Jay Stay Paid: Album Review

Three days before James (J-Dee/J Dilla) Yancey died he released the Critically Acclaimed album Donuts. The next release, The Shining came later in 2006. After this a struggle for the rights to the Yancey estate occurred. During that time Busta Rhymes was sued for releasing the free download mixtape Dilligence, and has since swore from using Dilla's music. But, recently "Ma" Yancey has obtained the rights to Dilla's estate. So how does the average fan know this was the right person to entrust it to? Because she hired Dilla's musical idol Pete Rock to help executive produce the project. Produced as a radio station broadcasting by Pete, Jay Stay Paid is Dilla's 5th solo album.


Jay Stay paid totals 28 tracks, about half are under 2 minutes, 10 songs feature vocals by rappers. As far as the guest list, the artist selection is true to what Dilla would have picked himself for good: Raekwon, Havoc (Mobb Deep), Doom, Black Thought (The Roots) and Lil' Fame of M.O.P headline while Detroit Rappers like Frank Nitti (Frank & Dank), Illa J and Danny Brown also appear on the album.


Jay Stay Paid starts off a little slow, but once it kicks in, it kicks hard. Listeners will certainly be able to jam to almost any instrumental on this album. Filled with soulful and creative samples samples, the best in Dilla is certainly showcased. Pete Rock did his job, and for fan's of Dilla will surely be happy with the beat selection.


The tracks that highlight this album include "Reality TV" by Black Thought. The Roots front man tells the story about his baby-mother who ignores all the problems in the world to instead watch Reality TV shows. The song cleverly uses Reality TV as a basis for the rhymes : "When I drop a super sweet 16, she's day dreaming of becoming Miss Rap Supreme". And "Who rout like Daddy's girls outta Run's house?". "24k Rap" By Havoc and Raekwon goes back to hard rhymes with a different Dilla flavor.


"Dilla Bot Vs. The Hybrid" is a good instrumental with a song that it terribly executed in whole, while "See That Boy Fly" with Illa J & Cue D, wears off by the second listen.


Still, almost all these instrumentals hit right, and this a good album all the way through for any listener. With Pete Rock picking beats and a guest list that certainly could have appeared on any Dilla albums, fans and newcomers a like will be pleased. 4/5