Ma Dukes Can't Use Her Own Son's Name Or Likeness

In 2006, extremely influential independent hip hop produce J Dilla died after a long bout with lupus. Dilla, whose real name is James Yancey, was one of the most influential artists in what many refer to as the underground. However, he had worked with people from the A-list all the way down to the C- and D-list. There is a large contingent of artists who consider him to be the best (or at least among the best) hip hop producer of all time. I personally don't feel that way, but the list who does includes people like Roots drummer Ahmir "?uestlove" Thompson and Busta Rhymes.

Anyway, earlier this summer, news came out that Dilla's estate was working feverishly on trying to put a stop to the massive amount of bootlegging going on with the Dilla's works in order to help pay off a particularly lofty sum back to the federal government. It appears, however, that they've stooped so much to disallow Dilla's mother, who is often referred to as Ma Dukes, from using her own son's name and likeness. She's been trying to establish a foundation, which was one of her late son's final wishes.

In a wide-ranging interview with LA Weekly, she breaks down the situation. It serves as a pretty powerful example of how things can go wrong after one's death...

Random Album Spotlight

Most people have never heard of Daniel Swain, but in 2006, his independently pressed and released album made the short list for SEVEN Grammy nominations. So much so that he was invited to the show despite not really selling anything. Anyway, I don't really know how I'll break these down, I guess I'll talk about the artist, then maybe the actual album... Sound good? Well, not that your opinion matters, I'll do it this way anyway.

Swain's stage name is Danny!, yes that's with the exclamation point. Presumably, that's so you can sound extra excited every time you say it. Or at least that's my theory on it. Dude is a 25 or 26 year old from Coumbia in South Carolina, and after being accused of a massive grade-changing scandal, dude was expelled from Claflin University in2003 just prior to completing his first album.

His style borrows heavily from the style of the RZA, which includes sampling and voice altering on a lot of songs. In 2004, an artist by the name of Kanye West (you may have heard of him), put out The College Dropout, which also uses a similar production style. Having completed his first album finally, and noticing the similarities between himself and Kanye stylistically, Danny! jokingly titles his album The College Kicked Out. The album was universally panned as someone trying to copy Kanye. It's a criticism that Danny! continues to address on just about every album he's put out.

However, I think the criticism is misplaced. They have similar production styles, and some people might contend that the flow and lyrical content are similar. The major difference is that Kanye takes himself and his profession almost too seriously. I think Danny! carries an almost De La Soul-esque nack for having fun. He adopts a very satirical and usually self-deprecating persona on his tracks.

So I guess we can talk about the much-acclaimed album now. Charm is a play on the fact that it is the third album release. When Danny! released it, he had just been accepted to the Savannah College of Art and Design, something that may have caused him to call it his final release for months following its completion. Ultimately, it ended up in the hands of some big names in the just-out-of-the-mainstream hip hop websites like RapReviews and Okayplayer. After positive reviews, it appears to have really refueled the South Carolinian's career.

In many ways, Charm is supposed to be a concept album about the rise-and-fall of a rapper. He starts as an aspiring independent artist, to getting worldwide acclaim, to falling back to his humble beginnings, VHI Behind The Music style. The album really boosts some pretty incredible production for an independently released album.

There are some lowlights though. The songs Move Somethin' (with a very lackluster feature by some dude named G Test) and Strange Fruit seem pretty out-of place. I think the album could definitely stand to be a little shorter. It runs damn near 80 minutes long, and towards the end, a listener can get exhausted. However, those are relatively minor compared the the vast amount of highlights on the album.

I refuse to give some arbitrary rating to an album. I think it's a waste because people's interest in an album is very subjective. I'll just say this, any album I give the spotlight to is an album that I personally hold in high regard. So that's to say, if I'm featuring it, you should probably at least give it a spin or two.

This guy's career is really starting to take off though. Since the 2006 Grammys, he's been featured in just about every rap magazine (even if it's only a small blurb), he's hosted shows on Sirius Radio, and even guest hosted a show on MTVu last year. In addition to that, he won an independent music contest sponsored by MTVu and Definitive Jux records. That eventually led to some sort of record deal, but he's yet to release anything under that imprint. Last year he dropped an iTunes-only EP titled Danny is Dead...? and this year he put out And I Love H.E.R.: The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (which is another album I definitely recommend).