J Dilla’s estate may stop Black Sheep’s Dres from releasing a project produced by the late Hip-Hop legend.
Maureen Yancey, the mother of J Dilla, and legal representative Michelle Harris-Coleman told Rolling Stone they haven’t authorized a collaboration with Dres. The Black Sheep rapper claimed he received Yancey’s blessing when discussing the album in March.
“Anything Dres is doing on his side, we need to make sure the music is put aside and no one else can use it—and that’s the problem,” Harris-Coleman said. “I have not listened to the music. I don’t think Ma has listened to the music. If Toney [Ma’s husband] has listened to the music, he has not given me the green light.”
According to Harris-Coleman, Dres reached out to Yancey’s label years ago about creating an album with J Dilla beats. No deal was reached before Harris-Coleman faced personal turmoil, including her mother’s cancer diagnosis. When she returned to the fold, she discovered some type of deal had been made.
“I come back in, and there’s a deal,” Harris-Coleman explained. “I said, ‘No, there’s no deal. There are no signed agreements. There’s no anything.’ I’ve been kind of disturbed about how Dres keeps doing interviews about this, and the terms have not been signed off by all parties. Are there negotiations? Yes. But I told him to stop all this.”
The Dres collaboration remains in limbo, but J Dilla’s estate confirmed an agreement to bring Jay Dee’s music to the Stem Player. The device initially gained recognition for its association with Kanye West. Stem’s parent company cut ties with Ye in 2022.