J Dilla

Haunting end to 2nd posthumous release

J Dilla
“Ruff Draft” (Stonesthrow)* * *

RUFF DRAFT is J Dilla’s (a.k.a. Jay Dee’s) third album following his untimely death 13 months ago, but despite appearing posthumously, it’s also a re-release. Originally recorded in a lightning one-week session in 2003, “Ruff Draft” was originally released only in Europe. For its proper U.S. release, it comes with more than a dozen previously unreleased instrumentals and bonus tracks.

Recorded after he moved from Detroit to Los Angeles, “Ruff Draft” is a dramatic lunge away from the pillowy soul and jazz textures of Dilla’s ‘90s work for the Pharcyde, A Tribe Called Quest, Janet Jackson and others. A chaotic spontaneity animates these collisions of ragged drums loops, static-crusted samples and vigorous synthesizer workouts. Accenting those jagged edges is Dilla’s own punctuated flow and flinty baritone. In contrast to the guest-filled “The Shining,” another posthumous Dilla album, released last fall, “Ruff Draft” is a rare solo affair that captures him in the midst of furious, creative burst and change in direction.

The album ends with an alternative mix of the track “Shouts.” Over a bed of electronic chirps and quaking snares, Dilla acknowledges key friends, colleagues and family. It’s difficult to shake the eerie sensation that his roll call now takes on the feel of a life-after-death valediction. There is, however, something reassuring that even if heard as a prescient farewell, “Shouts” should come at the end of an album brimming with a joie de vivre that erases any shadows of impending night.

— Oliver Wang

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