Funeral services for
Detroit rapper/producer J Dilla, who died Friday (Feb. 10) of complications from
lupus, will take place this week in Los Angeles. He was 32.
A viewing for
J Dilla, born James Yancey, will be held Monday (Feb. 13), followed by a funeral on Tuesday (Feb. 14).
A memorial concert
is also being planned.
Sources told AllHipHop.com
that rappers Q-Tip and Common are among the concert organizers, though the venue
has yet to be determined.
J Dilla, also known as "Jay Dee," was a founding member of the rap
trio Slum Village. He left the group in 2003 to pursue a solo career and has
since produced songs for Common, Erykah Badu, Busta Rhymes, The Roots, De La
Soul, The Pharcyde and others.
In 2004, J Dilla revealed that he had kidney problems and in 2005, the rapper
spent a considerable amount of time in the hospital fighting the disease, which
causes the immune system to attack the body’s own tissue and organs, including
the brain, heart, lungs, blood, kidneys, skin and other vital organs.
According to the Lupus Foundation of America, approximately 1.5 million Americans
have a form of the disease, which affects men and women of all ages.
Lupus is two to
three times more common among African-Americans, Hispanics, Asians and Native
Americans.
In the most severe
lupus cases, the immune system cannot tell the difference between foreign substances
and its own cells and tissue. The immune system then creates antibodies to protect
against its "self."
Before his death, J Dilla had been working on The Shining, the follow-up
to his 2001 solo debut Welcome To Detroit.
The album was slated
to drop independently, via BBE in June.
While in the hospital
and in his home studio, J Dilla also crafted the recently released instrumental
album, Donuts.
"Jay was one of my favorite Hip-Hop producers of all time," said BBE
Founder Peter Adarkwah. "His passion for music was a rare thing amongst
people in the music industry. His music and presence will be sorely missed for
many years to come."
Detroit rapper Guilty Simpson, who worked with J Dilla on various projects,
is featured on The Shining.
"J Dilla was
the best to do it. He influenced a whole movement in Hip-Hop," Simpson
told AllHipHop.com. "There isn’t a top-notch producer in the game [who]
wasn’t influenced by his sound. I just appreciate being able to work with him
and soak up some of the knowledge he gave me. He will never be forgotten."
