J Dilla & Madlib are collaborating on an album to be released in 2003 under the name Jaylib. Production and vocals will be shared equally, with Dilla & Madlib rapping over each other’s beats. A 12-inch single, “The Red” (Madlib vocal, Jay Dee production) b/w “The Official” (Jay Dee vocal, Madlib production) will be released on Stones Throw Records this spring. The full-length album will follow, but no title or release date has been set.
The project was conceived in fall 2002 after Stones Throw released a limited edition 12″ featuring “The Message,” a track made by Madlib in 2000, flipping Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five’s lyrics over a J Dilla beat. The song, unofficially credited to “Jaylib,” was never intended for commercial release, but it got the two producer/mc’s together to talk about an equal collaboration. Dilla & Madlib previously worked together briefly in Detroit, late 2001, on a project which was never completed.
The current Jaylib project is all-new hip hop material.
Jaylib’s album will be Madlib’s first as emcee since “The Unseen” by Quasimoto in 2000. Madlib is also working on Madvillain, a collaboration with MF Doom.
Look for more information and audio snippets from Jaylib to be posted on www.stonesthrow.com as it becomes available.