Dilla Time: The Life and Afterlife of J Dilla, the Hip Hop Producer Who Reinvented Rhythm

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Equal parts musicology, biography, and cultural history, Dilla Time chronicles the invention of a new kind of beat by the most underappreciated musical genius of our time.

It's Dilla Time. Finally. Dilla Time is the story of the invention of a new kind of time, a new kind of sound, by the most influential music producer of the last twenty-five years, someone you may never have heard of: J. Dilla. He's revered by rappers and producers from Kanye West to Kendrick Lamar, and he worked with the likes of Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson--but Dilla himself never rose to mainstream fame, despite revolutionizing the way music sounds before his untimely death at the age of thirty-two.

In Dilla Time, Dan Charnas chronicles the life of J. Dilla, from his gifted childhood in Detroit, to the rare medical condition that caused his tragically premature death. He also records the histories of American rhythms: from the birth of funk and soul in Dilla's own Motown, to 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 totally new. With the help of analysis by the musicologist Jeff Peretz, Charnas teaches us to "see" sound differently, giving time itself texture, color, pattern.

Dilla's beats, which to the untrained ear sound imprecise and chaotic, were born of the rigorous work ethic of a perfectionist almost spiritually devoted to his music. This is the story of the man, and the machines, that made up a new kind of time. Equal parts musicology, biography, and cultural history, Dilla Time is a book as delightfully detail-oriented and as vibrantly original as J. Dilla's music.

"An ambitious, dynamic biography of J Dilla, who may be the most influential hip-hop artist known by the least number of people....A wide-ranging biography that fully captures the subject's ingenuity, originality, and musical genius." Kirkus (Starred Review)

"The book's heart is its rich, evocative musicological analysis, complete with rhythm diagrams, of Dilla's beats....Charnas's engrossing work is one of the few hip-hop sagas to take the music as seriously as its maker." Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)

"Dilla Time is a portrait of a complex genius taken too young, as well as a glorious study of the music and culture he created." Spin

"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

"Stunning portrait….it's not only one of the best books this writer has ever read about hip-hop but also sets a new gold standard for writing about music full stop." Ben Johnson, Mojo Magazine

"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

"J Dilla turned what one generation deemed musical error into what the next knew to be musical innovation. In this splendid book, Dan Charnas offers an uncanny mix of research and vision, documentation and interpretation, plenitude and momentum. Dilla Time is definitive. And exhilarating." Margo Jefferson, author of Negroland

"The greatest hip-hop producer of all time is getting the love and care his legacy deserves. Dilla Time is a master class." Dream Hampton

"With deep love and beautiful detail, this book gives credit where credit is most deserved." Danyel Smith, author of Shine Bright

"With this assiduously researched, stirringly told, and expansively elucidated accounting of J Dilla's life as muse, mythos, and generationally transformative composer of hip-hop beats, Dan Charnas has provided readers with an alchemist's cookbook of its titular, wizardly subject." Greg Tate, author of Flyboy in the Buttermilk

"I look at J Dilla as a man who redefined the word 'innovative.' This book makes you feel like you traveled his journey every single step." DJ Premier

"How can wrong be right? How can one be both universally revered and massively under-appreciated? Filled with impeccable reportage, elegant prose, and incandescent anecdotes, Dilla Time is more than an urgently needed biography of hip hop's most revolutionary producer. It is a testament to the never-ending struggle between creativity and mortality." Rob Kenner, author of The Marathon Don't Stop: The Life and Times of Nipsey Hussle

"This book is a must for everyone interested in illuminating the idea of unexplainable genius.” Questlove

“In the way that J Dilla’s music was a portal for us to hear our world and feel the pulse of life anew, Charnas has made a portal through which to understand our time—historical time, musical time, and James Yancey’s own time—in a new way. Dilla Time is a book that will be read and reread with as much pleasure as we have listened and relistened to Dilla’s music. A masterpiece.” Jeff Chang, author of Can’t Stop Won’t Stop

Dan Charnas is the author of the definitive history of the hip-hop business, The Big Payback. He is also the author of Work Clean, a book that applies chefs’ techniques to almost any life situation. He was the cocreator and executive producer of the VH1 movie and TV series The Breaks. He lives in Manhattan and is an associate professor at the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music at NYU.