News

Ma Dukes, J Dilla’s Mother, Speaks On Her Son’s Inclusion Into The Smithsonian

blame it on Meka August 13, 2014
ma-dukes-j-dilla-top

As some of you may know, a couple of Dilla’s infamous tools – namely, his celebrated MPC and Moog – will be showcased in the museum of African American History & Culture at the Smithsonian in Washington, DC. Speaking to the Huffington Post, his mother Maureen Yancey spoke on the prestigious honor, as well as her late son’s life, and more. Some choice quotes:

What is your favorite memory of your son and his music?
I was driving down the street, and a song came on the radio and I loved it so much. I started shouting “That’s Dilla! That’s Dilla!” My husband and I started blasting the song so loud that the people in the car next to us looked at us like, are they insane, these two old people blasting that Hip-Hop music. I know his signature sound within the first two bars.

On losing her son to lupus in 2005…
I’ve mourned Dilla and really have just come out of mourning last year… My whole life, everything about me just got shattered. I feel like if I’ve ever done anything right in this world, one thing was having Dilla, and the next thing is giving these things to the Smithsonian. Right now, my sun is shining every day.

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture will open in 2015. For the hell of it, I’m leaving one of my favorite J Dilla-produced songs for your listening pleasure, below.