Mass Appeal Records & PayJay Proudly Present: J Dilla's Long-lost 2002 MCA Vocal Album, THE DIARY Prod. By Madlib, Pete Rock, Hi-tek, Nottz, House Shoes, ?uestlove & Karriem Riggins, and More

"

Dilla

spent the better part of 2002 working on an album for

MCA

that featured his rapping over contributions from other producers with whom he had connected and whose music he respected. At the time, he was known primarily for his beats, yet reviled for his [emceeing] by mist anyone not from his hometown of

Detroit

. The project was to be an intentional freak of the industry,"

Chicago

writer and film-maker

Ronnie Reese

wrote within his liner notes accompanying

Stones Throw

's 2007 expanded re-issue of

Ruff Draft EP

.

J Dilla

's ultimately scrapped and indefinitely shelved '02

MCA Album

, or

"Pay Jay,"

as it's long been referred, was recorded between his widely underrated

BBE

solo debut

Welcome 2 Detroit

and adventurous stylistic shift that materialized across

Ruff Draft EP

during his relocation from

Detroit

to

LA

. "

Dilla

had agreed to a one-year contract on

MCA

with an option for a second, provided he produced two accepted releases. One of those releases was to be his solo project, and the other a full-length entitled

48 Hours

from

Detroit

rappers and childhood friends,

Frank-N-Dank

," Reese's in-depth liner notes continue. Unfortunately however, both

Dilla

's

MCA Album

and

48 Hours

were "subsequently languished in

Hip-Hop

purgatory" when unbeknownst to either

Dilla

or

Frank-N-Dank

,

MCA

suddenly folded into

Geffen

prior to the onslaught of 2004. Just a mere three days after his 32nd birthday and the release of his highly-revered magnum opus,

Donuts

,

James "J Dilla" Yancey

passed away on February 10th, 2006 due to complications related to

Lupus

and

TTP

.

Although a handful of memorable and sub-par projects have been released throughout the years following

Dilla

's untimely death (including

The Shining

, Jay Love Japan,

Jay Stay Paid

, Rebirth of Detroit, and

Dillatronic

), I think it's safe to say

The MCA Album

has always been in the back of every donut-loving crate-digger's mind. It appears as though an early, seemingly incomplete, 11-track

Pay Jay

bootleg leaked around April-May 2008, which likely stemmed from a 2003

MCA

-released promo CD-R; housed within were beats hand-crafted by

Dilla

enthusiasts

Nottz

, Pete Rock,

Kanye West

, Waajeed,

Hi-tek

, Bink!,

Supa Dave West

, Karriem Riggins, and

Roots

drummer

?uestlove

. "Now the vocal album – that is something that I know he had a desire to see out, as he did

Ruff Draft

and, oddly enough, an album he'd made of noodling improvised keyboard lines over drum breaks (one of those made it to

The Shining

album). The vocal album –

The Diary [Pay Jay]

, as we're calling it – is nearly done and should be out later this year,"

Now-Again

founder and former

Stones Throw

general manager

Eothen "Egon" Alapatt

revealed within our acclaimed 2015

The Witzard

interview, when prodded about any planned

Donuts

follow-ups.

The Diary

has been rumored since 2012-13 and was preceded by three

Rappcats

-released 12-inch EP's:

"Anthem"

and

Gary Numan

-flipping

"Trucks,"

Diamonds & Ice, and

"Give 'em What They Want,"

as well as an exclusive badge-shaped Record Store Day re-release of

"F--k The Police."

"[

The Diary

is] the last record that he actually wanted out – i.e., he said, in his own words, this record should come out during his lifetime. The last one,"

Egon

recently told

Rolling Stone

staff writer and

#tcot

drummer

Christopher R. Weingarten

, concerning the authenticity of their compiled recordings. Alapatt and members of

James Yancey

's estate have decided to re-launch his

PayJay

imprint to release

The Diary

, in conjunction with

Nas'

recently-formed

Mass Appeal Records

.

Egon

, House Shoes,

J.Rocc

, long-time engineer

Dave Cooley

, and a number of additional

Dilla

affiliates have spent the past nine arduous years meticulously "unpacking the files, finding the software that he used, [and] getting it again, because at that point, it was already archaic." This freshly-assembled 14-track version of

The Diary

is currently available for pre-order ahead of its scheduled April 15th release and includes aforementioned production work from

Madlib

, Pete Rock,

Hi-tek

, Nottz,

House Shoes

, Supa Dave West,

Bink!

, Karriem Riggins, and

Dilla

himself; similar to 2008's

Pay Jay

leak,

The Diary

will showcase

Dilla

's whip-worthy flip of

Gary Numan

's 1979

New Wave

hit

"Cars"

(fittingly re-titled

"Trucks"

), a

?uestlove & Karriem Riggins

-produced cover of

Vanity 6

's

"Drive Me Wild,"

"F--k The Police,"

Snoop Dogg

-featuring

"Gangsta Boogie,"

and

House Shoes

-produced

"The Introduction."

"That beat is 16 years old. Make 'em count... I made [it] in 1999...

Dilla

replayed the synths and put the ill breakdown at the end,"

@HouseShoes

wrote in a series of Tweets accompanying

Nas' Zane Lowe

-premiered

"The Introduction"

world-wide release, which initially, wasn't attributed to

Dilla

's long-time DJ, hometown friend, and recent 12-inch coordinator. Let's "TURN IT UP; A LITTLE LOUDER," to quote the man himself.

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