While collaborations between Nas and DJ Premier or Jay-Z and Just Blaze will always stir up fan fervor, perhaps some of the strongest work between a single producer and emcee has come from Busta Rhymes and J Dilla. Now, in a recent interview with Hot 97’s DJ Enuff, Bussa Bus listed his five favorite Dilla productions.
Busta name-checked cuts like his own “So Hardcore” and the Pharcyde’s “Runnin'” as some of his favorite beats from the late Dilla. The Brooklyn rapper also added that he feels Slum Village’s Fantastic, Vol. 2 is the quintessential collection of productions from the Detroit beatsmith, and evidences as to why Dilla is one of the best to have ever touched an MPC.
“My top five Dilla beats, [at number one] I would have to say is ‘So Hardcore,’ he produced that for me on the Extinction Level Event album,” he said. “‘Show Me What You Got’ for me, it’s on the Anarchy album…’You Can’t Hold a Torch,’ he produced that for me on The Big Bang album with me and Q-Tip. ‘Runnin,’ The Pharcyde, and number five I would have to say is ‘Players’ on the Slum Village [Fantastic, Vol. 2] album.”
He continued, “That whole album is my favorite Dilla production in one body of work. Like, I got dope Dilla production through different albums, I’ve always had ’em on every album, but that one album to this day has yet to be outdone by any producer as far as just one body of work. There’s been producers that made things that were phenomenal in different situations, but everything was like the most phenomenal in one body of work.”
Check out the full interview below.

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Track 30 off the MPC-3000
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HmQo0UJW_s
‘so hardcore’ was off the ‘when disaster strikes’ album
Look at this loser. He doesn’t even know where the song is at. It’s on When Disaster Strikes fag, not E.L.E.
youtube/lil’wayne comes out of the closet at 2011 vma
no lil wayne talk here, save that for the gay pride parade.
DILLA beats are the slickest, Fantastic is amazing.
Dilla most overrated producer of all time
zeal the most ignant hip hop “fan” of all time.
i agree with zeal. i listened to a few dilla beats to see what the commotion was about. beats were boring as fuck, dude is overrated.
^^^ Thanks!!! Finally someone agrees with me!
im guessing your all under 14
Busta’s “Turn me up some” – Dilla
go listen to some of those stale and boring Lex Luger beats then instead of commenting on something you clearly know nothing about
You don’t know shit!
For all you kids saying he’s overrated, the thing is that he’s one of the few producers to reach the spiritual side through his beats. sure not all of his beats are hard pounding and bass pumped but if you listen to Purple then maybe you’ll understand. peace be with you all
J Dilla was an animal on that MPC 3000. Though my favorite producer is Premo, I respect Dilla’s work and his contributions to the game. I respect everybody’s opinions but I find it hilarious to hear dudes talk about how “overrated” he is. Most producers have one, maybe two sounds that they ride until the wheels fall off. Dude switched his style up at least 3 or 4 times and can give it to you with keyboards or the crates. And “So Hardcore” is in my top 5 Dilla beats too. Shit is bangin’. RIP…
rollerskate backwards when the beats starts reversing……
damn Busta got some memory loss or something, “So Hardcore” was from “When Disaster Strikes”
I was gonna say the same thing if someone else didn’t say it lol. Busta getting old.. confusing those albums haha.. that When Disaster… went HARD!!! all 50 fucking songs lol
BUSTA RHYMES SOUNDS LIKE HE IS GETTING HIGH THAT FUCKIN SLUM VILLAGE IS NOWHERE NEAR DR DRE CHRONIC,NWA, OR GANG STARR MOMENT OF TRUTH OR ERICK SERMONS PRIME STUFF WITH DEF SQUAD REDMAN KEITH MURRAY OR PETE ROCK OR KANYE WEST COLLEGE DROPOUT….J DILLA WAS NICE BUT CUT IT OUT…HE IS NOT THE NICEST…I APPRECIATE HIS WORK BUT I DONT SEE HOW THAT DONUTS AND ALOT OF HIS STUFF IS RATED SO HIGH….EVEN RZA 36 CHAMBERS BETTER THAN ANY BODY OF WORK OF DILLAS OR RZA CUBAN LINKS SUPREME CLIENTELE…..ETC…..CUT IT OUT BUSTA BUS
One of my favorite J Dilla beats is “Two can win”! If you don’t think Dilla is good then apparently are not a beat maker! (:x)
http://getLoudSilence.com
Since most likely you haters don’t know a thing about making beats, or understand what Dilla was doing in the first place, I can’t help but laugh @ some of these comment. Some of these comments I see are reason I can’t believe in you young fucks of today. A lot of the youth today are raised by shitty parents, which is the reason for such lack of respect & understanding. What Dilla was making will outlast 99% of anything from anyone being released today. Real heads know this. You wanna learn what real production is about, you listen to/study Dilla. Dre had mad dudes co-producing his shit btw. I never heard about anyone ghost producing for Dilla though. Dilla never wanted the fame, so that’s why he was never a big name when he was alive. I would never say everyone’s “GOTTA” like anyone’s music [including Dilla], but the disrespect I see from some of you is pathetic. Most of you clowns are followers anyway….so I guess your ignorance makes sense.
Dilla never wanted the fame, so that’s why he was never a big name when he was alive. I would never say everyone’s “GOTTA” like anyone’s music [including Dilla], but the disrespect I see from some of you is pathetic.
1000% TRUTH!!
Normally I’d be glad to hear about J Dilla, but really who is Busta Rhymes to talk about Dilla? This actor-turned-rapper finally blew up after signing to Young Money, and now he wants to act like he even knew who J Dilla was! This is why I don’t listen to mainstream rappers. ‘Rhymes, I think you’re cool in movies, but come on man, actors don’t get platinum albums. Leave it to real hip-hop heads to embrace Dilla. Sheesh!
What are you talking about? busta was rapping in the 80’s with LONS… he has been rapping over dilla beats since the 90’s.. if busta wasn’t one to talk about dilla beats then this whole interview would never have happened. fool.
You basically just showed YOU don’t know shit about Dilla, clown. Busta used his production when it wasn’t trendy
More stupidity I see. Busta always had Dilla beats on his albums.
The fuck you talking about actor-turned-rapper? Busta been going platinum since the 90s and rapping over Dilla beats. Dumb ass.
That first Dilla beat he mentions where he rhymed over was from 1997 !!
Slum Village came out in 1998.
So Busta has all the rights to talk about Dilla, since he supported him before day one!
Busta lost his hood pass when he let Lil Vein shit on NY with his emo comments, then had the nerve to try and validate his opinion on Hot 97. 20 years ago Busta would have checked somebody like Lil Vein for talkin reckless about MECCA….Man have times changed…I wonder is Spliff who still lives in the hood feels about Busta’s opinion.
Exactly. The younger busta would would have the shit out of this washed up new one.
Go east..go west but we have only one producer on this planet!! only and only the GOOD DOCTOR.. Dr Dre a.k.a The phenomenon,..the proffessor,…a.k.a THE KING.
Ova.
Dr.Dre is by no means the only producer in te world. At one point in his life, he was the best producer in the world. He has not been in the top 10 since is 2001 album. Premo, dilla, and screw will always be the top 3 of all time, dre would possibly be #4
da best J Dilla beat is on ma debut album. niggas. da album is an instant classic.
ma debut album INFINITE SWAG UNIVERSE: THE SO ICY BOI STORY, PT. 1 kommin SEPTEMBER 4TH. swag
Nigga please.
Ain’t no Dilla on that “Back on My B.S.” album and on “Year of the Dragon” neither, seems like Busta dropped the torch!
R.I.P. James, your favourite producers favourite producer.
Go buy that Slum album, it’s a Hip Hop Classic!
Year of the Dragon just came out, so how could a Dilla beat be on the album considering the current mess with his estate and what not?
Busta has lots of Dilla Beat Tapes lying arround, with stuff on it nobody ever heared bevore.
Busta is lying if he says there’s a dilla beat on everyone of his albums!
There’s no Dilla production on those albums because there were problems with Dilla’s estate. Busta said this on Juan Epstein.
Madlib is nice too and his discography is maaad biggg. PEACE.
“So Hardcore” wasn’t on “Extinction Level Event” album but “When Disaster Strikes…” Album
hahaah! Yeah, i thought I was the only one who caught that…I was like WTF!
wow. Busta epic failed himself? LMAO!!!
He sure did get that wrong. Wow. I guess when he got so many he slipped and lost track. I’m shocked he didn’t mention Still Shining. You should listen to the interview where he tries to explain the beat production on that track (count, measures). All he knew was that beat was different, Jay Dee told him he shopped it around but others but they couldn’t write to it. Crazy.
Also, Pharcyde’s track is called “Runnin” and not “Runnin Away”. Slum Village’ album is called “Fantastic Vol.2”, not “Fantastic Voyage Volume 2”. It’s all good. Busta released so much shit I forgive him for losing track of titles.
rip jay dee top 5 dead or alive producers of all time ever hear the beat “Heroin Joint”?
TOP5 Producer Dead Or Alive:
J Dilla
DJ Premier
Pete Rock
Dr. Dre
Madlib
(no particular order)
Co-sign!
Top 5 In No Order
J Dilla
Pete Rock
9th Wonder
Dr. Dre
DJ Quik
Top 5 in order
1 – Dr. Dre
2 – DJ Premier
3 – Pete Rock
4 – J Dilla
5 – DJ Quik
You Can;t Choose Only 5 Beats For Dilla So Top 10 Dilla Beats
Slum Village – Forth & Back
Slum Village – Players
Slum Village – Climax
Slum Village – I Don’t Know
Crustations – Purple Dilla Remix
De La Soul – Much More
Elzhi – Love It Here
2 Pac – Do For Love
J Dilla – Won’t Do
Phat Kat – Dedication To The Suckers
I also liked Welcome 2 Detroit and Common’s “Like water for chocolate”.
top producers (no order):
dr dre
j dilla
kanye
the alchemist
dj premier
pete rock
the neptunes
thats imho
Top 5
KL Jay
Erick 12
DJ Caique
DJ Cia
DJ Hum
I remember when Dilla was Jay Dee and people saying JD thought it was Jermaine Dupri. Such an insult to Dilla was not allowed in my presence. Dilla has a sick ear for beats whereas Dupri was basically wasting time producing. R.I.P Dilla…
Yes Sir!
Jay Dee has got to be in the top 5 producers ever…To me a producer only deserves to be on this list if he changed the sound of hip hop…my top 5
DJ Premier- Dude chopped the shit out of samples and had some of the best programmed drums EVER! Shit, ?uestlove has been known to say that he cant replicate some of Premo’s drums…Who do LYRICISTS call when they need a certified street banger? CHRIS MARTIN! DJ Premier, Premier-P-P-P-p-P Premier!!!
DR.Dre- Dre made Hip Hop commercial. Yes, it was already being played on the radio but not as much prior to The Chronic..plus brought melody and structure to production.
Jay Dee- he changed the entire sound of Hip Hop single handed….Before Jay Dee, there was no “NEO SOUL” …shit HE created the NEO SOUL movement….starting with Kieth Murrays’s remixes on Enigma.
DJ Muggs – Without Muggs there would be no griminess Hip Hop…RZA’s sound has MUGGS influence all over his sound. Alchemist’s Mentor!
Pete Rock – SOUL! that is all!
Madlib
Very accurate list (according to me, lol!). Honorable mention: DJ Quik (if you need that sunny, palm tree west coast sound) Battle Kat (Gangsta, in musical format), J Swift (Bizzare Ride to the Pharcyde, I still think this album doesn’t get its due…), Ali Shaheed (A,E,I,O,U and sometimes Y) Marley Marl (filtered samples).
top 5 producers
Flying Lotus
Flying Lotus
Flying Lotus
Flying Lotus
J Dilla
Off the top, I’d say
Won’t Do
Zelda beat Fame from M.O.P. spit too
Firewood Drumstix
Player
Last Donut Of The Night
Busta go listen to “Think Twice”, dilla made the MPC sound like a Band and you forgot the “What Up” joint, where you be killin it!