J Dilla: Meaning, Pronunciation, and Overview

James Dewitt Yancey (February 7, 1974–February 10, 2006), better known as J Dilla or Jay Dee, was an American hip hop producer and MC, who emerged from the mid-1990s underground hip-hop scene in Detroit, Michigan. He began his career as "Jay Dee" but used the name "J Dilla" from 2001 on.
J Dilla died on February 10, 2006 at his home in Los Angeles, California, three days after his thirty-second birthday and the release of Donuts. His obituary in The New York Times of February 14, 2006, states: "The cause was cardiac arrest, according to his mother, Maureen Yancey. She said he had been suffering from lupus and had recently been hospitalized for pneumonia."



J Dilla definition by Urban Dictionary