THANK YOU JAY DEE
Sure Shot @ Gwdihw, Cardiff
Fri 5 Feb
Sure Shot was one of the best nights at Gwdihw, and their December party with Mr Thing was touted as their last dance. Ironically – this one-off night rises from the grave to pay tribute to J Dilla, the trailblazing and prolific Detroit hip-hop pioneer whose tragically foreshortened musical journey is spoken about with reverence by those that know.
James Dewitt Yancey died much too young, at the age of 32, back in 2006. A super-producer who changed the way the music sounded, Dilla’s legacy continues through the thousands of musicians and artists he affected. Shoulder-bumping grooves and liquid soul simmers in his music – it’s undeniable that he was carrying the weight of generations of black American music, and he used sampling technology in a masterfully expressive meeting of playful rhythms and powerfully soulful, often poignant, vocals and instrumentation.
Starting off in the group Slum Village, Jay Dee went on to produce for A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, Busta Rhymes, Erykah Badu, The Roots, The Pharcyde and Common. In short, he was a big part of dictating the form hip-hop took as it moved into the 21st century, paving the way for Flying Lotus and the LA beat scene as well as many others. The music will be supplied by some of the local Cardiff scene’s best-loved DJs – Darkhouse Fam, Dan Marshall of Modula FM, Double Cee and Miles Day.
Admission: £4. Info: 029 2039 7933
words GWYN THOMAS DE CHROUSTCHOFF