J Dilla Documentary To Premiere This Month

Acclaimed producer J Dilla’s story will be told in a documentary on Hulu and FX this month.

J Dilla Documentary is coming to television

The Legacy of J Dilla will debut April 7 at 10 p.m. ET on FX, and will be available to stream on Hulu the same day.

Presented by The New York Times, the film is described as “an intimate portrait” of the dynamic producer, whose legacy grew exponentially since his passing in 2006.

Featuring Dilla’s family, the documentary not only chronicles his rise to Hip Hop fame as a producer, but explores the struggle for control over his legacy in the wake of his untimely death.

Produced and directed by Christopher Frierson and Esther Dere, The Legacy of J Dilla “will be part biography, part musicology, and part musical meditation,” according to a press release, and is being produced in cooperation with Dilla’s estate.

“Explaining musical genius is my mission. To be able to tell the world about the musician that had the most influence on me is a dream come true,” Questlove said in a statement. “Not just on me, but on an entire generation of musicians that everyone knows and loves.”

“J Dilla was our teacher. And what he taught us was how to feel rhythm in a way we had never felt before. I’m so honored to be a part of bringing his story to the world through this documentary.”

Prolific producer who left way too soon

Born James Yancey, the Detroit native rose to fame in the mid-late ’90s as a member of the rap collective Slum Village and a producer for A Tribe Called Quest, Busta Rhymes, De La Soul, The Pharcyde and more.

Aside from producing music for others, J Dilla worked on his own initiatives releasing several solo albums (Welcome 2 Detroit, Donuts) and collaborative projects (Champion Sound with Madlib).

The beloved producer passed away on February 10, 2006 — three days after his 32nd birthday — due to complications from lupus and thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (a rare blood disease).