J Dilla's brother Illa J doesn't think Kanye would be as big as he is now if Dilla hadn't passed

[JustCKing]

Understood, but J is talking about if Dilla had a chance to have his career play out without passing early, Kanye would have been surpassed/would have been nerfed at some point. Not a reach to me, especially since he ended up doing it to himself.. and Dilla was just as versatile with his production discography without being as "big" as Kanye. If only Dilla was alive to make this easy. There is no guarantee Kanye takes the same trajectory had Dilla lived.

In the era that Kanye West blew up as a producer, it was in the middle of The Neptunes/Timbaland dominance, the beginning of the crunk wave, Dre was pretty dominant himself. I don't see what Dilla could've done or was doing that was going to stop Kanye. Even onnthe innovative side, Timbaland was still sampling crazy sounds and songs from other parts of the world

 

[Tommy Gibbs]

But would Kanye still be as big as he is? Artists would have had two options to choose beats from. That changes the dynamics.

Kanye would be relevant based on the attention-seeking shyt he always does, but he wouldn't be as big as he became.

I think Kanye and Drake collectively benefited from J Dilla dying and Max B being locked up. If those two were in the mix, the landscape would have looked different in hip-hop and, consequently, pop culture.

Dilla died in 2006. By then, Kanye had 2 albums to sell over 3 million a piece, resurrected Common's career with BE, produced on a bunch of Raocafella albums, had singles for Slum village, Talib(get by), and many others. All of this occured BEFORE Dilla's death. I am in no way shape or form saying Kanye is better than dilla or will ever will be, but popularity wise, Dilla just wasn't a mainstream guy and didn't want to be.

 

[Tribal Outkast]

J Dilla brother need to chill

 

[DOSDUMUNI]

This is so disheartening to think of what could have been with Dilla (my favorite producer OAT), but itd be hard to think of these artists not at least tapping in with him at one point if he were still here

Jay-Z
J Cole
Drake
Lupe Fiasco
The Weeknd
Schoolboy Q
Big Krit
Kendrick Lamar
Justin Timberlake
Ty Dolla $ign
SZA
YG
50 Cent
PARTYNEXTDOOR
Doja Cat
Tyler the Creator

Off the top of my head I can EASILY hear each of these artists off a Dilla backdrop.

 

[DOSDUMUNI]

But would Kanye still be as big as he is? Artists would have had two options to choose beats from. That changes the dynamics.

Kanye would be relevant based on the attention-seeking shyt he always does, but he wouldn't be as big as he became.

I think Kanye and Drake collectively benefited from J Dilla dying and Max B being locked up. If those two were in the mix, the landscape would have looked different in hip-hop and, consequently, pop culture.

You not the first one to mention that about Max B

Along with Wiz he literally had the rap game on its heels around that time (all of 2008 thru early 2009) at least from an underground perspective

Mind you I’m from the East coast so views may differ

 

[wizworld]

When Dilla was alive he was dubbing requests from big name artists and doing beats for his friends. I don't remember hearing of his younger brother until he passed, i am unsure how much he was around for the music stuff.

His trajectory was nothing like Kanye's, he rejected that type of stardom Kanye craved. He didn't go to Slum Village shows, it was just Baatin & T3 performing.

This is goofy imo, two totally different set of goals.

 

[DontEemTry]

if we talkin Beats then yeah Ye got his inspiration from Dilla… but Ye was a persistent a$$hole so he was going to make it come hell or high water..

I don't hear any Dilla in Ye's shyt

I'm sure he's a fan but...nah

 

[BigMoneyGrip]

I don't hear any Dilla in Ye's shyt

I'm sure he's a fan but...nah

In Ye’s earlier works yes there’s an influence

 

[Tommy Gibbs]

In Ye’s earlier works yes there’s an influence

In ye's earlier work, he was nothing to talk about (Madd rapper, infamous syndicate). His early rocafella stuff was influenced by Rza with the 45 rpm chipmunk sampling. And dilla was also influenced by the likes of Rza and Pete Rock.

 

[KingsOfKings]

smh he trippin