A tribute to J-Dilla and Nujabes
On February 7th 1974 two Hip Hip Legends were born: James Dewitt Yancey aka J Dilla who was born in Detroit, and Jun Seba aka Nujabes who was born in Tokyo. They both also died relatively young, J Dilla from a blood disease at the age of 32 on February 10th 2006 and Nujabes from a car accident at the age of 36 on February 26th 2010.
For me, both of their work and legacy has been a huge part of my adult life, a huge inspiration for my dance and I can feel the sounds they both left have touched my soul in a very profound manner.
While they both represent minimalism in Hip Hop J Dilla expresses a lot of Earth in his music and Nujabes connects more to Air and the Sky, at least in my ears.
At 18, when I enrolled in dance school, ballet didn’t make sense for me. I did somehow love the musical analysis and the different qualities of movement according to the music but I didn’t understand why there was only emphasis on ‘lifting’ and ‘up’ when my favorite moves were actually the Plie and the Grand Plie. Ironically, they both deal with going into the floor and not away from it. Adapting my body and my mind to the language of ballet was difficult and frustrating and soon enough I realized that finding my own way was much more interesting than mastering an expression which I didn’t fit into.
I started practicing my own version of Ballet at home. This included about 7–8 different Plie exercises with the bar (next to the couch) and 7–8 exercises in the center (of my living room). The whole plan was executed to J Dilla’s Vol. 2: Vintage — Minimalism and Earth. When the record was over my homework would end. Every once in a while, when I would want to work on jumps, I’d play The Diary — Bass flow and explosiveness. In school I would sing the different sounds of Dilla’s deconstructed and philosophical beats to myself, which led to my lack of ability to properly count dance moves but also opened an understanding of dynamics which is very difficult to acquire just with numbers. And still to this day, I always play at least once something from Slum Village when I teach. Dilla always connects me to a feeling of rooting down and groundness; the connection with the floor is where physical dance starts, and where we go back into at the end of everything. Important to mention that J Dilla was a very renowned producer and worked with and influenced some of Hip Hop’s greatest names: A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, Common and The Roots.
In his own words “You have come so far, you have got so far to go… Don’t sell yourself to fall in love with those things you do”.
Nujabes was the tune that connected spirit to movement. I first got to know about Nujabes’ work watching Samurai Champaloo in my early 20’s, my biggest connection however was made a few years later. While being in Japan I spent most of my time learning to let go of the importance of words. Being a foreigner without knowing the language made me realize the joy of other sounds rather than the sound of language. Nujabes was a familiar tune but one that always surprised me with its versatility. The combination of Hip Hop, Down tempo and Jazz always throws me higher just when I think I have relaxed into the loop of the beat. He also helped me understand that my dance is not only how I define it, but also the sum of my experiences; an uncontrolled mix of all that has already happened to me. Any movement which I practiced with ‘Aruarian Dance’ will then turn into something different without me noticing. Walking in the streets of Shinjuku listening to Modal Soul or Spiritual State will turn into a new idea for a performance or a new imaginative situation to work with in the studio. Nujabes taught me that in my vision, all can connect and that the things which are not there can become real if I just pay attention.
“ Imagination brings bliss at no cost, when I blink blink I receive at no loss” — from Luv(sic)/ Modal Soul
Rest in peace, rest in beats… your art and sound will continue with me…
