By Content Director Cameron Castaldi
As a host of Breakfast for Beatlovers, I am constantly on the search for fun, exciting beats to add to my repertoire. One of my favorite discoveries thus far has been The Internet, an Alternative R&B band from Los Angeles, California. Made up of well-known Alt-R&B names including Steve Lacy, Syd, and Matt Martians, this group has become an essential part of both my personal music library and on-air programming.
My personal favorite song of theirs is “La Di Da” from their 2018 album, Hive Mind. The song opens with a funky guitar riff that immediately draws my ears in. Once the drums and vocals are layered on top of it, something strange happens—each part of the instrumentation seems to be operating at a completely different pace. Halfway through the first verse, the riff stops, providing some stability. But right when you think it’s over, the same riff comes back in the chorus, just as delayed as before. Though this technique may sound completely foreign to many listeners, it can actually be traced back to the late Hip Hop producer, J Dilla.
- Listen along here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-KUo16XAN0
- 0:00 – guitar introduction
- 0:19 – drums and vocals added on top
- 0:38 – guitar falls into time
- 0:56 – guitar riff enters for chorus
- 1:15 – guitar falls into time
- 1:51 – guitar riff enters for second chorus
- 2:11 – guitar stops
- 2:47 – Syd counts up to 8 following a different time
J Dilla, born James Dewitt Yancey in 1974, completely revolutionized the feel of urban contemporary music. Though his career spanned less than two decades—ending with his untimely passing in 2006—he is considered one of the most legendary producers of all time, largely for his rhythmic innovations. Journalist and Hip Hop historian Dan Charnas studies this in his biography of the artist titled Dilla Time. He writes, “Before J Dilla, our popular music essentially had two common ‘time feels’—straight time and swung time—meaning that musicians felt and expressed time as either even or uneven pulses”.
While traditional African music consistently incorporated polyrhythms and swung time, European classical music used straight time and followed a much stricter set of rules. Once the transatlantic slave trade had begun, Europeans imposed their musical standards onto African musicians, causing these traditions to largely disappear in the United States until the emergence of ragtime in the 1890s and jazz in the early 1920s.
Graph created by Dan Charnas (2022).
In straight time, each beat is evenly spaced across a measure. Thanks to modern music production software, producers can quantize their tracks so that each note lines up perfectly with a rhythmic grid. This is how most pop music today is produced. On the other hand, swung time emphasizes every other beat, causing a looser but still steady feel. This approach is most often used in jazz music. “Dilla Time” combines both of these concepts, making each instrument follow a slightly different time, creating an asymmetrical yet somehow even more satisfying orchestration. In order to do this, Dilla often used unquantized drum tracks, playing solely based on feel rather than a software’s calculations. However, contrary to popular belief, he was also able to produce the same effect while using quantization, proving just how genius and intentional his sound truly was.
- Popular examples of J Dilla tracks that use “Dilla Time”
- “Runnin'” by The Pharcyde
- “Didn’t Cha Know?” by Erykah Badu
- “Find A Way” by A Tribe Called Quest
- “Virant Thing” by Q-Tip
Though his life was cut short, J Dilla’s impact on urban contemporary music endures. His rhythmic innovations completely reshaped how producers think about time, groove, and feel. “La Di Da” by The Internet is just one example of his ongoing legacy. So, the next time you hear a trippy, slightly off-kilter yet perfect beat, you have the mind of J Dilla to thank.
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To hear great beats like these, tune into Breakfast for Beatlovers every weekday from 9am-12pm and Hip Hop Hype every Tuesday from 3-5pm on KJHK 90.7 FM!