The J Dilla Foundation is a non-profit organization that serves to help fund inner-city music programs, and provide scholarships to students attending schools that have progressive music curricula. The foundation was started by Maureen Yancey, mother of acclaimed producer James “Jay Dee aka J Dilla” Yancey. J Dilla was a Grammy award winning record producer and artist who emerged from the mid-1990s underground hip-hop scene in Detroit, Michigan. According to NPR.org, he was one of the music industry’s most influential hip-hop artists, working for big-name acts such as Erykah Badu, Busta Rhymes, Common and Janet Jackson. J Dilla passed away in 2006 after long suffering with Lupus and the rare blood disease TTP. “Dilla was about love in many formats,” Maureen states. “One of the things he wanted me to do with his legacy was to use it to help others… kids who were musically gifted but had little hope due to poverty.” It is the foundation’s hope that by funding and encouraging such progressive music curriculums, young prodigies, and music enthusiast alike will have the tools and support they need to flourish and become successful within the entertainment industry. The importance of urban music in academia is also heavily stressed. The foundation encourages styles such as hip-hop, R&B, and soul to be studied and cultivated in higher learning institutions along with other celebrated genres such as classical, jazz, and rock.

Maureen proclaims, “The J Dilla Foundation seeks to be a staple in the movement for progressive music education. We also hope to be leaders in the efforts to enhance and develop arts programs in urban communities.”

How You Can Help!

We would like to encourage you to support The J Dilla Foundation in any way that you can, be it actively, monetarily, or in spirit. If you are having a Dilla themed event, we ask that you simply donate a portion of the proceeds to the Foundation. If you know of a Dilla event going on, please encourage them to also support the Foundation. You are our champions and our backbone, your contributions and patronage enables us to make sure we can carry out and achieve our goals of enhancing and developing urban music programs in inner-cities and academia. As you may know, this venture has been a long time coming and we are overjoyed to finally have this opportunity to carry out Dilla’s vision.

We are always open to creative and progressive ideas of how we can keep Dilla’s gift alive, and how we can use it to better the universe. Please feel free to inquire about how you can get more involved, and/or email your suggestions to info@jdillafoundation.org.

J-dilla.com is the official website for the heirs & estate of James Yancey/J Dilla, representing his name, merchandise, and recordings.

Announcements in coming weeks will include:
J Dilla vinyl release with Serato & Stones Throw
J Dilla t-shirt with Stussy

We are particularly proud to present J Dilla biography written by Ronnie Reese. With respect to the many pieces on the artist’s life, ranging from press releases to feature articles, this is the first biography of J Dilla to be officially commissioned and published.

This site was designed by Jeff Jank of Stones Throw Records and Jay Tillery.

A special thanks goes to Dan from okayplayer.com for providing the domain name. Okayplayer is the longest-running online community supporting the work of J Dilla.

Another special thanks goes to K-Fresh at rensoul.com whose website Renaissance Soul was J Dilla’s first unofficial online presence, and where the complete J Dilla discography was first cataloged. J Dilla’s catalog has continued to be maintained and updated through the years with help from some of the artist’s numerous collaborators and business associates on the J Dilla page at Stones Throw: stonesthrow.com/jdilla