just said, "Too bad it came too late." Sad but true. Still a solid tribute to his life and work + definitely a necessary collector's piece for all the Dilla scholars out there.
Wax Poetics was fortunate because by being bi-monthly, they could have rushed some b.s., or taken time and did something worthwhile. They chose the latter, and I was just blessed to have the project placed into my hands. The story had been in the works since late 2005, but we had to flip the script once Jay passed.
It was love for Dill (and his music and family) and hard work...no more, no less. I could tell the same thing with your story, and the MTV joint, and my man K-Fresh's piece at Real Detroit Weekly. A couple of others, too. You can tell who put in work, and who just rehashed info from other places. Jay deserved better.
Jeed's my man, too, but he's wrong...it's never too late.
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