Jay Dee

Hip Hop musician and producer James Dewitt Yancey used the pseudonym "Jay Dee" during the earlier part of his career, before switching to the alias J Dilla. The remainder of this entry refers to J Dilla: James Dewitt Yancey (later known as J Dilla) who passed away on February 10th, 2006, produced songs for such artists as A Tribe Called Quest, Common, De La Soul, Erykah Badu, The Pharcyde, Slum Village and many others. He called Detroit home, but produced in New York and Los Angeles (where he passed away) as well. As a result of Lupus, Dilla had battled kidney problems since 2004 after he returned from a tour in Europe where he ate a lot of food that apparently did not agree with his body. Upon his return, doctors told him that his kidney had ruptured and he was malnourished. He was kept in ICU for several weeks, but began to recover (even producing while in the hospital). Unfortunately, he was not able to overcome the illness and passed away just three days after his 32nd birthday (which was also the release date of his final album, Donuts). Jay Dee's complete discography can be found here: http://www.stonesthrow.com/jdilla