Dilla Time
The Life and Afterlife of J Dilla, the Hip-Hop Producer Who Reinvented Rhythm
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Narrated by:
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Dan Charnas
About this listen
This program contains examples of J Dilla's music performed in the story by drummer Nate Smith and is accompanied by a bonus PDF of maps, photos, guides, and more.
"This book is a must for everyone interested in illuminating the idea of unexplainable genius.” (QUESTLOVE)
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.
He wasn’t known to mainstream audiences, even though he worked with renowned acts like D’Angelo and Erykah Badu and influenced the music of superstars like Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson. He died at the age of 32, and in his lifetime he never had a pop hit. Yet since his death, J Dilla has become a demigod: revered by jazz musicians and rap icons from Robert Glasper to Kendrick Lamar; memorialized in symphonies and taught at universities. And at the core of this adulation is innovation: a new kind of musical time-feel that he created on a drum machine, but one that changed the way “traditional” musicians play.
In Dilla Time, Dan Charnas chronicles the life of James DeWitt Yancey, from his gifted childhood in Detroit, to his rise as a Grammy-nominated hip-hop producer, to the rare blood disease that caused his premature death; and follows the people who kept him and his ideas alive. He also rewinds the histories of American rhythms: from the birth of soul in Dilla’s own “Motown,” to funk, techno, and disco. Here, music is a story of Black culture in America and of what happens when human and machine times are synthesized into something new. Dilla Time is a different kind of book about music, a visual experience with graphics that build those concepts step by step for fans and novices alike, teaching us to “see” and feel rhythm in a unique and enjoyable way.
Dilla’s beats, startling some people with their seeming “sloppiness,” were actually the work of a perfectionist almost spiritually devoted to his music. This is the story of the man and his machines, his family, friends, partners, and celebrity collaborators. Culled from more than 150 interviews about one of the most important and influential musical figures of the past hundred years, Dilla Time is a book as delightfully detail-oriented and unique as J Dilla’s music itself.
©2022 Dan Charnas and Jeff Peretz (P)2022 Macmillan AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
2022, New York Magazine Best Books of the Year, Long-listed
2023, PEN Literary Award - Winne, Winner
2022, Kirkus Reviews Best Books of the Year, Long-listed
"[Dilla Time] do[es] what good music books should: send you back to the source material . . . Dilla Time is an important piece of music writing, affording its African-American subject the respect that the rock establishment has long accorded its white heroes."—The Economist
“Educational without being overbearing, emotional without turning saccharine, Dilla Time is a must-read not only for fans of Yancey, but anyone with a deep love for hip-hop or Black music, full stop.”—The Ringer
“It’s no ordinary book. . . equal parts biography, musical analysis and cultural history delving deep not only into Dilla’s history and music but also into the histories of rhythm and his hometown of Detroit.”—Variety
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No longer dismissed as relics of the hippie era, a new generation has lionized the Dead for creating a culture that paved the way for social networking, free music swapping, and the uncompromising anticorporate attitude of indie rock. Now, fifty years after the band first began changing rock 'n' roll both sonically and psychically, So Many Roads paints the most vivid portrait yet of the Grateful Dead, one of the most enduring institutions in American music and culture.
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Great first book on the Dead
- By robert on 10-30-15
By: David Browne
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MJ
- The Genius of Michael Jackson
- By: Steve Knopper
- Narrated by: Eric Michael Summerer
- Length: 13 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Rolling Stone contributing editor Steve Knopper delves deeply into Michael Jackson's music and talent. From the artist's early days with the Jackson 5, to his stratospheric success as a solo artist, to "Beat It" and "Thriller", "Bad", and "The Man in the Mirror", to his volatile final years, his attempted comeback, and his untimely death, Knopper explores the beguiling and often contradictory forces that fueled Michael Jackson's genius.
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It is ok but no details of his creativity in here
- By Jay on 02-25-16
By: Steve Knopper
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Walk This Way
- Run-DMC, Aerosmith, and the Song That Changed American Music Forever
- By: Geoff Edgers
- Narrated by: Geoff Edgers
- Length: 6 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Washington Post staff writer Geoff Edgers takes a deep dive into the story behind "Walk This Way", Aerosmith and Run-DMC's legendary, groundbreaking mashup that forever changed music.
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A MUST LISTEN/READ
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By: Geoff Edgers
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The Wrecking Crew
- The Inside Story of Rock and Roll's Best-Kept Secret
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- Narrated by: Dan John Miller
- Length: 9 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
If you were a fan of popular music in the 1960s and early '70s, you were a fan of the Wrecking Crew - whether you knew it or not. On hit record after hit record by everyone from the Byrds, the Beach Boys, and the Monkees to the Grass Roots, the 5th Dimension, Sonny & Cher, and Simon & Garfunkel, this collection of West Coast studio musicians from diverse backgrounds established themselves as the driving sound of pop music - sometimes over the objection of actual band members....
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Left Guessing
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By: Kent Hartman
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Goodnight, L.A.
- Untold Tales from Inside Classic Rock’s Legendary Recording Studios
- By: Kent Hartman
- Narrated by: Dan John Miller
- Length: 7 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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From behind the walls of a handful of well-hidden, unlikely recording studios in the Los Angeles area, legends-in-waiting created masterpiece albums. It was a time of astonishing creativity and unprecedented fame and fortune. It was also a time of unfettered excess that threatened to unravel everything along the way. With access that only a longtime music business insider can provide, Kent Hartman packs Goodnight, L.A. with never-before-told stories about the most prolific time and iconic place in rock 'n' roll history.
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great stories and insight into a miraculous time
- By RWM on 05-27-22
By: Kent Hartman
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Sing to Me
- My Story of Making Music, Finding Magic, and Searching for Who's Next
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- Narrated by: Dion Graham
- Length: 9 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Legendary music producer LA Reid - the man behind artists such as Mariah Carey, Toni Braxton, Kanye West, Rihanna, TLC, Outkast, Pink, Justin Bieber, and Usher - changed the music business forever. Now he tells his story, taking fans on an intimate tour of his life. Sing to Me is a fascinating journey from Reid's small-town R&B roots in Cincinnati, Ohio, and his work as a drummer to his fame as a Grammy Award-winning music producer and his gig as a judge on the hit reality show The X Factor.
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Wow!! What a journey!!!
- By Marty Cohn on 02-06-16
By: LA Reid
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Catch a Wave
- The Rise, Fall, and Redemption of the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson
- By: Peter Ames Carlin
- Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot
- Length: 14 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
In Catch a Wave, Peter Ames Carlin pulls back the curtain on Brian Wilson, one of popular music's most revered luminaries, as well as its biggest mystery. Drawing on hundreds of interviews and never-before heard studio recordings, Carlin follows the Beach Boys from their earliest days through Brian's deepening emotional problems to his triumphant re-emergence with the release of Smile, the legendarily unreleased album he had originally shelved.
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Not great
- By J. Barker on 08-08-16
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Everybody Wants Some
- The Van Halen Saga
- By: Ian Christe
- Narrated by: Fred Berman
- Length: 9 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
How did a pair of little Dutch boys trained in classical music grow up to become the nucleus of the most popular heavy metal band of all time? What's the secret behind Eddie Van Halen's incredible fast and furious guitar solos? What makes David Lee Roth and Sammy Hagar so wacky? And, are all those stories about groupies, booze bashes, and contract riders true? The naked truth is laid bare in Everybody Wants Some - the real-life story of a rock 'n' roll fantasy come true.
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Good details of albums and post-1984 career
- By IndyMATT on 12-30-18
By: Ian Christe
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Respect Yourself
- Stax Records and the Soul Explosion
- By: Robert Gordon
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 17 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
The story of Stax Records unfolds like a Greek tragedy. A white brother and sister build a record company that becomes a monument to racial harmony in 1960’s segregated south Memphis. Their success is startling, and Stax soon defines an international sound. Then, after losses both business and personal, the siblings part, and the brother allies with a visionary African-American partner. Under integrated leadership, Stax explodes as a national player until, Icarus-like, they fall from great heights to a tragic demise.
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Great narration
- By A. K. Moore on 10-29-14
By: Robert Gordon
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Fire and Rain
- The Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel, James Taylor, CSNY and the Lost Story of 1970
- By: David Browne
- Narrated by: Sean Runnette
- Length: 11 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Story
January 1970: the Beatles assemble one more time to put the finishing touches on Let It Be; Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young are wrapping up Déjà Vu; Simon and Garfunkel are unveiling Bridge Over Troubled Water; James Taylor is an upstart singer-songwriter who's just completed Sweet Baby James. Over the course of the next twelve months, their lives---and the world around them---will change irrevocably.
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Fascinating information, easy to listen
- By NCKitkat on 07-28-11
By: David Browne
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Unchained
- The Eddie Van Halen Story
- By: Paul Brannigan
- Narrated by: Mike Lenz
- Length: 8 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
From the moment their hugely influential 1978 debut landed, Van Halen set a high bar for the rock 'n' roll lifestyle, creating an entirely new style of post-'60s hard rock and becoming the quintessential rock band of the 1980s. But the high-flying success was fraught with difficulty, as Eddie struggled with alcohol and drug addiction while simultaneously battling David Lee Roth over the musical direction of the band, eventually taking the band in an entirely new direction with Sammy Hagar and scaling new heights, before that iteration of Van Halen disintegrated.
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Please don't read other audible books
- By Mike on 02-01-22
By: Paul Brannigan
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My Life with Earth, Wind & Fire
- By: Maurice White, Herb Powell
- Narrated by: Dion Graham
- Length: 11 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
The late Grammy-winning founder of the legendary pop/R&B/soul/funk/disco group tells his story and charts the rise of his legendary band in this sincere memoir that captures the heart and soul of an artist whose groundbreaking sound continues to influence music today. With a foreword by David Foster.
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Maurice--Earth, Wind and Fire
- By Linda Ealey on 02-28-17
By: Maurice White, and others
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Dig If You Will the Picture
- Funk, Sex, God and Genius in the Music of Prince
- By: Ben Greenman
- Narrated by: Peter Berkrot
- Length: 9 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Ben Greenman, New York Times best-selling author, contributing writer to The New Yorker, and owner of thousands of recordings of Prince and Prince-related songs, knows intimately that there has never been a rock star as vibrant, mercurial, willfully contrary, experimental, or prolific as Prince. Uniting a diverse audience while remaining singularly himself, Prince was a tireless artist, a musical virtuoso and chameleon, and a pop-culture prophet.
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Reads like a indepth career review & analysis
- By herb on 05-18-17
By: Ben Greenman
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Paul McCartney
- A Life
- By: Peter Ames Carlin
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 13 hrs
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
The best-selling author of the definitive biography of former Beach Boy Brian Wilson offers new insight into the life and music of Paul McCartney, one of the world's most popular and influential musicians. Informed by new, exclusive interviews with friends, bandmates, and collaborators, the book describes McCartney's many triumphs as well as his failures, from the Beatles era through his decade with Wings and his subsequent solo career.
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Great...But
- By Diego on 05-02-10
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1965
- The Most Revolutionary Year in Music
- By: Andrew Grant Jackson
- Narrated by: Peter Berkrot
- Length: 11 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
During 12 unforgettable months in the middle of the turbulent '60s, America saw the rise of innovative new sounds that would change popular music as we knew it. In 1965: The Most Revolutionary Year in Music, music historian Andrew Grant Jackson (Still the Greatest: The Essential Songs of The Beatles' Solo Careers) chronicles a groundbreaking year of creativity fueled by rivalries between musicians and continents, sweeping social changes, and technological breakthroughs.
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Seems like a good overview
- By wylie smith on 01-12-23
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What listeners say about Dilla Time
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- Daryl Sams
- 02-10-22
Superb and long overdue.
Props to Dan Charnas for an incredible book. So many questions answered and dots connected. Dilla is truly our Genius in Hip Hop. Long Live James Dewitt Yancey!!!!
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- william northam
- 02-10-22
Beautiful… straight up BEAUTIFUL…
This story was enthralling. It did for me what all great books or stories are supposed to do: make me forget what’s going on in my life and make me care, just for a few moments, about something else. This book damn sure did that. Thank you… “What up though!?” 🙌🏾🙌🏾🙌🏾❤️
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- Jamal P
- 02-28-22
required reading for any J dilla fan
I thoroughly enjoyed this book.... the detail used to tell Dilla's evolution as a beat creator was insightful and connected many historical dots. 5 out of 5.
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- Anonymous User
- 01-27-23
Incredible
One of the best books about music I’ve ever had the pleasure to read. It’s a work of love. My head spins just thinking of the research that had to go into this. Incredible.
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- Mark Dimiceli
- 12-04-22
I loved this book!!
This shit is so insightful to the life and music of Dilla. I didn’t start appreciating the man’s music until 2002 so I was late to jump on the Dilla dick like so many before me and even way more after he died. But I’m not writing this to tell you that I was bumping Dilla before you. I’m writing it to implore you to read this gem of a book. If you want to be a fly on the wall in the basement in Detroit, then read this book. If you want to be in the car when James is having a heated conversation with a girlfriend, then read this book. If you want the facts about the beef between Ma Dukes and House Shoes, then read this book. If you want a detailed explanation of what Dilla time actually is, then…. You guessed it, read this book. 👍👍2 thumbs way up.
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- Kindle Customer
- 04-04-23
Loved it
It was very interesting learning about the history of hip-hop music. J Dilla inspired a whole generation of musicians and producers, and it is clear why.
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- NorthBaySound
- 05-10-23
Just get it
Love the truth and history in this book.
Great for any music fan. Amazing story of a city, music, and a man that changed everything.
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- that phone guy
- 04-14-23
I always knew there was a reason
As a kid, I heard the Pharcyde run instrumental, and I kept it on loop. Never understanding why. When I first heard bosa nova Sergio Mendes, I loved it—never knowing why. This book unlocked it for me. Most importantly, it showed me that Dilla is the common thread among my favorite artist—roots, Kanye, Kendrick, etc. For a music nerd like me, this book filled a puzzle piece I never knew I needed. Highly recommended
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- Anonymous User
- 06-23-23
Well done!
Thoroughly written with insight from many peers and relatives. One question, didn’t producer Nottz collaborate with J Dilla as well?
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- Anonymous User
- 05-17-24
amazing and thoughtful
I loved his book because it really connected to me as an artist within hip hop. This book really reminds you. that time is precious and to use it wisely and to never stop doing what you love even in the face of death. This book will have you tearing up because it's a beautiful But sad story. I highly recommend this book to anyone on a journey with art or anything you love. Rip J dilla
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