Yancey Boys (Illa J & Frank Nitt) Sunset Blvd.
KU reissues Yancey Boys ‘Sunset Blvd’ LP, in collaboration with Delicious Vinyl. 10 years after its original release, the instant classic, Sunset Blvd, from Yancey Boys gets its first-ever repressing. A collection of unreleased J Dilla beats, with raps from Frank Nitt, Illa J (Dilla’s younger brother), and features from previous collaborators and creative peers of J Dilla.
KU reissues Yancey Boys ‘Sunset Blvd’ LP, in collaboration with Delicious Vinyl. 10 years after its original release, the instant classic, Sunset Blvd, from Yancey Boys gets its first-ever repressing. A collection of unreleased J Dilla beats, with raps from Frank Nitt, Illa J (Dilla’s younger brother), and features from previous collaborators and creative peers of J Dilla.
Back in 2008, just 2 years after James Yancey aka J Dilla’s passing, Mike Ross, founder of Delicious Vinyl, opened up his vault of unreleased J Dilla beats to the Yancey family. Those beats would eventually get used for Illa J’s 2008 solo album, ‘Yancey Boys’. It was Illa J’s first ever studio album and was a launchpad for his career as a rapper.
In 2012 another vault of music was obtained by Dilla’s mother aka Ma Dukes. It was Dilla’s storage unit, which not only contained a portion of his personal record collection, many of which had been sampled in productions, but also more unreleased beats.
Even without J Dilla’s presence in the room, he was able to capture genius during the production process of making Sunset Blvd, his contributions and spirit couldn’t help but permeate the beats, the undeniable foundation for the tracks on the record.
“Beyond the beats, his fingerprints were all over the record, in the guest artist we chose to ask for a feature, to the guys mixing and mastering. Most of whom he (J Dilla) worked with before he passed”, said FRANK NITT when asked about the making of Sunset Blvd and the influence of Dilla on the record.
Being that Nitt was one of Dilla’s childhood friends and lifelong creative collaborator, he was considered family to the Yanceys, which attributed to the Yancey Boys’ name that Nitt and John Yancey aka Illa J chose as an artist name for the collaboration.
Most of what Nitt knew about making records he learned from Dilla in real-time. He had an insight on his process that most never experienced and Dilla’s point of view was 2nd nature to him. There wasn’t anyone better to have curated the chosen tracks and honored Dilla’s creative lens for making music. The making of Sunset Blvd was not only an opportunity for Nitt and Illa J to share unreleased music that Dilla contributed to, but also as a way to stay connected to their brother in the spiritual and creative form. The Yancey Boys LP are direct result of J Dilla’s legacy.
Along with contributing raps, Nitt focused his attention towards curation and pulling in features from old friends of the late producers. Connecting on notable features from Common, Talib Kweli, Guilty Simpson, and more.
In addition to Nitt and Illa J’s musical and logistical contributions to the making of the record, they couldn’t have done it without the support of Mike Ross and Delicious Vinyl.
Delicious Vinyl shared Dilla’s family’s ideals and interests about the best ways to honor and respect the legacy of J Dilla.
The making of Sunset Blvd created a space for Dilla’s loved ones and previous collaborators to cope with the loss and document tracks that kept them connected to his creative being. There could be an infinite list of the ways this record shaped those involved. Amongst many things on that figurative list, it was one of Illa J’s launching pads to his career as a solo artist, and not just as J Dilla’s little brother. For Nitt it was an experience that allowed him to flex his skills as an executive, assuming any hat necessary to get the project done.
Although the Yancey Boys LP was crafted together at Delicious Vinyl in Los Angeles, California, the essence of Detroit, Michigan, where the Yancey boys were born and raised cannot be shaken from the feel of the record. Many of the beats were composed by Dilla in hometown, and tracks such as “Beautiful” make lyrical references to Detroit. It was intentional and built into the blueprint of constructing the album to include Detroit artists such as Guilty Simpson, to assure the soul of the region was well represented.
Illa J and Nitt wanted to do right by their brother and friend, so not only did they do their damnedest to embody his spirit in the album, but they also implemented Dilla’s studio rules.
For many, including Nitt, Dilla played a big role in fueling their fire as artists and people, his legacy documented through records, shared experiences in basement studios, and live performances has strengthened and impacted the spirit of many. Sunset Blvd is a part of that documentation, and 10 years after its initial release, allows for reflection on a project that adds more depth to the J Dilla Legacy and those involved in its creation.
Back in 2008, just 2 years after James Yancey aka J Dilla’s passing, Mike Ross, founder of Delicious Vinyl, opened up his vault of unreleased J Dilla beats to the Yancey family. Those beats would eventually get used for Illa J’s 2008 solo album, ‘Yancey Boys’. It was Illa J’s first ever studio album and was a launchpad for his career as a rapper.
In 2012 another vault of music was obtained by Dilla’s mother aka Ma Dukes. It was Dilla’s storage unit, which not only contained a portion of his personal record collection, many of which had been sampled in productions, but also more unreleased beats.
Even without J Dilla’s presence in the room, he was able to capture genius during the production process of making Sunset Blvd, his contributions and spirit couldn’t help but permeate the beats, the undeniable foundation for the tracks on the record.
“Beyond the beats, his fingerprints were all over the record, in the guest artist we chose to ask for a feature, to the guys mixing and mastering. Most of whom he (J Dilla) worked with before he passed”, said FRANK NITT when asked about the making of Sunset Blvd and the influence of Dilla on the record.
Being that Nitt was one of Dilla’s childhood friends and lifelong creative collaborator, he was considered family to the Yanceys, which attributed to the Yancey Boys’ name that Nitt and John Yancey aka Illa J chose as an artist name for the collaboration.
Most of what Nitt knew about making records he learned from Dilla in real-time. He had an insight on his process that most never experienced and Dilla’s point of view was 2nd nature to him. There wasn’t anyone better to have curated the chosen tracks and honored Dilla’s creative lens for making music. The making of Sunset Blvd was not only an opportunity for Nitt and Illa J to share unreleased music that Dilla contributed to, but also as a way to stay connected to their brother in the spiritual and creative form. The Yancey Boys LP are direct result of J Dilla’s legacy.
Along with contributing raps, Nitt focused his attention towards curation and pulling in features from old friends of the late producers. Connecting on notable features from Common, Talib Kweli, Guilty Simpson, and more.
In addition to Nitt and Illa J’s musical and logistical contributions to the making of the record, they couldn’t have done it without the support of Mike Ross and Delicious Vinyl.
Delicious Vinyl shared Dilla’s family’s ideals and interests about the best ways to honor and respect the legacy of J Dilla.
The making of Sunset Blvd created a space for Dilla’s loved ones and previous collaborators to cope with the loss and document tracks that kept them connected to his creative being. There could be an infinite list of the ways this record shaped those involved. Amongst many things on that figurative list, it was one of Illa J’s launching pads to his career as a solo artist, and not just as J Dilla’s little brother. For Nitt it was an experience that allowed him to flex his skills as an executive, assuming any hat necessary to get the project done.
Although the Yancey Boys LP was crafted together at Delicious Vinyl in Los Angeles, California, the essence of Detroit, Michigan, where the Yancey boys were born and raised cannot be shaken from the feel of the record. Many of the beats were composed by Dilla in hometown, and tracks such as “Beautiful” make lyrical references to Detroit. It was intentional and built into the blueprint of constructing the album to include Detroit artists such as Guilty Simpson, to assure the soul of the region was well represented.
Illa J and Nitt wanted to do right by their brother and friend, so not only did they do their damnedest to embody his spirit in the album, but they also implemented Dilla’s studio rules.
For many, including Nitt, Dilla played a big role in fueling their fire as artists and people, his legacy documented through records, shared experiences in basement studios, and live performances has strengthened and impacted the spirit of many. Sunset Blvd is a part of that documentation, and 10 years after its initial release, allows for reflection on a project that adds more depth to the J Dilla Legacy and those involved in its creation.
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