Hear Black Sheep's Dres and Chuck D Light Up a Rare J Dilla Beat

The New York rapper shared a pair of new songs from his upcoming Ma Dukes-approved album with unreleased beats from the late producer.

Nearing nine months since the announcement of the project, Black Sheep's Dres is finally previewing morsels of his upcoming album with production exclusively culled from the personal archives of the late J Dilla.

Following the rough edit of a song shared in his announcement of No Words, the New York rapper offered a glimpse at a pair of new cuts, both nearing completion and featuring two fellow rap heavyweights. Earlier in the week, Dres shared an update to the track, "Bless The Life," teasing a new verse from Bun B. And on Friday, the Black Sheep rapper shared, "Dilla Drums," featuring a verse and a hook from Public Enemy frontman, Chuck D.

No Words was initially slated to drop in the spring of 2020, but presumably hit delays in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to an interview with HipHopDX, the project was inspired by a trip to the home of Dilla's mother, Maureen Yancey, who allegedly cooked the rapper a meal and offered him access to the producer's vault, giving him carte blanche to pick through the beats and assemble a collection to use for an album. Ma Dukes reportedly offered Dres her blessing on the project. "I had only heard a portion of what’s stored away in Dilla’s storied collection, but what I was able to come up with is now nearing completion and cements in audio form how I felt about the opportunity," Dres told HHDX at the beginning of the year.

Meanwhile, Dres isn't the only Native Tongues-adjacent rapper digging into the bag of unreleased Dilla beats. Busta Rhymes included one from his own stash on his new album, Extincton Level Event 2: The Wrath of God. 

You can hear Dres, Chuck D, and Bun B, put bars to J Dilla productions below. Hold tight for updates on the album's release in the weeks and months ahead.