J Dilla – Ruff Draft (Dilla's Mix) (2018) (Limited Edition 2CD Set)

When Ruff Draft saw its initial release in 2003, J Dilla possessed production skills on par with anyone in hip-hop – technically and creatively. “At the top of his game,” says longtime friend and collaborator, Karriem Riggins. After years of building while modestly deferring to others of both greater and lesser notoriety, Dilla finally completed the first solo endeavor on his own label, entirely on his own terms. The significance of such an autonomous success often gets overlooked, and partly accounts for why Ruff Draft is one of the lesser-referenced entries in Dilla’s oeuvre. “It’s a mysterious little project,” says his mother, Maureen Yancey. “But out of his entire career, that was the happiest time.”
 
 Prior to recording the EP, Dilla found himself at a crossroads. Estranged from his label MCA, and separated from the mother of his youngest daughter, frustration abounded both personally and professionally. Dilla spent parts of 2002 and 2003 working on an album for MCA that featured his rapping over contributions from other producers with whom he had connected and whose music he respected. At the time, he was known primarily for his beats, yet reviled for his MCing by most anyone not from his hometown of Detroit. The project was to be an intentional freak of the industry.
 
 The project would go on to spur his collaborative album with Madlib, Jaylib, and would first showcase the template that he would take to his greatest heights with 2006’s Donuts. The Stones Throw reissue of Ruff Draft from 2008 featured remixes of the songs from the album, done without Dilla’s involvement. This version of the album takes Dilla’s recently discovered mixes of the album and restores his vision for the project. “Straight from the mothafuckin’ cassette,” as he phrased the sound he was going for on the EP’s intro. Author Ronnie Reese expands upon his original liner notes to further tell Dilla’s story, in a booklet complete with never before published photographs from the Ruff Draft photo session.
 
 Ruff Draft, like The Diary, sees release on the Pay Jay, the official imprint of the Estate of James Yancey, founded on behalf of Maureen “Ma Dukes” Yancey, John “Illa J” Yancey, Monica and Ty-monae Whitlow, Joylette Hunter and Ja’mya Yancey.
 
 FORMAT: Compact Disc
 CONDITION: Brand New
 GENRE: Rap / Hip Hop
 UPC: 706091001529
 LABEL: Pay Jay
 NO. OF DISCS: 2
 
 TRACKLIST:
 Disc One: Original
 1 Intro 0:19
 2 Let's Take It Back 2:11
 3 Reckless Driving 2:42
 4 Nothing Like This 2:34
 5 The $ 2:44
 6 Interlude Featuring – Dank 0:52
 7 Make'em NV 2:25
 8 Interlude Featuring – Lil-Bit(ch) 0:45
 9 Crushin' (Yeeaah) 3:43
 10 Shouts 0:51
 Alternate
 11 Intro (Alt) 0:46
 12 Wild 2:19
 13 Reckless Driving 2:42
 14 Nothing Like This 2:35
 15 The $ 2:44
 16 Take Notice Featuring – Guilty Simpson 4:26
 17 Make'em NV 2:25
 18 Interlude 0:45
 19 Crushin' (Yeeaah) 3:44
 20 Rock On 1:53
 
 Disc Two: Instrumental
 1 Intro (Alternate) 0:45
 2 Let's Take It Back 2:11
 3 Wild 2:19
 4 Reckless Driving 2:42
 5 Nothing Like This 2:34
 6 The $ 2:44
 7 Take Notice 4:25
 8 Make'em NV 2:26
 9 Crushin' (Yeeaah!) 3:41
 10 Rock On 1:53