J Dilla (aka Jay Dee)

Though he kept a relatively low profile in comparison to his less diffident producer contemporaries, J Dilla (born James Dewitt Yancey) confirmed that in hip-hop, substance above flourish will confidently withstand the test of time. Emerging from Detroit's thriving mid-`90s underground hip-hop scene, Dilla initially took the role of emcee for local rap ensemble Slum Village. His first forays into beat-making came under the tutelage of area musician Amp Fiddler, who lent the aspiring producer an MPC sampling drum machine. By the end of the decade, Dilla's deft production hand--both as Slum Village's beatsmith/emcee and as part of the Ummah collective (which counted Q-Tip and Raphael Saddiq as members)--was being sought by important players in both R&B and hip-hop. Though Slum Village's major label debut was shelved by A&M in 1998, Dilla's profile was raised tremendously in the coming decade through his work with artists like Common, Erykah Badu, and Busta Rhymes. In the new millennium, the producer enjoyed a fruitful solo career and continued collaborations, but eventually succumbed to complications brought on by a rare blood disease in 2006.