J Dilla's team has released a couple posthumous projects in the past 12 months -- there was Dillatronic last October, then The Diary in April. With a 10th anniversary reissue of Dilla's seminal The Shining due out on August 29, BBE Records shares a 46-minute unreleased tape called Back to the Crib that Dilla made between 1999 and 2000.
Here's what BBE co-founder Peter Adarkwah had to say about the mixtape:
Towards the end of 1999 or early 2000, it was my first trip to Detroit. James (Yancey) was working with James Poyser on Erykah's Mama's Gun LP. We'd checked out a couple of record stores (I can't recall where or their names) and this tape was playing in the car. I recall "Think Twice was" on the tape and I suggested there and then that he do a cover with Erykah for the BBE album. We didn't get the Erykah feature, but people sure remember James' cover. We drove past a sign, it said Welcome To Detroit and I suggested that would be a good name for the album. When we pulled over James gave me the tape and said this is yours, or words to effect.
In other words, Back to the Crib is more of a playlist than a beattape. It features songs from Stevie Wonder, Fela Kuti, Michael Jackson, and more. Stream it below.