J Dilla & Nujabes: The Dads of Lofi? (Documentary)

[@Dewane1511]

Trust dilla wouldn’t like being called “dad of lofi” houseshoes addressed this a few years back.

[@Dewane1511]

@@DaveDEF82very true he spoke on in it in an interview.

[@Narokx]

32:20
I literally agreed with you.
I go against the claim they are the "godfathers" of lofi, the connection is simply their fanbase.
Sorry about the clickbait lol, gotta do what you what to do. But not really sorry, since I do think Dilla is the "dad" of a lot of producers and sub genres.

[@Dewane1511]

@@Narokx I apologize I haven’t gotten that far in the video yet ✊🏾

[@Narokx]

@@Dewane1511 no biggie, appreciate your passion for the subject 🙌🏼

[@tokyogamer5825]

Whenever I see someone claiming they are Lofi, I immediately think culture vultures gentrifying an art form. This is boom bap / Jazz Rap HIP HOP at its truest form!

[@taosophymusic]

8 minutes in and I already know I'm adding this to my archive. Kudos to you on putting this together👍🏽.

[@Narokx]

:)

[@makalism]

You would assume two artists who share oddly similar styles would know of each other
The haunting essence of the beats they create perfectly capture nostalgia, memories and emotional distress in a way which cannot be described
They are able to take a sample and bring out so much of the deeper notes and rhythms
May their legacies carry on

[@Narokx]

:)

[@n1ira]

I live in Tokyo, and can still feel the love for him to this day. Many of my Japanese friends say he's darely missed here. He is the late legend we never deserved.

[@sowososmooth]

This is the quality content that I subscribe for man. You're the best at this kind of stuff.
So close to 20k subs!

[@Narokx]

Was only able to grow this far because of my day ones :)

[@IndyAdvant]

Maybe the best Nujabes video I've seen. Great job

[@Narokx]

:)

[@Outlanders02]

Meu Deus! Eu sabiaaa, tinha um feeling que você era brasileiro. Brigadão pelo conteúdo, é absurdamente muito bem produzido. Amo seus vídeos, apesar de me considerar apenas apreciador e nada técnico em musicalidade. Aquele seu vídeo sobre aruarian dance tá enraizado no meu coração

[@Narokx]

que mensagem :) !

[@lynxproductions]

Incredible, and can't wait to hear your own music!

[@Narokx]

:)

[@morreddie717]

10/10 video! dilla and nujabes would've been making some wild music with the technology we have today

[@mcDontSpeak]

Another great video brother. Thanks for all your sample breakdowns. I really wish i was as capable of doing this type of analysis to apply it to my music making. Cant wait to hear whats next from you.

[@Narokx]

Thanks!

[@hoptoad5367]

This is sick man. Great work

[@Narokx]

Appreciate it! Took some sweat!

[@basketguitar9768]

Dude your stuff is criminally underrated. One of the best youtube documentaries ive seen in a while👍

[@Narokx]

:)

[@lutzfreudenberg697]

I cannot thank you enough for making this video and the hard work you put in research for it ❤ Am a big fan of both of them but especially grew up with the music of Nujabes from the early 2000s on and still am listening to it daily. It‘s my heart beat. ❤
Thank you :)

[@ghost_endy]

this was a great documentary, thank you for this!!

[@ojoao.bernardes]

NUJABES AND DILLA THE GOATS

[@starksvensk]

I don’t have much time to watch this right now, but I’m saving it. Looks like a very good video. Thanks for posting this sir.

[@mujan5627]

Que buena manera de despedir febrero. Gran video.🎉

[@nodoze123]

Thank you again for all you do! 🫡🙌🏾🙌🏾🙌🏾

[@filipkasprzyk9564]

Man youre doing insane work!

[@Narokx]

I try 😅

[@HustlesInvestments]

That drum beat in the beginning of the video almost got me introuble yooo😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@Narokx]

Bruuuh

[@17-.]

I also found these two through youtube. It's crazy how this platform allows true talent to rise to the surface, even posthumously. Forever will be vibing to these legends!

[@halfpint90]

no, it pushes trending things to the top, it doesn't give a fuck about talent

[@17-.]

@@halfpint90 can't argue that the opportunity is there. Compared to the work the underground artists had to put in to market themselves, UA-cam is way easier to get into

[@Narokx]

It is a double edge sword, yeah you gotta do some stuff that isn't relate to just creating to find success i.e. my channel, but still opportunity is there to build something from nothing and connect with the whole world

[@Narokx]

UA-cam is going to be forever my favorite music app :)

[@-ASTROMAGIC]

Can't wait to listen to this once I'm done with work today. We appreciate your hard work man, both Nujabes and Dilla are two artists I wish I could've seen live before they passed, but they live forever in their art.

[@Narokx]

:)

[@17-.]

Hell yes this is what I've been waiting for

[@Narokx]

:)

[@17-.]

@@NarokxDon't get bogged down by the youtube hustle brother. your videos have such high quality that I'm sure you're gonna make it. Keep up the grind. Looking forward to hearing what you can do!

[@nevusside]

Love the way you’ve integrated your sample breakdowns into these legendary stories 👌🏻 editing and visuals are class too!
Incredible amount of hard-work all building up to this point with the hour-long Dilla breakdown video and this. Insane man 👏🏼
Honoured to have a few unreleased beats feature in this! Particularly enjoyed the ending as well! 👀 Excited to see where this next chapter leads you! 🙌🏼

[@Narokx]

My guy came in clutch!

[@wm1573]

Good doc! Thank you for this

[@fr8traaain]

I did a presentation in my public speaking class on this exact same premise. Excellent video

[@Narokx]

:)

[@Jeweldroppin]

I feel like Madlib influenced the genre more than nujabes

[@Narokx]

You can argue more than Dilla, but 1000% not more than Nujabes. Samurai Champloo was huuuuge for lofi

[@apexone5502]

I was looking for a Madlib mention and I wholeheartedly agree. He was doing his thing professionally before Nujabes and he had that heavy lofi sound way before it became its own genre. He was the influence for Dilla switching to the raw style that was used for "Donuts" (this isn't to say Jay didn't have a lofi style before that album).
Not to take away from Nujabes contributions but someone like Madlib has a heavier influence on the genre. "The Unseen" is a great example of the sound that helped to bring about lofi hip hop as a subgenre.

[@ands0]

que isso mano acompanho seus breakdown ja tem uns tempo, foda demais saber que tu é br!
trampo foda demais. sucesso !!!

[@Narokx]

Valeu man :)

[@farewellbeats]

As someone who makes lofi as their job and major hobby, I love the video so far. Love to see stuff like this being created. Did a cool thing here man.
Since you like beats and basketball, I'd highly recommend listening to Mutombo records tracks. Their whole label is basketball themed.

[@Narokx]

That is awesome to hear mate! Also thanks for the recommendation!!

[@MrJeancow]

Years ago this stuff was simply called “hip hop”. This “lo fi” umbrella term is nosense when we talk about j dilla and other boom bap producers. There’s nothing lo fi about this world. They made hard knocking hip hop sample based beats.

[@Narokx]

I like this perspective!

[@artisans8521]

I think so too, but truth be told, lofi girl, was the entry drug to most who discovered Nujabes and Dilla in the late 10th band and early 20th. And when people like MF Doom, DiBiase and the like site him as an influence, I guess there us some truth in it. Sometime you can father a child against your knowing so.

[@apexone5502]

True. Hip Hop beats of the past had that lofi aesthetic due to the fact that the samplers of the era couldn’t sample at a high bit rate to make the samples cleaner. It was just good ol’ Hip Hop back then and that’s it.

[@met6261]

Imma be waiting to hear one of your music I hope u post a demo in here much love for ur work mate

[@Narokx]

:)

[@no.sarembo]

And we cant talk about J Dilla without talking about Neo-Soul

[@sumedhkulkarni8416]

Did you watch the new Nujabes documentary??

[@Narokx]

which one?

[@sumedhkulkarni8416]

ua-cam.com/video/1fibC7Ybt4I/v-deo.htmlsi=iohktJuGxjZvJYSA

[@sumedhkulkarni8416]

It's a pretty good documentary on how he got into music making and how he operated.

[@sumedhkulkarni8416]

Search music is mine music is yours

[@sumedhkulkarni8416]

Yt deleted the link I sent

[@ghosthnw9772]

37:47 I want to specify that Dilla did sample one particular Japanese song for a beat AFAIK. It is Yutaka Yokokura's 1978 song, Evening Star, being flipped to a beat in his '99 beat tape, The New Slaves colloquially known as "I'm So Glad You're Dorothy" or Jay Dee 45 officially.
So... He probably had tapped into Japan music much earlier than Jay Loves Japan.
Also, correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Towa Tei, the musician that Dilla sampled for Find My Way, Japanese? So... Maybe he know Nujabes through him? But then the timeline wouldn't match up if that's the case.

[@Narokx]

I was also reaching trying to find a way to at least assume that Dilla knew about Nujabes, but unless someone who was close to him says something, I think all we can do is speculate

[@boogiemir]

Fun fact nujabes dad was supposedly a pianist & well put together video.👍🏾

[@Narokx]

Appreciate you sharing, and the recognition!

[@boogiemir]

@@NarokxYou’re welcome sir.

[@bernardozanon377]

"As a Brazillian Highschooler"
Pô, o cara é BR e curte Nujabes. Tmj brother

[@Narokx]

Tamo man! Valeu!

[@leoniceparente7783]

Maravilhosooooo!!! ❤🥰👏👏👏

[@JohnCulpry]

How come Fat Jon never gets mentioned along with Nujabes when he produced half of Samurai Champloo as well?

[@Narokx]

I wish I could mention him more often, but he personally told me not to, soooo I feel kind of weird diving deeper into his stuff... I had a lot more to say about him, similar to what I did with Funky DL, and Sub, but again gotta respect the man's wishes

[@khoikidd]

@@Narokx Thats so interesting, Fat Jon is my guy, that always makes me mad when people overlook his part in samurai champloo, interesting that the man himself didnt want to be mentioned. Shoutout to Fat Jon though, he's a legend

[@JohnCulpry]

That’s no slight to you, I mean in general by all the lofi enthusiasts that pray to Nujabes only. It just reminds me of the “Dilla changed my life! Who is Slum Village?” meme
@@Narokx

[@R-Righteous]

​@@khoikiddI agree fat John made most of the bangers on that soundtrack not to downplay nujabes

[@eviltuqueque8800]

Nuja and my borther got me into beatmaking
also, u are brazilian ?

[@Narokx]

Born and raised

[@6fates0]

Agradeço mesmo por falar mais sobre eles. Mas mano também a música de hip hop de bondade do brasil. Na parada do boom bap como o pumapjl e SonoTWS. música lave a alma mano, é isso onde eu quero econtrar. Nunca para de criar

[@Narokx]

Boooa :)

[@guilhermeaugusto5989]

NOSSA EU NÃO ACREDITO QUE VOCÊ É BRASILEIRO! parabéns pelo trabalho irmão

[@Narokx]

:))))

[@RudyTheInternetGod]

🙏🏾

[@ShinobiKush]

What about Ras G? Totally underrated

[@guilhermeaugusto5989]

Faz um video mostrando como o Dibia$e sampleia

[@kincamell2]

Peace to The Aquarius

[@spiketrakton329]

What’s that track at 15:50???? I need to know

[@Narokx]

ua-cam.com/video/Y646_6XMiH4/v-deo.html
12:45

[@artisans8521]

To me I took a detour via Bristol and Belgium, with bands like Massive Attack, Portishead, Tricky, Red Snapper and the Sneaker Pimps (with Kelli Ali/Dayton) and Hooverphonic. And DJs like DJ Shadow and Howie B. Then to Erykah and via her to JD. But that last step took 10 years and involved a virus lockdown, a post from Grimes on Instagram, a few samplers new and old, two funerals, and a rehash of my studio, now in the box and then out of it via a Polish sampler and rehash of an old friend. So now I own a ticket to an upcoming SlumVillage concert in my home town in backwater The Netherlands.

[@Skyymrister]

Nujabes do inspired many people practice sampling skill. I am the one for example...

[@dajhedi]

Any mention of MF DOOM?

[@Narokx]

06:32 - Madvillain mentioned
06:41 - Metal Fingers beat

[@Cyktar]

6:32 pls give me this beat bro 😭i need 😭😭😭😭

[@vdb492]

Carai n sabia q tu era br

[@oldmenwithnewguns5997]

I thought you are from france, not brazil. :D

[@Narokx]

I got a lot of Germain when I was in the US lol
Brazil is really diverse so it makes sense we look like a bunch of different people

[@tonystarkcoins2014]

This UA-camr is smart. He used j dilla to click bait us to new jabes

[@Narokx]

;)

[@marsyasamplecollection]

Yey, no longer the older Nujabes pronunciation!!! 😂

[@Narokx]

Character development

[@marsyasamplecollection]

@@Narokx😎

[@marialeonetepparente4720]

Bjs amor ❤ Deus te abençoe 🙏

[@CaldoHits]

Lo-fi is a descriptive word. It literally means Low Fidelity. Dilla requested that Dave Cooley who used to mix for Madlib at the time to give his music that "cassette" feel.
Added to that, Dilla had a range of styles not limited to lo-fi. He also had beats with a hi-fi commercial sound.
Examples of lo-fi projects by Dilla include and are not limited to Ruff Drafts and Donuts.

[@Narokx]

!!! Great observation! The examples I used at the end are exactly from Ruff Draft and Donuts (aside from Secrets of the Sand)

[@inigo9000]

Artists like 9thwonder & Flying Lotus definitely didden’t came later in the youtube world of beats , they were the biggest upcoming names at the moment youtube started, the type beats thing only became a thing years later

[@Narokx]

idk man, my experience was different. I was listening to type beats in 2011, the oldest 9th wonder instrumentals on this website are a bit younger than that. I think at most they came around at the same time.

[@inigo9000]

i'm really sure since i was listening them and bought records they did when i was stil in school, even went to my first festival in the summer to see flying lotus at 15/16 and i finished school in 2008. I guess it's just different depending on musical interests & what you were looking for at the time but they were definitely big names in this genre of hip hop & beatmakers@@Narokx

[@Narokx]

@@inigo9000 appreciate your perspective!

[@R-Righteous]

No they both made hip hop music, using more jazzy samples and tones but still pretty much classical hip hop, why do we need to change it into something it wasn't.

[@TheBLACKSTARmovement]

Madlib did "lofi" well before either of them

[@MBeats27]

I prefer nujabes over dilla sorry you can hate me

[@Narokx]

how dare you have an opinion ;)

[@baytinsopo]

Nah bruh, no hate.. that's why they make Cadillacs and Lincolns

[@MBeats27]

@@baytinsopo obviously nujabes is the Cadillac

[@CheckerMilk]

lofi is definitely an amazing genre of music but no matter what, the meticulous techniques of dilla and sebajun makes lofi a watered down version of their music. don’t hate me.

[@Prodkibis]

Lofi is dead :/

[@persona8991]

I hate you for this title man

[@Narokx]

🥰

[@1LoDeezydotcom]

As a producer & a child of music, I can’t play to those “Lofi” playlist while having to do a task. I get to dissecting the music 😅

[@Narokx]

🔥

[@artisans8521]

Same problem here. Having access to 4 different samplers doesn't help 😂.