LIVE REVIEW: Moodymann, DJ Lo Down Loretta Brown highlight Dilla Fest
Some of J Dilla's most beloved contemporaries provided special performances during the tribute tour's stop at Russell Industrial Center in Detroit.
With his legacy as a Detroit legend and musical pioneer long cemented, what type of intrigue does an event honoring the legacy of J Dilla still offer, 16 years after the producer’s death?
With a lineup boasting legendary Detroit deep house artist Moodymann and Lo Down Loretta Brown, aka Erykah Badu, the answer was obviously … a sufficient amount of intrigue indeed, as Dilla Fest 2024’s sporadic national tour made a stop Sunday, Oct. 6 at Russell Industrial Center in Detroit.
It should come as no surprise that Jay Dee was the natural bridge leading to this rare performance from Moodymann, who famously doesn’t do interviews and generally maintains a low profile. Badu, on the other hand, supplied the heart and soul for the evening in a way only she could — via her DJ alter ego — to bring to life stories about the producer and share songs that contextualized his immense influence.
Steeped in those long-memorized stories about the producer and the woozy beats that defined the legacy of the producer for artists like The Roots, Common, A Tribe Called Quest and the aforementioned Badu, the evening supplied an experience as unique as the DNA of Dilla’s music.
While it’s not impossible to see Moodymann live, it had eluded me since I stumbled upon a track from his 2014 self-titled album called Lyk U Use 2, with a feature from fellow highly-regarded Detroit DJ Dez Andrés.
A decade later, there he was, walking in his typical black hoodie along the balcony rail. It was finally confirmed to be him when he looked up in his white-rimmed goggles, graciously waiving to fans who spotted him as Andrés, a member of his Mahogani Music label and DJ of Dilla’s Slum Village, performed below.
Moodymann’s performance was the focus of my evening and when he took over for Andrés, there was an electricity that entered every inch of the large industrial hall.
To see Moodymann is to experience a live version of the myth. When it’s over, I don’t know that you gain any insights, other than he somehow meets impossible expectations with ease.
The man is ultra-expressive in his music. His live set and his demeanor reflected that, even while assuring his audience he is objectively, perennially laid back and in control behind the boards. His Mahogoni logo and Focus Features-esque backdrop are in place like a warm security blanket He’s got backup dancers swaying along in coordination directly behind him the entire time. The man knows how to curate a vibe.
To hear the spine-tingling, twinkling piano that ushers in his mix of Dopehead’s Guttah Guttah from his legendary 2016 DJ Kicks reunited me with the special feeling that song filled my heart with when I first heard it, ensuring me eight years ago this was an artist I needed to continue to follow and do a deeper dive on. His set also connected the creative tissue that existed between Dilla and his wide net of collaborators and those he influenced, including a sweet interlude of D’Angelo’s Betray My Heart.
His memories of Dilla reflected a common reverence for creation in the Detroit landscape and the places it has taken him, including a jaunt to Paris for a DJ set he described taking with Dilla.
Upon their return, Moodymann recalled being in the gentleman’s club with Dilla when a woman approached them. Hearing them discussing the Paris trip, she interjected to ask if the city they were referring to could be found on “the east side” of Detroit, Moodymann recalled to the amusement of the crowd.
During another set break, he confirmed that it’s OK, and in fact, very necessary, to wake up every morning, look in the mirror and tell yourself you’re the baddest motherfucker on the planet. That’s also very Detroit, he assured the audience. You get the sense that even if he’s just messing around, he could easily pull off what he’s talking about without blinking.
That confidence and ease oozed throughout his set and into the main event, a performance from DJ Lo Down Lorretta Brown.
With respect to the legendary Badu, the evening with her alter ego was still plenty interesting, even if I would have preferred a more traditional set of her performing her own music for my first live experience.
Still, the opportunity to see one of Dilla’s kindred Soulquarians was plenty exciting and she didn’t disappoint, displaying an electrifying hold on the audience with her every recollection, every record transition, every hit from a seemingly never-ending joint.
Badu’s most arresting interaction with the audience during the evening came from her retelling a well-worn story she heard from Dilla’s mother, Ma Dukes, about her son’s dying days.
Delirious in the final stages of his rare blood disease and having conversations with an unseen individual he claimed to believe was the late rapper Ol' Dirty Bastard, Dilla told his mother ODB had given him advice on which bus to take when he crossed over into the next life.
“Don’t get on the red bus, get on the white bus. The red bus looks fun, but that’s not the one,” Badu told the audience before segueing into Telephone, a song inspired by the conversation that opens, "Telephone, it's Ol' Dirty/ He wants to give you directions home/ Said it won't be too long."
On an evening focused on celebrating the present and the influence Dilla’s music has left on today’s artists, it was a bittersweet reminder of the unchangeable past. It felt the same for me to see Dilla’s two now-teenage daughters recognized on stage - the most visual reminder of the passage of time.
While you can feel J Dilla’s absence the most in those moments, it’s just as easy to see beauty in witnessing how they’ve grown up. Or in seeing some of his most beloved contemporaries still giving the audience something extra special in his honor.