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Prod. Roy ayers❤️

 

BBE Music announces a special 20th Anniversary edition of one of the most important records in the label’s history: J Dilla’s Welcome 2 Detroit, presented in a deluxe 7” vinyl box set boasting instrumentals, two brand new interpretations by Azymuth and Muro, a stash of previously unreleased alternative mixes and studio outtakes pressed over 12 discs, plus a book revealing the album’s hidden story, told by those who were there. First issued by BBE Music on Monday 26th of February 2001, Welcome 2 Detroit was James Dewitt Yancey aka Jay Dee’s first solo outing and the debut appearance of his new ‘J Dilla’ moniker (bestowed on him by none other than Busta Rhymes). The album also inaugurated the producer-led Beat Generation album series, which would later spawn classic LPs by DJ Jazzy Jeff, Pete Rock, DJ Spinna, Marley Marl and even will.i.am, all of whom had been inspired to reach for new creative heights by hearing Dilla’s magnum opus. Choosing to showcase his own voice and the voices of local rap-heroes from across the city instead of big stars, Welcome 2 Detroit marked a coming of age for the then 27 year-old producer, who fully embraced the creative-freedom offered by BBE for his first solo project. As Dilla tells it: “Peter (Adarkwah, founder of BBE) let me do whatever I wanted to do. So, I wanted to put people on there who are gonna spit y’know, lyrically and represent Detroit. Because I wouldn’t have been able to pull this album off if it came out under a major. Cos they’re not gonna let you just do a song or you can’t just do an instrumental. You gotta have this feature and you’re Jay Dee, why ain’t you got Erykah Badu? Why ain’t you got so and so on your album? I’d have had to go through all of that, instead of just putting out…y’know, Beej on this joint!” The album would prove to be the perfect distillation of Dilla’s Detroit. From Kraftwerk- inspired Tech Noir that would make Metroplex proud, through subtle echoes from Africa, live jazz-funk and bossa-nova grooves, to tough Midwest boom-bap, this record somehow showed reverence to the city’s past without ever leaving its present. Grimy street flows that somehow swayed like James Brown. Unquantized marvels, so free and alive in their bounce, that they could seduce the hardest of hard-rocks into the sweetest screwface! Diverse, multifaceted, super collaborative and yet somehow singular, Welcome 2 Detroit was the shy and humble James Yancey revealing his true self in the only way he knew how: through his music. “The numerous guest appearances from some of the city’s best MCs at the time — Beej, Big Tone, Elzhi, Frank N Dank, Phat Kat — added to the album’s immersive experience, offering listeners a taste of Detroit in a way that only Jay Dee could do.” – Okayplayer To mark the 20th Anniversary of this momentous record, BBE Music is issuing a specially remastered edition of Welcome 2 Detroit, featuring a stunning new remix of ‘Think Twice’ by Japanese DJ/producer Muro and a stellar cover version of ‘Rico Suave Bossa Nova’ by legendary Brazilian jazz-funk juggernauts Azymuth, plus a stash of newly discovered alternate versions and work-in-progress recordings from the album sessions, lovingly reproduced from priceless cassette tapes recorded by J Dilla himself. An accompanying book by British writer and filmmaker John Vanderpuije offers an oral history of the album’s making, as told by Amp Fiddler, Ma Dukes and all of the album’s key musical contributors. The deluxe 7” vinyl box set and digital album will be released on February 5th 2021 during the annual #DillaMonth celebration, as close to the great man’s birthday as possible, and will be available to pre-order from the BBE website and Bandcamp from November 3rd 2020. Format: 12x 7″ Vinyl Box Set / Digital Release Date: February 5th, 2021

BLACK VINYL or LIMITED EDITION BLACK AND WHITE SPLATTER available. A. Beat Bop (Vocal) / B. Beat Bop (Instrumental) Much about ‘Beat Bop’ is shrouded in mystery. Who really produced it? Why was Jean-Michel Basquiat relegated from rapper on the track to drawing the cover and labels? What are they actually rapping about for most of the ten-minute length? These questions, however, are all part of the enigma and rich legend surrounding a song that is an undisputed piece of true hip-hop genius. The combination of graffiti artist Rammellzee and rapper K-Rob is a potent one, with each MC adopting a persona - hustler and B-Boy respectively - that they maintain against an unusual swirling backdrop that must be one of the best instrumentals ever committed to wax. The original Tartown Record pressing was limited to 500 copies, a mere test pressing in the eyes of the assembled artists, with scarcity further driven by Basquiat’s rising rep in the art world. Those few hundred copies – and a subsequent re-release on Profile Records (the same label where K-Rob played out the rest of his brief career) – punched well above their weight in terms of lasting influence. Consider the early vocal tones of the Beastie Boys (who also sampled the track), or the huge part it played in the sound of Cypress Hill and B-Real. His voice is almost homage to Rammellzee’s on ‘Beat Bop’, while they also lifted the chorus of ‘Shoot ‘Em Up’ and even a sample of ‘Cypress Hill’ from the track too. It’s unsurprising – this is a multi-layered, complex song that reveals a little more of itself each time you play it but remains damn funky. This reissue boasts the vocal and instrumental versions in full, as well as both the full cover and label artwork from the original Tartown Release.

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And the time has come. With this release we welcome Mr. Fabio Conti in the team in a permenent executive production role that means he will have his own artists roster to take care of, beyond the mere label design he has always done for us so far. It's the case of Mr. Mike James Kirkland, a legend who's dear to our european Soul Community having performed live in Bilbao to a packed Kafe Antzokia in 2015 and counting several tunes in the top list of many great djs. MJK sent us a collection of demos written and produced by himself, his brother Robert and a few other Artists at the dawn of the 90's which never made to the stage of arrangement/production/release. He said he would have been pleased for us to present our vision and, if the ideas we would submit to him were good enough, then a real project would take off. So Electrified presented their classic iron-snare take to it, which Mike absolutely loved. Then I personally felt the urge of doing a 4 beats arrangement in analog which gives it a late night modern room appeal and this version was approved too. So here we are with a project meant to celebrate the late Robert Kirkland, beloved brother and music team buddy who Mike James dedicates this release to. I'm biting my nails off as I'd love to tell you more than this, but then there won't be much left to read on the beautiful booklet Fabio has done which comes with this record. The only way to know it all is to get yourself a copy and read the notes on the booklet and on the back of the picture sleeve.

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