Intro
Berklee School of Music
On Berklee’s Hip-Hop program...
Raydar: “At the time when I was a student at Berklee School of Music, they didn’t really have any hip-hop specific production courses. I was already building beats from scratch and playing chords, but [through courses at Berklee] and taking piano lessons I learned the terminology. I dual-majored in music synthesis and music business. Music synthesis was the art of creating sounds and building the sounds that go in a synthesizer. And I wanted to learn the business so I knew what the taxes meant and how to sustain myself [as a musician]. And I took some production and engineering courses too, because I wanted to refine what I wanted to do as an artist.
I had my recital, and I announced it at the end. ‘Yo, Dilla Ensemble next semester.’ And everyone was like, ‘What?!?! What?!?!’ This was fall 2008.
“When I got there, I was one of the only cats who was like, ‘Yeah, I do hip-hop.’ Most of them sang, or played jazz, or were into gospel. There was a really small hip-hop community at Berklee.
“I graduated, and I moved around a few different cities, from Atlanta, to Los Angeles, then back to New York. I put out a couple of different records, and signed some licensing deals. But there was this teacher at Berklee, Stephen Webber, who I kept in contact with post-graduation. And I was one of the first students he called when he created the turntable program, Turntable Technique. And over time, he was like, ‘Man, you should come back and teach.’
“There was only one other hip-hop course there at the time besides Turntable Technique, and that was the Hip-Hop Ensemble, also known as the Jazz/Hip-Hop Orchestra, and I was a student in there. So I met with the head of the Ensemble department, Ron Savage, for all of like ten minutes. And he asked me, ‘Do you want to create some courses?’
“So I tried teaching Hip-Hop Ensemble for a semester, then the next semester [I created] the Dilla ensemble. I remember the day. It was the last day of the semester, and every ensemble on the last day gives a recital. So I had my recital, and I announced it at the end. ‘Yo, Dilla Ensemble next semester.’ And everyone was like, ‘What?!?! What?!?!’ This was fall 2008.”
J Dilla Ensemble
On the creation of the J Dilla Ensemble...
Raydar: “I’m a big Dilla fan. [The idea to create a J Dilla Ensemble] definitely started from being a fan. But something else that I noticed about his music, even when I was a student, after rehearsals and jam sessions or gigs, there were always people around campus, my peers, playing his music. It was just a natural thing to start playing some Dilla stuff.
“Dilla’s like that bridge between those two worlds that should be communicating more, but for some reason prior to what he did weren’t really. And those two worlds were the programming musicians, and the more traditional instrumentalist musicians.
Dilla’s like that bridge between those two worlds that should be communicating more, but for some reason prior to what he did weren’t really. And those two worlds were the programming musicians, and the more traditional instrumentalist musicians.
“I’ve been in so many discussions about whether sampling and DJing is real musicianship. And these things are such a core component of the culture. And [people question] if rapping and hip-hop in general is musicianship. People on their high horses will say, ‘Well if you’re not playing chords, and you’re not building it from scratch, then it’s not musicianship.’ But no one ever cared when it came to Dilla. It was like, ‘Alright, whatever man. That’s dope. Let’s play that.’ [Laughs.]
“And the music he made was so easy to translate to the live musician, because the bottom line of it all was the feel of humanity. Whether it was programming the drums a little bit off, or a little sloppy, or moving the hi-hat, all those kinds of things. Sampling from some crates that no one would ever think to dig in to.
“I didn’t have to jump through too many hoops to start the Dilla Ensemble. That’s why they brought me there. I didn’t really have to listen to many people in the ensemble department, maybe one or two. They brought me on like, ‘Make these courses. Highlight the artists. We don’t know who to make these courses about.’
"Most of the teachers in the Ensemble department are older. They have a Bob Marley ensemble, a Tower Of Power ensemble, a P-Funk ensemble. I’m one of the younger teachers, so I grew up on Dilla. I remember when The Pharcyde’s ‘Runnin’’ came out. And they were definitely supportive.”
On Dilla
On what sets Dilla apart from other legendary producers...
Raydar: “He’s taken that step beyond Pete Rock. Pete, and Q-Tip, opened us up to all the jazz samples, like the Rhodes and upright bass. And Dilla was like, ‘Well I’m gonna do that, and I’m gonna dig in to some progressive rock crates, electronic synthesizer records from Germany [Laughs], and I’m gonna throw it all together, and here it is. I’m not even gonna quantize half this stuff, I’m just gonna mix it and let it have that bump to it.’
He has such a variety in what he has chosen to sample that not only is it dope to play the compositions he has already done, but there is literally a musical family tree that I never seen the depth of.
"And it’s just something that a lot of live musicians and people that program music can all agree on. So I figured I would start there. [The Dilla movement] was already happening. It just needed a course to pull it all together.
“There’s a lot in his playbook that I could take and branch out to other things. If you take ‘Runnin’,’ I’m able to reach through to Stan Getz [who is sampled on the record]. And [the students] are able to take that and play that in other courses, and apply that to their vocabulary.
"He has such a variety in what he has chosen to sample that not only is it dope to play the compositions he has already done, but there is literally a musical family tree that I never seen the depth of.
“Yeah, DJ Premier has a very, very deep crate as well. And I want to start a Premier ensemble, and Pete Rock, and if we can accomplish it. I don’t know how many people we’re going to need to do a Bomb Squad one. [Laughs.] It took like ten people to mix the records alone. I can’t imagine how many musicians we’d need for that.
DJ Premier has a very, very deep crate as well. And I want to start a Premier ensemble, and Pete Rock, and if we can accomplish it. I don’t know how many people we’re going to need to do a Bomb Squad one. [Laughs.] It took like ten people to mix the records alone. I can’t imagine how many musicians we’d need for that.
“Plus, Dilla was so close to what the students were already listening to. He passed in 2006, and Primo and Pete Rock still release new music, but he was someone, from talking to students around the school, that they were so up on. Like, drummers always wanted to study his pocket. So it felt natural to start there.
“Then from there, it’s like, ‘Well you like Dilla? Here’s Diamond D.’ [For example], this semester, while the Dilla ensemble is going through rehearsing ‘Think Twice,’ I’m not only showing them Donald Byrd’s ‘Think Twice,’ I’m showing them how Large Professor flipped it for Main Source’s ‘Looking At The Front Door.’
“I don’t ever want to be like, ‘Dilla, Dilla, Dilla, that’s it.’ No. Dilla himself had to learn from these other producers to know what style he wanted to choose for himself and evolve into his own style. So I want to do that same thing with [my students]. Like, ‘This is what Dilla did. Learn from it, and try to figure out, ‘How am I going to steer this to make it be what I’m trying to say?’”
Technical Strengths
On Dilla’s technical strengths...
Raydar: “When you think about Dilla’s beats, think about a DJ. Think about the points in a record where the beat might just drop out awkwardly then come back. Or there’s like a vocal that comes out of nowhere maybe for a couple seconds then goes away. It’s almost like he’s DJ’ing his beats. It’s like when you’re listening, he’s on a cross-fader, and he’s just cutting through different bits and pieces.
This is something I tell my students as well. It’s not just the notes you play. It’s the sonic texture of the record.
“You can also go in to how he [equalizes] his beats a certain way. The drums knock so you can just rhyme to his beat CD. Like, just throw the vocals on top of that and put it out, and that’s that. His ear was crazy as an engineer. And this is something I tell my students as well. It’s not just the notes you play. It’s the sonic texture of the record.
Sonic texture means so much. It’s one of the things that gives a producer a signature sound. Like, Dr. Dre is so incredible because his sonic texture is so clean and beautiful. Pete Rock has his own sonic texture, and he has a few different tiers of that depending how he decides to freak his different gear. Pete Rock on a SP-1200 is little different than him on a MPC-2000XL. And that’s not just his gear, it’s how he chooses to use it.
“What Dilla did with the MPC-3000, and the layering, and how he would EQ certain parts of a sample out to leave room for other parts, is [similar to what DJs do] when they’re blending two records. ‘Well, I’m gonna [take] the low end out of this record, so the low end on this other record can come in, and blend them together so they sound like one song.’
“He was a DJ himself, so he knew. He was able to get inside the mind of what makes that so effective to a party goer, and he was able to harness that inside of a recording. Then, he was able to layer that.”
Classroom
On what goes on inside the classroom...
Raydar: “Every semester, other than this one, started like, ‘Hey, welcome to Dilla Ensemble. What do you like of his that you want to play?’ And we’d put down this big list of songs. And we’d listen to them, and kind of jam to them for the first couple of weeks.
“Then we’d be like, ‘Well that one’s cool, but that one really hits. We really want to play that one.’ So then from there, it was, ‘Okay, which ones do you really want to play?’ That second or third week is so hard, because we have to narrow it down to like ten songs, and it becomes, ‘Well, I wanted to play that!’ Always. [Laughs.]
He has a few different periods of his musical style. Whether it be the more Rhodes and sub-bass kind of sound with the loud snare, like what he did with The Pharcyde or A Tribe Called Quest. Then, navigating through to when he was with MCA and working on the Frank n Dank stuff and getting into the synthesizer stuff, to working with the Soulquarians where stuff is now being interpreted by live musicians.
“In previous semesters, I’ve left it up to them, because they’ve grown up listening to him their whole lives. There were kids who grew up on all Dilla. For me, he showed up in early high school. I had a period of time in my life where he didn’t have any records out. But for them, they were just all about him. So I was just like, ‘Hey, what do you want to play?’
“This semester is a little different. We’re doing mostly Welcome 2 Detroit stuff, other than some variety for our upcoming performance at Harlem Stage. But for the core of the semester, we’re focusing on Welcome 2 Detroit.
“I wanted to start off this semester with Welcome 2 Detroit, because it’s kind of a variety pack of his sounds. He has a few different periods of his musical style. Whether it be the more Rhodes and sub-bass kind of sound with the loud snare like what he did with The Pharcyde or A Tribe Called Quest. Then, navigating through that filtration to when he was with MCA and working on the Frank n Dank stuff and getting into more of the synthesizer stuff, to working with the Soulquarians where stuff is now being interpreted by live musicians for D’Angelo’s record and Common’s record. Then, he goes out to California, and he’s working with Ruff Draft and Madlib getting back to that more dirty, crate-digging sound. Welcome 2 Detroit is like a middle ground for all of those things.
“The intro and ‘Give It Up’ featuring Phat Kat, those have kind of a dirty sound to them. Then you have some of the smoother, synthesizer stuff like ‘Big Booty Express.’ Then, it also has the live stuff like ‘Think Twice’ and ‘Rico Suave Bossa Nova.’ I wanted to start it off there because it gives them a taste of a few different areas of them.
“First of all, I start by talking to them about the history of hip-hop, because it’s important for them to know that Dilla didn’t just fall out of the sky. That’s when I talk about Paul C, Large Professor, Pete Rock, Kool Herc, Herbie Luv Bug, Afrika Bambaataa, and all that stuff. Then we get in to the Dilla stuff.
“After they pick the songs, I talk to them about the records. We pull up the original sample sources, and I’ll show them, ‘This is the part of the record he cut up.’ You should see some of their faces when I play them the music he sampled. They’ll be like, ‘Wait a minute, he cut it from there?!?! Wheeew!’ And they’ll be dappin’ each other. [Laughs.]
“And I always ask the students first what the sample is, and if anyone knows it. Being a teacher, I don’t just want to hand it to them. I want them to come up with the answer. And they’re Dilla fans anyway, so [they enjoy that].
“And I’ll get in to some of the stories about how the records were made. You know, me coming up on Dilla, I tried to read everything about him I could. I read every ?uestlove post about him. [Laughs.] You know, the Wax Poetics issue on him, VIBE Magazine articles, Stones Throw [website], and anything I could find. Whatever anyone was saying about him, I wanted to know. So I combine all those stories I read about and dug up through the years, and I tell them to the students.
“There are kids in there that know a little bit. They know the standard records, like ‘Stakes Is High’ and ‘Fall In Love.’ Then there are kids in there that know all that stuff. They know beat tapes, remixes, all that. There are a few cats that know all about his catalog.
“The lecturing stops after the first class, and then it’s just tidbits here and there. I want them to really lead each other, and build up their own confidence. My main job is like a traffic cop really. Like, ‘You’re doing too much there,’ or ‘Turn up here, turn down there,’ or ‘Look up for the cue, watch that drop!’ [Laughs.]
Makeup
On the makeup of the J Dilla Ensemble...
Raydar:“I like to mix the ensemble up between kids who know his stuff and kids who don’t, and kids who are really proficient, and kids who are really just starting to get their thing together. The beauty about having an ensemble where you have a variety of knowledge of skill level is it’s a trade-off.
Dilla was a dope MC too. And not too many people talk about that. Pharoahe Monch made the point that he was one of his favorite MCs. Dilla could rap the hell out of something.
"Those who don’t have as much knowledge or skill get to be around their peers who do, so they get to get better from absorbing the techniques and the discipline and the catalog. And those that are real proficient and have the knowledge of the catalog, they get to learn patience.
"They need to know that they’re going to deal with various varieties of musicians through the course of their career. And the one thing that keeps that all together is the patience and understanding to work that out with your fellow musicians. And that creates a solid bond. A brotherhood, and sisterhood.
“There are [eleven] students in the ensemble right now. There are two keyboardists, Lauren Fuller on piano and Cale Hawkins on synthesizer. Amber Baker is on drums, John Egizi on bass, Alex Suarez on guitar and he’s also the DJ. Jules Drucker is on the other guitar, Brian Phillips is on saxophone, Darien Bravo on saxophone, and Carley Cusack on flute. And the MCs. Kevin Clark is on the mic. And Mike Ballz is on the mic.
“Yeah, Dilla was a dope MC too. And not too many people talk about that. Pharoahe Monch made the point that he was one of his favorite MCs. Dilla could rap the hell out of something. His verse on ‘Thelonious’ was [incredible.] And ‘Give It Up,’ and all the stuff he did on Jaylib. So at the same time that I’m talking to them about the beats, I’m telling the MCs, ‘Listen to his cadence, and how he’s laying on the beat.’”
Ma Dukes
On Ma Dukes relationship with the J Dilla Ensemble...
Raydar: “[I connected to Ma Dukes initially] through my friend Tish Newton. She’s one of my closest friends. And I told her, ‘Hey, I’m teaching at Berklee now, and I’m thinking about doing a Dilla ensemble.’ And she was like, ‘Yeah, you should!’ And and she knew a fellow Berklee Alumn, Kendra Parker, who got out of Berklee a couple years before I did. And Kendra knows Ma Dukes. So Tish told Kendra, and Kendra told Ma Dukes, ‘There’s this kid at Berklee who started a J Dilla ensemble. And Ma Dukes was like, ‘I’d like to see that.’
After she came through to that first rehearsal before the show, they stayed an extra few hours to just rehearse. They were all about it. And she knows that, and that they put their heart into it.
“So we arranged for it, and she came out there and met the ensemble a couple days before their debut recital. She was there for the very first show [to give her blessing]. And she thought very favorable of it. And she knows her son’s stuff. She’d hear [them playing different] Dilla beats, and she’d be like, ‘Oh yeah, I know all that.’ She’s a proud mother.
“It was really important for me, and the students, to make sure we were doing it right, and to have her there to confirm it. I never met him. So I wanted to make sure that I was going in the right direction. I didn’t want to just be like, ‘It’s the Dilla Ensemble. Here I am.’
“She’s met the students a few times, on a few different occasions. They were a little star struck actually, like, ‘Yo, Dilla’s Mom is here.’ After she came through to that first rehearsal before the show, they stayed an extra few hours to just rehearse. They were all about it. And she knows that, and that they put their heart into it. It’s a really special relationship. And even if she can’t make it out to Boston [for a specific performance] she’ll send a video with a shout out or something to keep them encouraged and let them know that they’re appreciated.”
Suite For Ma Dukes
On Suite For Ma Dukes inspiration...
Raydar: “I got that on DVD. I got it in a box set. That was ill. Miguel Atwood-Ferguson, he’s very inspirational. It’s part of the reason I felt I could do the Dilla Ensemble, looking at what he did with the orchestra. I have the utmost respect for what he did with Dilla’s arrangements.
“Having different instruments yields different sounds. When you have fifty strings, it’s definitely going to give you a different vibe. But yeah, Miguel Atwood-Ferguson. Just him taking up that massive amount of work to transcribe all that stuff. It was like, ‘Man, I gotta get off my ass!’ [Laughs.]”
Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival
On performing at the Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival...
Raydar: “When we first did the Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival in 2010, Waajeed, who was an important pillar in Dilla’s life and career, was there, along with DJ Spinna and Q-Tip. I did a panel discussion on Dilla with them, and all three of them were there when the J Dilla Ensemble performedand gave their blessings. And that was another really important one. Not just Dilla’s mother, but the people that he worked with to be like, ‘This is cool, man.’ That was really important for [the students] and for me.
There was a picture of one of my students talking to Black Milk. You know, to see one of my students talking to Black Milk, someone who comes from the Dilla lineage, and it looks like they’re having a great convo—you know, that’s what it’s all about.
“We were going to [back up De La Soul’s performance and some other groups] but some things got switched up and we just ended up rocking our own set. I had to go on a tour in another country, but they ended up performing [without me there]. The whole purpose of the ensembles at Berklee is to hold the torch of leadership and build with each other as a band. I had [support for them] there to make sure everything was in place in terms of sound check and managerial stuff. But in terms of them guiding their performance, that was in their hands.
“I don’t hop on stage a bunch with them. That’s not what I do. That’s what rehearsal is for. The only time I get on stage with them is for songs that they ask me to get on with them. I want to make this something for them. If I do end up getting on stage, it’s because they asked me to. They’re always like, ‘Yeah man, come on, you gotta do one!’
“They did two performances. I was there for the one at the panel discussion, but I missed the one on the big stage. But I saw photos and videos, and they were doing their thing, telling the people to put their hands up and talking to the crowd, and the crowd was responding. There was a picture of one of my students talking to Black Milk. You know, to see one of my students talking to Black Milk, someone who comes from the Dilla lineage, and it looks like they’re having a great convo, you know, that’s what it’s all about. It was great, man. I was like full circle. It was everything we had worked hard for.”
Favorite Performance Pieces
On favorite performance pieces...
Raydar: “There was one thing I really liked that we did a few semesters ago. I really enjoyed when we did Common’s ‘Heat’ from Like Water For Chocolate and transitioned that into ‘Soul Power’ off Electric Circus. Sometimes we will layer one Dilla song on top of another. I’m a DJ myself, so I’ll think, ‘What will sound good together?’ Sometimes the melodies and chords of one record work on top of another.
“I also really liked when we put the melody for De La Soul’s ‘Much More’ on the breakdown of Slum Village’s ‘Climax.’ And we did a medley of Q-Tip’s ‘Move’ into ‘We Must Be In Love’ with Pharoahe Monch, then went back to ‘Move’ again before we went out. That was one of my favorites. We also blended the breakdown of The Beatles ‘Come Together’ with Ghostface’s ‘Whip You With A Strap’ [where one of our vocalists sang the original sample]. That was dope.”
Harlem Stage
On the J Dilla Ensemble’s upcoming performance at Harlem Stage...
Raydar: “Harlem Stage invited us to come down and get down with their upcoming A Tribe Called Quest three-day event "A Tribe Called Quest: Innovation and Legacies – A Movement in Four Parts." It’s real cool. They weren’t just like, ‘We’re gonna talk about A Tribe Called Quest, and then be out.’ They know that Dilla was really important to their last couple records and Q-Tip’s solo outings. In fact, the only reason he’s known to a lot of people is because Tip was like, ‘Yo, you gotta hear my man Dilla!’
“It’s really beautiful to get a couple days of history and performances, and for them to extend the open door to some students. Half of the students have been in the ensemble, so they did the Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival, but half of them haven’t done anything like this. And they end up just being around that area of Berklee, which is kind of a homogeneous environment because you end up seeing the same people and playing in the same classrooms. So anytime anyone reaches out to give the students a chance to perform and learn more about Tribe and how Dilla connects to them, and also to Kanye West and Flying Lotus and all of them, it’s [awesome]. Not only do they get the chance to perform, but they get to dig in [to the history]. So we’re going to come down and do our set.”
De La Soul
On Dilla’s contributions to A Tribe Called Quest and De La Soul...
Raydar: “There’s an interview that Branford Marsalis had in this documentary Before The Music Died. I’m paraphrasing, but he said, ‘Usually it takes a few years for music to catch on and people to say, ‘Yeah, that’s awesome! That’s incredible!’ That happened with [John] Coltrane. I think he dropped Ascension, and people were like, ‘What’s going on, man?’ And even with Miles [Davis]. He did the bebop thing and Tutu, and people debate about that.
I think he brought a fresh perspective to those groups. When you look People’s Instinctive Travels and 3 Feet High and Rising, they were barely out of high school when they made those records. They were still trying to figure it out for themselves.
“I was twelve or thirteen when Beats, Rhymes and Life came out, so I came into hip-hop in between Tribe records. I was a little bit too late for Midnight Marauders because it was already out by the time I got into hip-hop, but I was right on time for Beats, Rhymes and Life. And so, for me, I was like, ‘This is dope. There’s nothing wrong with this.’
But then after years of meeting cats, and going back for myself to their other records [I saw what people were debating about]. The same thing happened to De La Soul when Stakes Is High came out and Prince Paul wasn’t in the equation.
There was a period when Dilla had this little [hold] on hip-hop purists like, ‘Why are you messing up our groups? I love Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde, what happened to J-Swift? I loved Ego Trippin’, what’s this ‘Stakes Is High’? I love Tribe, what’s happening on ‘Once Again’? What’s happening to all our groups?!?’ There were cats who were like, ‘This is not what I’m used to. The snare is too loud.’ [Laughs.]
“But I think he brought a fresh perspective to those groups. When you look People’s Instinctive Travels and 3 Feet High and Rising, they were barely out of high school when they made those records. They were still trying to figure it out for themselves. Things start to change a little bit as you get in to your later twenties. I’m coming up on my thirties so I’m going through this myself. You start thinking about, ‘What’s my legacy?’
“Q-Tip had converted to Islam, and he was like, ‘How am I going to evolve myself?’ Phife moved to Atlanta, and he was taking on another chapter to his life. And Dilla showed up and offered a whole sonic sound that they could all agree with. And it had hints of what they had done previously. People look at The Low End Theory like, ‘That’s the upright bass record.’ And Midnight Marauders, they say, ‘Well that’s the Rhodes keyboard record.’
“But Beat, Rhymes and Life was a growing up thing. A lot of people look at those records like they were Dilla’s fault. But they were maturing. It was a thought process, and it was in the evolution of them as a group.
"And he helped find a signature sound that worked with that. Dilla helped bridge their growth. I can’t speak for them personally. I don’t know what [A Tribe Called Quest] or De La Soul would say. But that’s just what it looked like to me personally.
“I thought the [Tribe] doc was dope. I was talking with [my friend] about this, and she was like, ‘They didn’t say enough about Dilla!’ And I was like, ‘I know, I know.’ But it could only be so long. There’s only so much you could say in one documentary.
"He definitely [needs his own documentary]. Even if it didn’t bring about a Tribe reunion, which I wish it had, I still enjoyed it. There could have been some Dilla beats on the soundtrack, and it would’ve been dope.”
Future
On the future of the J Dilla Ensemble...
Raydar: “The hardest thing about the course is that it hasn’t been offered every semester. There’s a lot of ground to cover hip-hop wise at Berklee. There’s other courses I need to teach, and I’m only there two days out of the week. The rest of the time I’m in New York doing other stuff with my career, DJ’ing and doing records. I want there to be other people teaching, so there can be other sections of J Dilla Ensemble. But they want alumni [to teach]. And I understand that.
“So in the past few weeks, I’ve found a people that can actually do that, so in the fall it’s going to be easier for the course to be offered. The more you offer it and the more it’s around, the more open it will be to have other artists coming through. Because that’s what I want. More clinics, and more people coming through and talking and building about Dilla.
“The future for the ensemble is just like what it is now, but with more sections. When I was a student in the Hip-Hop Ensemble, there were two sections, and we would play shows together, just rockin’ all night. And I would love for that to happen with the Dilla ensemble. We need more sections, because I would love to do Donuts in its entirety. There’s a lot of music in Donuts. We’ll probably need at least two or three sections to cover all of it.”
