collaboration with Madlib (Champion Sound), Ruff Draft can easily be considered the missing link in the creative evolution of J-Dilla’s avant-garde sound.

After a string of game-shaping production that began in the mid-90s, J-Dilla aka Dill Withers, was well known for his harmoniously melodic and infectiously soulful Hip-Hop beats, as well as peerless in his creative contributions to the "neo-soul" sound through his involvement with the legendary Ummah production team and The Soulquarians.  But by 2002 Dilla's sound began to evolve significantly.  The evolution was first heard with select tracks on Trinity ("Hoes", "One", "Let's"), where Dilla used a string of distorted electronic bass and off-kilter rhythms.  But it was heard full bloom on Common's Electric Circus, where he incorporated classic Rock & Roll samples and a comprehensive, electronic trip-hop sound with his subtle soul beats, introducing a beautifully unique sonic intonation.

Dilla’s new rhythmic reverberations come to full fruition on Ruff Draft. Immediately following a short yet apt a cappella introduction, “Let’s Take It Back” sets it off with an amazing electric string arrangement perfectly lacing a classic boom-bap drum track, creating an album that plays like an “anything can happen” movie trailer for Dilla’s new world order of beat orchestra. Standout tracks like “The $,” “Make ’em NV” and “Wild” (a previously unreleased bonus track) do wonders demonstrating Dilla’s prowess as a master producer, offering heavy percussion, unique samples and complex arrangements as evidence. But it’s the eclectic “Nothing Like This” that stands alone as the true apogee of this work of art; Dilla’s distorted voice-overs and adlibs play as additional instrumentation to an up-tempo drum track cleverly laid down over a sample playing backwards, birthing an extraordinarily exciting display of leading edge artistry.

Inspirational in its courageous innovation, Ruff Draft serves as a sneak peak into the future of beat-making. And true to form, Stones Throw, like J-Dilla and Ruff Draft, lives up to high expectations by not just reissuing the 10 original tracks re-mastered, but going ahead and throwing in 4 previously unreleased bonus tracks plus a second disc containing the 10 track instrumentals as if they were reading our minds - clearly doing its part to maintain a firm grip on its unofficial title as the official People’s Champion of record labels.

--Charles Pressley
cp@thisisrealmusic.com

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