Customer Reviews

Beat Generation: Welcome 2 Detroit

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Another great collection of beats by Jay Dee, a must have for any fan of Slum Village! This, his first solo project, definately illustrates his passion for real hip-hop grooves, and, like all of Slum Village's work, is a breath of fresh air in todays' smog of rap bravado, pompousness, and over-materialism without substance. Here we see actual musical substance, as in "African Rhythms," and an amazing guest appearance of Elzhi (sp?), one of the gifted lyricists of Slum Village. This also gives Jay Dee the opportunity to do what I would call the "Pete Rock or Erik Sermon thing," where a producer and DJ also is the main MC heard on the record, and like the aformentioned hip-hop legends, Jay Dee shines.

I bounced this CD when it first came out and thought this is great. After years of listening to all the other crap, oh I mean rap on the radio. Its nice to know that I can dig in my CD collection and listen to great music. J-Dilla RIP...man you are the best! You have a ear for music that is totally oustanding! Its a shame that corporate music execs pump up wack artists and wack music, like everything you hear on the radio and negelect real talent. Most catz are simplistic in their rhymes and beats with no substance. Little Brother, Pete Rock, Hi-Tek, Slum Village I thank GOD for you. Keep putting out real music!

From the kat who dropped beats for Common, Slum Village, BBQueen, Q-Tip and many others. Jay Dee, nah...... not the J.D. from ATL's So-So Def, but Detroit's fame released a gem for the hip-hop underground and beat headz to vibe to. Tight beats and samples from a kat who knows what the underground wants to hear. Every track is banging and much different from the next. The only track I'm not feeling, is the "Booty" song...... not sure where he was going with that track. Other than that, the CD is a winner. This CD welcomes you to the new sound in Detroit and also high lights some of the tight MC's in Jay Dee's crew. The tightest versus and metaphors were spit over the track "It's Like That" not to mention it being the tightest track on the CD. If you're a hip-hop head or a beat junkie, you'll love how Jay Dee tells what was on his mind while making these beats that's illustrated in the cover of the CD. Other joints on the CD that stand out are: "Give It Up", the smooth vibe of "Think Twice" and "Pause". This CD was nowhere to be found in ATL. Thanks to Amazon, copping this was easy. Anybody reading this should cop it too.

oNe

But it just doesn't deserve it. This has plenty of stuff to like: Earth, Wind and Fire and Donald Byrd covers, people playing instruments, somewhat interesting and at least different beats. But it's missing something and I probably shouldn't be even writing a review, because I don't know what it is. But it is so missing something. It's not the horrible rapping, it maybe just a little worse than the rhymes on Fantastic Volume 2, (which I thouroughly enjoy), but it's not that much worse. I don't think it's the annoying liner notes.. And it's not a case of cheesy music like on J-88. This stuff is different and even though I said interesting.. it still is so god awfully boring. Yet it's missing more than that, it must be a combination of the kinda boring beats and the horrible rapping. Which again I want to say doesn't usually bother me at all. I got this the day it came out because I'm a huge Jay-Dee fan, I still am even though this is mediocre. Fantastic Volume 2 by Slum Village is crazy good and you should definitely go get that.. but skip this. I don't know what these other people are saying. Everybody who has reviewed this is obviously on the Jay Dee bandwagon, but maybe they just can't recognize boring music. But don't listen to me, get it for yourself, listen to it a couple times, and then put in that box of other CDs you rarely ever listen to.

Easily one of the best produced albums ever. Sounds clips don't do it justice. Buy it (the price is so serious) and just let it play. A true master at the top of his game. RIP Dilla!

Okay the rhymes are not the illest but the man gets his point across. His beats are the incredible. He makes a little boombox turn into a 5 star multi-rack system!!!! Man, he has got to be one the best producers in Hip-Hop right now!!!!! Get this album!!! That is all I got to say. If you are into production, this Beat Generation CD is for you!!!!! That's it!!!
I'm out!!!!

Yes, it's the first installment of BBE's Beat Generation series and Jay Dilla is first at bat. Jay Dee would have been better off providing an album of instrumentals rather than including his Slum Villi brethren and fellow Detroit cohorts Elzhi, Hodge Podge, Frank'n'Dank and Phat Kat (what's with the corny alias's??). JD's signature work with the drums and hypnotic jazz/soul/funk fusion outweigh the god-awful rhyme presentations. With his clever use of sample snippets and neck tweaking drum work, Jay Dee has solidified himself as an elitist among hip-hop's beat-misers. "Welcome To Detroit" immerses the listener in some spine-tingling musical treats. From the groovy Donald Byrd interpretation "Think Twice", to the raucous street anthem "Give It Up", Jay Dilla carves out masterful pieces of sublime soul and grimy street cuts. He manages to present a diverse sound throughout this album but the overall feel has "Jay Dee" stamped all over it. Perhaps it's the crackling kicks and snares. I'm not sure, but it's definitely his own freaky-deeky vibe. Jay undoubtedly has a penchant for intoxicating tracks. He needs to dig deeper into the talent pool of MC's because the verbalists on this project are rather underwhelming.

For those of you who are lovers of Hip Hop, love innovation of the art, but don't necessarily need profound lyrics - purchase Welcome to Detroit - for fans of De La, TCQ, Q-Tip, Slum V and others, the vibe created by Jay Dee is alive and flourishing and he brings a James Brown life visceraliness and funkiness to his beats and makes this a must purchase (and arguably a 5 star cut) - for those of you who want to be touched emotionally want to learn about inner city strife or desire upliftment, look for the proverbial "punchlines and metaphors" and other rap tricks - buy punch and words or reflection eternal (making this a 3 star effort).

First time i listened to this, i skipped thru it and didnt get to absorb the album. It sat in my collection for a while but after hearing Slum Village's fantastic vol. 2 album (another amazing album, i had no choice but to go back and throw this on.

Jay Dee is honestly in the top 3 for greatest hip hop producer of all time. Hes just amazing, his ear for music is incredible and just concocts some of the funkiest, chillinest music.

This cd isnt just for hip hop heads but for music lovers

i am a customer of Zune Marketplace, using the Zune Pass, and this album was DRM free, where i had to by the whole album in order to even get anything from it... so i come to amazon cuzz there cheaper than both Zune and iTunes most of the time.

i see why this album is DRM Free. this is nice. first album i heard from Jay Dee. sad to hear that he passed. i never knew he produced some eryka badu, alicia keys, common, and all these artists.. this is one discreet lil producer. i say he made the best of them. its upsetting that he didnt get credit for all that he produced...