R.I.P JayDee...

JayDee 1974-2006

As you may have heard already over the weekend, one of Hip-Hop’s greatest producers JayDee sadly passed away on Friday due to complications from lupus. Late last year he was in the UK and fans were shocked to be greeted with the man carried on stage and performing from a wheelchair. At the start of last year he spent time critically ill in hospital but managed to come through and until those London gigs seemed to have come through the bad times. Long-term friend and fellow founding member of Slum Village T-3 lead the tributes from his myspace pages and JayDee’s label Stones Throw carried this message on their site:

Quote: “It is with great sorrow that the Family and Friends of J Dilla announces his spiritual transition on the morning of February 10th, 2006 in the loving arms of his mother, Maureen Yancey.

J Dilla had suffered for over three years with an incurable blood disease, and had also been diagnosed with lupus.

A public viewing (closed casket) will take place Monday, February 13, 2006, 430PM-900PM at Forest Lawn Memorial Parks and Mortuaries, 1712 South Glendale Avenue, Glendale, CA 91205.
A private funeral will follow.”

The producer/rapper was a founding member of the group Slum Village as well as working with the likes of Q-Tip, D’Angelo and more recently on Common’s critically acclaimed Be – last week on his 32nd birthday he released his second solo project called Donuts.

R.I.P JayDee – Hip-Hop won’t be the same without those soulful sounds of his.