The I Index

Dilla Time: The Life and Afterlife of J Dilla, the Hip-Hop Producer Who Reinvented Rhythm

Top of the pile

75

/100

I Index Overall Rating

Readers

99/100

Critics

52/100

Scholars

N/A

Author:

Dan Charnas

Publisher:

MCD

Date:

February 1, 2022

Equal parts biography, musicology and cultural history, Dilla Time chronicles the life and legacy of J Dilla, a musical genius who transformed the sound of popular music for the 21st-century.

What The Reviewers Say

Eric Ducker,
The New York Times Book Review
... a 400-page biography out Feb. 1 that thoroughly examines the hip-hop producer’s unique approach.
Oliver Cook,
Atwood Magazine
If all of this seems extremely technical, trust that as Charnas offers examples and invitations to clap-along, you’ll soon hear—or rather feel—the beats landing slightly off-time.
Micah Zevin,
Booklist
... a detailed, well-researched, and passionate analysis of the music and life of the influential hip-hop composer, producer, and musician James Dewitt Yancey, aka Jay Dee or J Dilla. Charnas has written not simply a biography but, rather, an unconventional, journalistic documentation of musical sounds and their progressions in history and culture, whether originating in Africa, Europe, or elsewhere..
Robert Christgau,
Observer
... exceptional.