It’s Dilla Month! February was the month Mr James Dewitt Yancey was born and unfortunately passed away and we wouldn’t be a site about the art of sampling without giving a nod to the great man. That’s why we’re giving you 28 days of Dilla related music, videos and heaven knows what else.
We’re starting off with a look at Workinonit, the second track off his first posthumous album, Donuts. For me, this is what sampling is all about. The original, The Worst Band In The World by 10cc, was on the first single off the band’s second album, Sheet Music. Dilla sped it up, carefully cut the song into chunks, rearranged them and threw on his own drums and vocal samples to create something totally new.
His composition was minimal in terms of overall structure but the real detail was in how the pieces were put back together to form something beyond the confines of what hip hop “should” be, and that’s what makes it so wonderful.
