Unreleased Dilla productions! Rebirth Of Detroit was put together by the late great producer's mother, Maureen "Ma Dukes" Yancey, and pairs unheard Jay Dee beats with some of Detroit's finest emcees and musicians. You'll recognize plenty of the rappers featured here, especially past collaborators like Phat Kat, Guilty Simpson, Frank Nitt (of Frank-N-Dank), and lil' brother Illa J, as well as some of next generation rappers like Chuck Inglish of The Cool Kids and Danny Brown (who really needs no introduction at this point). Many lesser known emcees also get shine on a wide variety of Dilla beats we have never heard before, and we are also treated to awesome collaborations with fellow Detroit producer Amp Fiddler and Allan Barnes of The Blackbyrds. A great tribute from the Detroit hip-hop community to one of the best that ever did it. In the words of Ma Dukes - "This will bring together artists that have drifted away from one another and haven't been able to work with each other lately. It's a healing process for the city. For individuals, it's going to bring back the love and the passion for the music and for what hip-hop has to offer." 21 tracks in all.

• music label: Ruff Draft Records 2012

reviewed by Von Bee 06/2012