Nas Announces New J Dilla Album ‘The Diary’

Even though he passed away 10 years ago, J Dilla's music lives on. Earlier today (Feb. 18) Nas announced on Beats 1 Radio that he is dropping The Diary, a posthumous Dilla album, on April 15 through Mass Appeal Records. Nas also debuted "The Introduction," the first track from the upcoming album. You can hear it above.

"I feel like he was still growing," Nas told Zane Lowe of Beats 1. "His [sound] was the one that was still emerging. It was still growing."

After the announcement, more information on the project was released via a press release. "The Diary is the final batch of unissued material that Dilla had assembled for release during his lifetime, lending crucial insight into the producer's prowess and thought process in the period leading up to his break with the major label system," the statement said.

"The Estate of James Yancey has revived J Dilla's longstanding company PayJay as a functioning imprint to release Dilla's long lost vocal album, The Diary on April 15, in conjunction with Mass Appeal Records. The Diary was Dilla's attempt to take advantage of the attention afforded him after his brightest period as a behind-the-scenes-hitmaker and influencer. However, the project stalled and the album was literally shelved, the reels languishing in storage in Detroit as a relocated Dilla began a creative renaissance in Los Angeles."

Features on the album include Snoop Dogg, Bilal, Kokane, Frank and Dank, Nottz and Boogie, Madlib, Pete Rock, Hi-Tek, House Shoes, Supa Dave West and Bink!.

In fall 2015, Dilla's estate released Dillatronic, a project that featured 41 previously unreleased instrumentals by the late artist. "I can smile in my heart, knowing that my son's work is being shared with the people as we planned before he passed," Dilla's mother Maureen "Ma Dukes" Yancey said. "I only share the best, and I only hope to continue introducing the world to the genius of J Dilla."

The Estate of James Yancey is made up of Ma Dukes, Dilla's brother John "Illa J" Yancey and his two daughters, Ja'Mya Yancey and Ty-monae Whitlow.

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