Kanye West Praises J Dilla In Unearthed Interview From 2013

It's well known that Kanye West greatly admired the late, great J Dilla. But never have we heard Kanye display this much admiration.

Hypebeasthas just unearthed a clip from an old Kanye West interview in which the rapper speaks passionately about the legendary producer. The video was shot in 2013 and was for Stones Throw's Our Vinyl Weighs a Ton documentary. The footage is more than 20 minutes long and starts with Kanye talking about meeting J Dilla.

"I met J Dilla at Common’s crib just down the street here in L.A. They were staying together, and I just remember looking at that MPC. And those drums came out of that MPC, arguably the best drums in hip-hop history. I just remember vibing with him and having so much respect, and just wanting to work with him more.”

That period of time was some of the last years of J Dilla's life. Some of that time was dedicated to working on Common's classic Be album. In the interview, Kanye talks about how the two bonded almost exclusively off of music:

"Me and Common would go play basketball and hang and all that. But me and Dilla just focused on tracks. He had the organic feel but still the sonics were breakthrough, and he could give you a warm sound that still cut through speakers. It’s like he was making Quincy Jones production sessions inside his MPC.”

From there Kanye would go on to talk about various topics, from production techniques to Midwest music. He even previewed some lyrics from "No More parties in L.A.," a song we wouldn't see until The Life of Pablo.

Do yourself a favor, take 20 minutes out of your day and watch the interview below.