The Diary (J Dilla album)
The Diary is the sixth and final studio album by American hip-hop recording artist J Dilla. It was originally intended for release in 2002 via MCA Records under the title Pay Jay. This long-lost album is the final batch of unissued material that J Dilla had assembled for release during his lifetime. It also represents his first rap album released since Ruff Draft and Champion Sound. Unlike previous full-length releases – from Jay Stay Paid to Dillatronic – all edited with unreleased instrumentals, The Diary is a collection of Dilla's vocal performances over his production and that of other producers, such as Madlib, Pete Rock, Nottz, Hi-Tek and Karriem Riggins among others. It also features vocal performances by Snoop Dogg, Bilal, Kokane, Frank n Dank, Nottz, Kenny Wray and Boogie. Recording sessions for the album took place from September 16, 2001, to April 2, 2002, at The Spaceship in Clinton Township and Studio A in Detroit, and it was mastered by Dave Cooley at Elysian Masters in Los Angeles.
The Diary was released posthumously on April 15, 2016, through Pay Jay Productions, Inc. in conjunction with Nas' record label, Mass Appeal Records. It was supported by the singles "The Anthem", "Diamonds", "Give Them What They Want", "The Introduction", "Gangsta Boogie", and "The Sickness", and also includes the 2001 underground classic "Fuck the Police".
Background
Pay Jay, as it was originally titled, is a vocal album James Dewitt "J Dilla" Yancey completed over eight months in the early 2000s, following the release of his first solo album, Welcome 2 Detroit, in 2001. Yancey was signed to a two-album solo deal with MCA Records in 2002. This album, which was to be his mainstream debut, was his attempt to take advantage of the attention he gathered after his brightest period as a behind-the-scenes hitmaker and influencer. Although he was known as a producer rather than an emcee, he chose to rap on the album and have the music produced by some of his favorite producers such as Madlib, Pete Rock, Hi-Tek, Supa Dave West, Kanye West, Nottz, Waajeed and others. However, the project stalled and the album was shelved as it was not what MCA had anticipated when it signed Yancey, leading to him being dropped and recording Ruff Draft out of frustration with the major label system. The album was kept in his storage unit in Detroit while he transitioned into living and creating in Los Angeles, before passing with lupus and an incurable blood disease in 2006. The album also suffered as select songs were leaked online and bootlegged on vinyl in April 2008.On February 11, 2013, it was reported that the album, retitled as The Diary, would be released via Yancey's own Pay Jay Productions imprint, a company he founded in 2001 to house his production company and his publishing company, which The Estate of James Yancey has revived as a functioning imprint. The album's completion was overseen by the estate's Creative Director Eothen "Egon" Alapatt—former general manager of Stones Throw Records and A&R for Champion Sound and Donuts—who previously oversaw the remastering of Ruff Draft in 2007. In February 2016, Alapatt disclosed to Rolling Stone that The Diary was "the last record that actually wanted out."
The album was tentatively scheduled for release in spring 2013 and was pushed back for another year. However, no update regarding its release date was provided for two years. Pending the release of the posthumous album, eight tracks have surfaced as singles. Alapatt explained the lengthy delay: "Just unpacking the files, finding the software that used, getting it again, because at that point it was already archaic, unpacking the files so that we can actually look at them, took years. Literally years. Bear in mind, we were able to get some low-hanging fruit earlier than we were able to get others, that's how the Ruff Draft record with the instrumentals and unreleased tracks were able to come out. That was easy to find. It was really well labeled. The record had already come out, so we had a reference point, you know what I'm saying? It was quite simple. This record was a pain in the fucking ass."
Release and promotion
On February 18, 2016, New York City rapper Nas announced on Zane Lowe's Beats 1 radio program that the much-delayed album is expected to be released on April 15, 2016, via his own label Mass Appeal in collaboration with Yancey's imprint. He also unearthed an unheard-track entitled "The Introduction". The same day, the album was made available for pre-order exclusively on iTunes where its cover art and track listing were unveiled.A week later, it was announced that the album would be released on vinyl as a Record Store Day exclusive on April 16, 2016. The LP set contains a 16-page booklet with an introduction by Eothen Alapatt and liner notes by Ronnie Reese—who previously wrote the liner notes for J Dilla's Ruff Draft—detailing the story of the album. Along with this accouncement, the production credits were revealed.
On March 17, 2016, Nas previewed a previously unheard collaboration with J Dilla during his headlining set at Mass Appeal's Live at the BBQ showcase at SXSW in Austin, Texas. Titled "The Sickness", the Madlib-produced track is a recording that originated in 2001 and was completed in 2015 with a verse from Nas. Though the track is not included on The Diary, it came as an iTunes exclusive bonus track with pre-orders of the album for its April 15 release. Two days prior to the release, "The Sickness" was made available to stream on SoundCloud by Mass Appeal.
In anticipation of the album's release, Mass Appeal published online a series of short videos featuring some of the artists who contributed to the project, including Snoop Dogg, Bilal, Hi-Tek, Nottz, and Karriem Riggings among others.