Busta Rhymes Breaks Down 'Dillagence II' at Grammy Museum — SkimNews
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- Busta Rhymes discussed "Dillagence II," released in August, at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles during a Q&A with Anderson .Paak that also featured a 30-minute set including "Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See," "Break Ya Neck" and new cut "Talk Ya Shit," ending the show by thanking Ma Dukes (Dilla's mother) on stage.
- The album finds him rhyming over unreleased beats from the late James "J Dilla" Yancey, who died in 2006 and personally handed Rhymes beat CDs containing 25 beats each, often with tracks fading in and out, making looping difficult.
- Rhymes recalled visiting Dilla at his mother's Detroit home during his health struggles, describing how Ma Dukes cooked for them, pulled records from an alphabetically organized collection in the coat closet, and effectively served as Dilla's engineer.
- Featured guests on "Dillagence II" include D'Angelo, Ludacris, Lil Wayne, Jon Batiste, and Anderson .Paak; Rhymes said he received D'Angelo's vocals for "This Woman" in February and recorded his own verse that same day.
- Rhymes, who has received 12 Grammy nominations without a win, told .Paak that recognition would mean "beyond what I could actually describe" for an album where "every beat is a beat," comparing his stash of unreleased production to hoarded "moments in time."
- Rhymes was joined by Common on stage for "What We Got in Common," a track they recorded alongside Jon Batiste, and later brought out Ma Dukes to publicly thank the Yancey family and estate for blessing the project.
Why it matters: For Busta Rhymes — a 12-time Grammy nominee who has never won — "Dillagence II" is his most emotionally explicit submission yet, built almost entirely from J Dilla beat CDs he personally received and sat on for close to 20 years; if the Recording Academy recognizes it, it would end the longest active nomination streak without a win among living rappers of his stature.
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