Our 32 Favorite J Dilla Beats

 •  News  •  by XXL Staff  •  17 Comments

Artist: De La Soul
Song: Stakes Is High
The song that many say put J. Dilla on the map, this one sounds as fresh and new today as it did when it first came out.

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  • jfl11

    “It’s Your World” will always be my favorite one, absolutelly perfect.

  • Dick B.

    Just to give you a heads up XXL people, like half of the songs you guys picked have the wrong video to go with it.

  • http://www.dynamicproducer.com dynamicproducer

    legendary

  • blah

    no sniperelite or gazillion ear huh?

  • Sha

    I challenge any of the so-called top tiered producers to move the culture the way Dilla did. Dilla did stuff and didn’t even claim credit for it. ?!?!!!!…

    Pete Rock is dope, but…. Pete Rock’s style could be duplicated. Who could duplicate Dilla?

    Even the same could be said about Dr. Dre…..
    Dre is easily duplicated….

    It’s time Hip-Hop gave Dilla is due respect. When it came to knowing the equipment and making his own beats and playing his own melodies (no in-house musicians) Dilla was supreme! As Black Thought put it…. “He was the best hip-hop producer of all time.” Hands down.

  • BIGNAT

    no busta rhymes and dilla turn me up some
    where all the stuff he did for my man doom

  • Donte

    What is so good about j dilla, my faught for not knowing ,but i never understood why people love hi so much, im not saying he didnt have good beats he defintly did,but what made him so differnt i really would like to know

  • Q461

    Dilla produced ALOT of bangers. it’s sad he’s no longer with us.

    I miss alot of these groups, De la, Pharcyde, Of course Slum Village. Can’t forget dude also did Stressed out, 1nce again and Find a way with Tribe as part of The Ummah collective…

    RIP Dilla.

  • Chyllmatic

    I love “The Light” beat to DEATH.

  • oskamadison

    Dilla was simply one of the greatest that ever did it. Two joints y’all overlooked: Busta’s “So Hardcore” from “When Disaster Strikes” and “Wordplay” from Tribe’s “Beats, Rhymes and Life”.

  • Tpope

    Doom’s Gazillion Ear! especially the “Phantom of the Synths” section of it! Unreal!!

  • sweeneykovar

    thats not the same Blu. THAT Blu is a street cat from Detroit, not the Blu from LA.

  • snopop

    History – by Mos and Kweli gets me every time. Simply genius.

  • marvin says

    stakes is high is my shit! see u in heaven dilla. word.

  • Crkz1207

    She Said (Jay Dee Remix) is must in the collection…

  • fritzy to the patzy

    Damn, XXL!
    Are you serious?

    No Busta’s “Taking what’s mine” ?
    No Slum Village’s “Fall in love” nor “I don’t know”?
    NO JAYLIB ???? Not even one track….
    Pfff…
    No Badu…
    No Guilty Simpson…
    NO FRANK N DANK ???
    No Oh No’s “Move Pt. 2″?
    No Four Tet Remix?
    No track from the beat tapes?
    Not even the track featuring Busta Rhymes and Biggie (and Labba)?
    Your list goes for the most commercial and obvious he did, of course most of it is realer that real, but dude made better tracks than most of those…

    And this track with Blu you’re mentioning is not with Blu AKA Johnson Barnes, still they had a track together entitled “Sun in my face”, which should be in the top 3 on your list…

    Anyway, Rest In Peace Dilla Dawg, we still feel blessed that the sounds from the best in the game ever (i said EVER) met our auditive cavities. And anybody who never heard this music, go dig with your eyes closed, you’ll find gem upon gem…

    Peace.

  • justlikehoney1

    Hands down……So Far To Go….my favorite by J <3