A few days ago, we posted what appeared to be a personal message from an engineer who worked on J Dilla’s new posthumous album, Rebirth of Detroit. Among other things, he urged Dilla fans to not purchase the album, which caused a lot of apparent frustration from the camp behind the project. In particular, Maureen “Ma Dukes” Yancey — that’s Dilla’s mother, if you don’t know — herself came forward and posted a statement addressing the rant. You can read it below.
“The audacity of people that want to keep me as an oppressed woman with no intelligence whatsoever! I think It’s the work of cowards and the very hatred they hold simply because they can’t be the head of an initiative.
The Rebirth is bigger than an individual movement, it’s a movement about the people as a whole. It truly is the soundtrack of the people, not a select few that have been in the mix. Time out for those that think they’re superior because of creed or color.
This is music and arts, which has no color. The very essence coming from the soul of men and their passions and gifts.
I’m so tired of petty individuals trying to crush progress and hide behind the fake screen of helping a sick old lady.
This lady has been rebirthed with a very strong constitution and has been through enough to know when someone is selfish, or entitled in nature.
The one thing I do know is that God is on my side and no weapons being thrown will stop me from honoring my son, his work or the city of Detroit. Thank God Dilla is world wide. Thank God that I have Jonathon Taylor on my side to help me in all my endeavors, and to make certain that my son’s legacy is all that I choose and covers the world in kind as he continues to touch each soul with his musical genius.”
PREAAAAAAAAACHHHHHHH : – )
AMEN BROTHER!
QUOTE**”“The audacity of people that want to keep me as an oppressed woman with no intelligence whatsoever! I think It’s the work of cowards and the very hatred they hold simply because they can’t be the head of an initiative”END OF QUOTE
wtf oppressed? if your being oppressed, go call al sharpton or jesse jackson. this has nothing to do with opression. there is no conspiracy here. You or your team leader made promises to people for their contributions..why play the people you asked to help out? some people got piad while others got the shaft. Cowards? lets be clear here. IM A FAN OF YOUR SONS MUSIC PERIOD. Im not some sneaky dirtbag who tried to stab you in the back.
QUOTE**”The Rebirth is bigger than an individual movement, it’s a movement about the people as a whole. It truly is the soundtrack of the people, not a select few that have been in the mix. Time out for those that think they’re superior because of creed or color.”END OF QUOTE
lemme find out your taking public relations tips from the trayvon martin team.
dont turn this into a black and white deal. we are FANS. WE SUPPORTED YOUR SONS TALENT AND MUSIC. we do have a say in the matter considering we SPENT OUR MONEY..and you..gladly took it. dont try to pull this smoke and mirror bullshit about color.
QUOTE**”This lady has been rebirthed with a very strong constitution and has been through enough to know when someone is selfish, or entitled in nature.”END OF QUOTE
what? when did all this become about you? this isnt your music..you may own it, but your not the creative behind it.
QUOTE** The one thing I do know is that God is on my side and no weapons being thrown will stop me from honoring my son, his work or the city of Detroit. Thank God Dilla is world wide. Thank God that I have Jonathon Taylor on my side to help me in all my endeavors, and to make certain that my son’s legacy is all that I choose and covers the world in kind as he continues to touch each soul with his musical genius.” END OF QUOTE
Here we go, lets bring in GOD into the mix. WHO IS WRITING THIS CRAP? the same person who put the album together? The same person who designed the album cover in ms paint?
As a dilla fan, I will not buy this crap..nor any other future product. As a fan who dropped money in the past, I HAVE EVERY RIGHT TO VOICE MY OPINION.
this has all been a 3rd grade marketing scam from day 1, and i will explain why by using simple logic that no one has addressed. First: a disgruntled engineer releases the entire album on soundcloud without permission. (if this was actually true, they yancey camp could have easily pulled the page down – which they didnt AND could easily sue soundcloud for hella millions – which they didnt) Second: The so called disgruntled engineer also sells the tracks on amazon through the “unauthorized” soundcloud page? come on people, be real. This is all complete bulls***. Like i am supposed to believe some angry contributor on the album created a soundcloud page, linked with an amazon account, which is linked to his/her real bank account ..? all the while, ma dukes continues to cry that all these unforseen forces continue to try to knock down a sick old woman. PA-LEEZE. be real and quit this crap. the album is d.o.a.. every dillahead(including myself) were expecting an album of dilla’s beats..not 2nd grade detroit rappers ( who by the way have no talent to rap over dillas music ) being used to push a new record label. whoever was/is at the helm of this operation has no freaking clue how to produce,manage, or even run a label. one needs to look no further than their “official” twitter pages and facebook page to see how the operation was running. like i’m supposed to believe ma dukes is sitting in front of the screen tweeting 30 times a day ” good morning my soldiers” ?? wtf is that? and did you see the latest ” official” youtube video release? ” ma dukes leaves for europe” what kind of shit is that? whats next? official ma dukes eats a buritto and gets gas? And the dilladay at the filmore, dont get me started with that one. scammed everyone out of their funds. people bought tickets to see REAL headliners and when you got up to the window you saw a bullshit piece of paper ” so and so will not be performing” what? after i paid 100 bucks for v.i.p tickets? really? all this bullshit of all these big shots who have nothing but praise for j dilla, and they couldnt drop 600 bucks on air-fair to come thru and support their man? where was house-shoes? he made a career out of dilla’s name and he couldnt fly-out? logic tells me all this was just to wash money. yes, i said it. all this is a money laundering operation. PERIOD. you mean to tell me NO ONE ..out of the entire music industry would offer ma dukes a decent contract to promote and sell dilla’s tracks..and that the only one who did was an unknown ( jonathan taylor) ? this is worser than p diddy stepping all over biggie smalls.
If you are a true Dilla fan, have an ear for soul, and have a brain, you’ll know that Ma Dukes is right.
HOWEVER
The album was so fucking poorly mixed, matched (artist to beat) and packaged (album cover in MS word clip art) that its embarrasing.
Thank you,
A real musician.
the album was weak? far from it
the album was weak and unfocused. as a long time dilla fan I felt this was really odd.
1 there did not need to be so many features. beats are just fine. guys like Danny brown, Boldy, Guilty, Phat kat.. are good but there was no need for so much else
what really pissed me off. was that i went to that dilla day concert expecting to see jay electronica in it. then i expected to see him on the album . and that was disappointing.
but this album definitely made me feel like it would have been better if a guy like Q-tip or House Shoes executive produced the album. no disrespect to Ma Dukes. But i think it would benefit the commemoration of Dilla if there was a musical creative person behind it for a change. plus you know that there are a ton of dilla beats that individual artists like busta or common or the roots own that had not seen the light of day of most listeners. I would love to hear those as well.
The album was great! Give it time and Ruff Draft Records releases will just get better and better and better!
She’s an awesome woman but that really doesn’t change the fact the album was weak and poorly executed.