No. 3 J. Dilla
As brilliant and prolific a musical mind that has ever worked in the hip-hop paradigm, the Detroit-born producer-arranger first caught mainstream attention working as part of “The Ummah,” a production collective that included Q-Tip and Ali Shaheed Muhammed of A Tribe Called Quest. On his own, Dilla (or Jay Dee) added his lush, organically smooth sound to singles and albums by Erykah Badu, Common, Pharcyde and his own group, Slum Village — as well as numerous others.
