So, J Dilla is dead at 32.

People on music blogs all over the internet (and I should know-- I’ve nearly read them all by now) are mourning the passing of Jay Dee/J Dilla, one of the finest producers in hip hop, and therefore, modern music. I will merely join the voices with a very brief anecdote. When J Dilla’s Donuts came out last Tuesday, I bought it hoping for a primer in his style. At times, it’s hard for me to wrap my head around what stylistically distinguishes one hip hop producer from another-- rather, I find it occasionally difficult to recognize a producer solely from the sound of the beat-- and here, with Donuts, we had a beat record, untarnished by a distracting MC. What I ended up getting was a ridiculously exciting ADD selection of beat concepts-- 31 tracks of cut-up vocals and songs driven by an enormous boom-bip-- that, I now realize, is more of a stylistic experiment than his other works have been. Whatever the case, I fell in love with it; it’s likely to be one of the better albums of 2006. I vowed to do more research: listen closer to his Slum Village work, find out what other artists he’s produced (some of the best Busta and latter-day Tribe tracks, turns out)...

and then on Friday night, I learned that he is dead. I sat in shock for five whole minutes, and though I’d just had a good performance that evening, I now felt soured. So the task of exploring a great artistic body of work, a task I continue just as I had been planning to do, is unfortunately tainted by the fact that its creator was recently lost to the world. He has two completed albums on deck for 2006, and he produced some cuts on the eternally forthcoming Busta Rhymes LP, The Big Bang... at the very least, then, there is more to hear, but sadly, there is no more innovation or exploration or transformation from an absurdly talented, constantly evolving, and, from what I hear, kind-hearted man. Sorry, Dilla.