Jay Stay Paid
| Jay Stay Paid | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||||||||
| Studio album by J Dilla | ||||||||||
| Released | June 2, 2009 | |||||||||
| Recorded | 2003-2006 (J Dilla's Vocals) | |||||||||
| Genre | Instrumental hip hop | |||||||||
| Length | 57:54 | |||||||||
| Label | Nature Sounds | |||||||||
| Producer | J Dilla, Ma Dukes (exec.) | |||||||||
| J Dilla chronology | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Aggregate scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 81/100[1] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [2] |
| The A.V. Club | (A-)[3] |
| Robert Christgau | (B+)[4] |
| Los Angeles Times | [5] |
| Pitchfork Media | (8.1/10)[6] |
| PopMatters | (6/10)[7] |
| Rolling Stone | [8] |
| Sputnikmusic | [9] |
| URB |  [10] |
| XXL | [11] |
Jay Stay Paid is the fifth studio album by album by American hip hop recording artist J Dilla. It was released as a posthumous album on June 2, 2009 under Nature Sounds.[12] Despite the fact that the album has contributing vocals from several artists, it is roughly classified as an instrumental hip hop album.
Background
The album is a 28 track collection of unreleased Dilla beats mixed and arranged by Pete Rock. Although Jay Stay Paid is mostly instrumental, it includes guests vocals from several artists that Dilla worked with or admired, such as Black Thought, Havoc, Raekwon, MF DOOM, and M.O.P. It was executive produced by Dilla’s mother Maureen "Ma Dukes" Yancey along with the musical supervision of Dilla’s musical idol, Pete Rock. In regard to the album's feel and direction Ma Dukes stated:
| “ | It wasn’t rushed and it wasn’t haphazard. This album combines what he did in the beginning of his career, what he did in some of our early hospital stays, which was very deep, and some stuff pulled from old floppy disks & DATs. It's mind blowing... this is like the missing links to Dilla’s legacy.[13] | ” |
Art Direction and illustrations for Jay Stay Paid were contributed by world-renowned graphic artist Mike Orduna (Fatoe) for Fatoe.com.
In promotion for the album, the Beat Junkies released a free sampler of the album.[14]
The format of the album plays like a radio show with Pete Rock as the program director. With regards to Pete’s involvement, Ms. Yancey gets very excited, “Dilla wanted to pattern himself behind Pete. His dream was to become as close as possible to what Pete stood for. Pete meant everything to him. Dilla would have just been flabbergasted! ” Pete’s sentiments were the same toward Dilla, “Dude was amazing. He just kinda came outta nowhere and the more you heard his beats the better they got. He may not be here with us, but it’s all good we’re going to keep his music alive and well.”
In the 1990s, Dilla founded the rap group Slum Village and put Detroit hip-hop on the map, while also playing a major role in the production team The Ummah with Q-Tip and Ali Shaheed Muhammad doing extensive work on Tribe Called Quest’s last two albums.
The album debuted at the No. 96 on the Billboard charts with a total of 5,400 copies sold in its first week.[15]
In July 2009, video director Derek Pike shot a video for the single "24k Rap" featuring Havoc and Raekwon.
Track listing
| # | Title | Featuring | Time | Sample(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | KJay FM Dedication | Pete Rock | 0:56 | *"King of the Beats" by Mantronix, "Theme from Hurricane David" by R. Stevie Moore |
| 2 | King | 1:28 | *"A Treatise on Cosmic Fire: Intro - Prana" by Todd Rundgren | |
| 3 | I Told Yall | 2:49 | *"Basketball Throwdown" by The Cold Crush Brothers | |
| 4 | Lazer Gunne Funke | 1:21 | *"King of the Beats" by Mantronix | |
| 5 | In The Night (Owl N Out) / While You Slept (I Crept) | 2:00 | ||
| 6 | Smoke | Blu | 2:09 | *"King of the Beats" by Mantronix and *"The Fairy Garden" by Isao Tomita |
| 7 | Blood Sport | Lil' Fame | 2:58 | |
| 8 | CaDILLAc | 2:01 | ||
| 9 | Expensive Whip | 1:25 | ||
| 10 | Kaklow (Jump On It) | 0:56 | *"1984 (Part 1)" by Anthony Phillips | |
| 11 | Digi Dirt | Phat Kat | 0:54 | |
| 12 | Dilla Bot Vs. The Hybrid | Danny Brown & Constantine | 2:24 | |
| 13 | Milk Money | 1:27 | *"Snow Creatures" by Quincy Jones "Make the Move" (Caddyshack soundtrack) by Kenny Loggins | |
| 14 | Spacecowboy Vs. Bobble Head | 2:38 | *"Let the Sunshine In" by Mort Garson | |
| 15 | Reality Check | Black Thought | 2:40 | *"Bup Ba Bup Bup Ba Ba Ba" by J Dilla Also known as "Reality TV" |
| 16 | On Stilts | 1:26 | *"Talybont" by Gentle Giant | |
| 17 | Fire Wood Drumstix | DOOM | 1:31 | *"Hey Hey Hey Heyyyy" by J Dilla |
| 18 | Glamour Sho75 (09) | 3:02 | ||
| 19 | 10,000 Watts | 1:42 | *"Thief's Theme"* by Nas | |
| 20 | 9th Caller | 1:53 | *"Oh No I Don't Believe It" by Fraternity of Man | |
| 21 | Make It Fast (Unadulterated Mix) | Diz Gibran | 5:01 | *"Rock N Roll" by J Dilla |
| 22 | 24K Rap | Havoc & Raekwon | 4:22 | *"(Don't Want No) Woman" by Lee Michaels |
| 23 | Big City | 1:02 | ||
| 24 | Pay Day | Frank Nitty of Frank n Dank | 1:25 | |
| 25 | See That Boy Fly | Illa J & Cue D | 3:44 | *"Flyyyyy" by J Dilla |
| 26 | Coming Back | 1:13 | *"The Affair" by Brother to Brother (1974) | |
| 27 | Mythsysizer | 1:44 | ||
| 28 | KJay & We Out | Pete Rock | 1:58 | *"The Wisdom of Time" by The Supremes |
| 29 | Make It Fast (Vinyl Bonus Track) | Bun B & Termanology | 2:48 |
References
- ↑ "Reviews for Jay Stay Paid by J Dilla aka Jay Dee". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved February 21, 2014.
- ↑ Allmusic review
- ↑ Rabin, Nathan (2009-06-09). "The A.V. Club review". Avclub.com. Retrieved 2014-02-20.
- ↑ "Robert Christgau review". Music.msn.com. Retrieved 2014-02-20.
- ↑ "Los Angeles Times review". Latimesblogs.latimes.com. 2009-06-09. Retrieved 2014-02-20.
- ↑ "Pitchfork Media review". Pitchfork.com. 2009-06-02. Retrieved 2014-02-20.
- ↑ Martin, Andrew. "PopMatters review". Popmatters.com. Retrieved 2014-02-20.
- ↑ Rolling Stone review
- ↑ "Sputnikmusic review". Sputnikmusic.com. 2009-06-03. Retrieved 2014-02-20.
- ↑ URB review Archived June 15, 2009, at the Wayback Machine.
- ↑ "XXL review". Xxlmag.com. 2009-06-02. Retrieved 2014-02-20.
- ↑ Allmusic information
- ↑ "Amazon information". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2014-02-20.
- ↑ "Nahright". Nahright. 2009-05-13. Retrieved 2014-02-20.
- ↑ "Update: Eminem Comes Close To Platinum Status, New CDs From AZ & Torae Fail To Chart". Xxlmag.Com. 2009-06-10. Retrieved 2012-02-25.
- ↑ "Nahright". Nahright. 2009-05-12. Retrieved 2014-02-20.