If you love J Dilla chances are you love B+. Former photo editor of the since departed Rap Pages, frequent contributor to Wax Poetics and co-founder of Mochilla, B+ was also a close personal friend of J Dilla and the Yancey family. Since I began working on my film I have had the pleasure to speak to B+ and ask him to be the Director of Photography for Raise it Up For Ma Dukes. His talent is pretty much unsurpassed in my mind. Looking at his photos of J Dilla you get a much better sense of who Dilla was than any of the myriad mixtapes and tributes that have come out in the four years since his death. Since Dilla's passing be has continued to be one of the Yancey family's champion supporters so it should come as no surprise that his latest project includes a tribute to J Dilla.
After an incredibly succesful premiere at SXSW, Mochilla is taking their film series Timeless on tour. The second film in the series celebrated the music of J.Dilla. Composed and arranged for a 60 piece Orchestra by Miguel Atwood-Ferguson feat. special guests Bilal, Dwele, Posdnuos, Talib Kweli and more. This premiere performance is still on the minds of many. Mixed and mastered by legendary Grammy award winning producer/mixer, Bob Power. The man behind hundreds of pop and jazz recordings for such artists as Erykah Badu, D'Angelo, De La Soul and A Tribe Called Quest and more, he had also worked with Dilla while he was alive. Hiphop has never sounded or looked like this, welcome to a new era, a new scale and a new sound. Part of the proceeds of all Suite for Ma Dukes performances and recordings will go towards Maureen "Ma Dukes" Yancey and the heirs to the Dilla Estate.
Instead of showing all three films back to back or indeed making a screener edit of all three films, we will be doing something historic. At certain screenings J.Rocc, of the World Famous Beat Junkies and also maybe the greatest DJ on the planet right now, will be DJing all three films, using the latest Serato technology. J.Rocc will be manipulating the films using vinyl on turntables to control the hi-res film files, creating an amazing megamix of all three films. (see the sneak peek here) This, as far as we know, has never been done to premiere a film or indeed a series of films ever.
The screenings will be followed by Q&A w/ B+, Eric Coleman and Miguel Atwood-Ferguson,
with after-party to follow, J.Rocc as the main guest DJ.
For more info go to http://mochilla.com/timelesstour
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