The J Dilla Foundation has announced the release of a limited edition J Dilla box set containing selections from the legendary Detroit producer’s early career.
King of Beats: Volume One offers listeners an introduction to Dilla’s early neo-soul and hip hop beginnings, which reflects a period of collaborations with early Slum Village, The Pharcyde, A Tribe Called Quest, Busta Rhymes and others. The collection also specifically celebrates J Dilla’s first electronic instrument component – the E-Mu Systems SP-1200 drum machine and sampler.
The box set’s housing itself is a custom-made wood box, which is designed to mimic the design of the SP-1200. In addition to vinyl LPs, a cassette of unreleased material and limited-edition visual media, the “Deluxe Edition” collection contains a special gift for true fans of music production – a floppy disk, which is designed for use with an actual SP-1200 sampler and drum machine.
Pricing for King of Beats: Volume One has not yet been revealed, but subscribers of the wait list will receive details regarding release, pricing, and shipping before the general public.
King of Beats: Volume One includes:
– (4) 10 inch Vinyl Records featuring unreleased music from Jay Dee’s ‘Batches’
– (1) Special Edition Cassette containing (4) unreleased tracks from J Dilla’s #LostScrolls
– (1) Special Edition Poster of Jay Dee a.k.a. J Dilla
– (1) ‘The King of Beats’ commemorative booklet contains interviews with his peers, scholars, etc. along with rare and never before seen photos with provocative insight and perspective of the early years of Jay Dee’s career
* ‘The King of Beats’ Volume One Box Set (Deluxe Edition) includes a Limited Edition 3 inch floppy disk containing (1) unreleased J Dilla production, multi-tracked and formatted specifically to upload within the actual E-Mu SP-1200 machine.