[9] According to The Guardian, "His affinity for crafting lengthy, melodic loops peppered with breakbeats and vocal samples took instrumental hip-hop into new, more musically complex realms.

[15] In 1992, Yancey met the Detroit musician Amp Fiddler, who let him use his Akai MPC, a music workstation, which he quickly mastered.

Fiddler, while playing keyboards with Funkadelic on the 1994 Lollapalooza tour, met Q-Tip of A Tribe Called Quest, the group was also in the lineup.

In 1995, Yancey and MC Phat Kat formed 1st Down and became the first Detroit hip hop group to sign with a major label (Payday Records).

[citation needed] In 1995, Yancey recorded the Yester Years EP with 5 Elementz (a group consisting of Proof, Thyme and Mudd).

[16]By the mid-1990s Yancey had a string of singles and remix projects for artists such as Janet Jackson, The Pharcyde, De La Soul, Busta Rhymes, A Tribe Called Quest, Q-Tip's solo album and others.

[17] Under this umbrella, Yancey produced original songs and remixes for Janet Jackson, Busta Rhymes, Brand New Heavies, Something For the People, trip hop artists Crustation and many others.

He was also a founding member of the production collective known as The Soulquarians (along with Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson, D'Angelo and James Poyser amongst others) which earned him more recognition.

He later worked with Erykah Badu, Poe, Talib Kweli, and Common—contributing heavily to the latter's critically acclaimed breakthrough album, Like Water for Chocolate.

[citation needed] Around this time, Yancey also assisted in the production of singer and fellow Soulquarian Bilal's second album, Love for Sale.

[20] The singer credited Yancey with showing him a unique approach to drum programming: "He had this thing where no matter what he picked up he could bend his will into it.

'The Los Angeles producer and MC Madlib began collaborating with Yancey, and the pair formed the group Jaylib in 2002, releasing an album called Champion Sound in 2003.

Yancey's illness and medication caused dramatic weight loss in 2003 onwards, forcing him to publicly confirm speculation about his health in 2004.

Despite a slower output of major releases and production credits in 2004 and 2005, his cult status remained strong within his core audience, as evidenced by unauthorized circulation of his underground "beat tapes" (instrumental, and raw working materials), mostly through internet file sharing.

[10][24] Articles in the publications URB (March 2004) and XXL (June 2005) confirmed rumors of ill health and hospitalization during this period, but these were downplayed by Jay himself.

[25] Yancey died on February 10, 2006, at his home in Los Angeles, three days after his 32nd birthday and the release of his final album, Donuts.

According to the journalist and university professor Dan Charnas, Yancey juxtaposed both styles, creating "a new, pleasurable, disorienting rhythmic friction and new time-feel".

It was also released in a cassette tape format, paying homage to Yancey's dirty, grimy sound (he was known for recording over two-tracked instrumentals).

Champion Sound, Yancey's and Madlib's collaborative album, was reissued in June 2007 by Stones Throw Records as a 2-CD Deluxe Edition with instrumentals and b-sides.

[34] Jay Stay Paid, an album featuring 28 previously unreleased instrumental tracks made at various points in his career, was released in 2009 by Nature Sounds.

Intended for release in 2002, the album is a collection of Yancey's vocal performances over production by Madlib, Pete Rock, Nottz, House Shoes, Karriem Riggins, and others.

[38] In March 2023, the J Dilla Foundation partnered with Kano Computing for a 10-year deal to release exclusive music on the Stem Player.

[5] "Highly influential for both producers and drummers", he made "innovative" use of the MPC sampler, by employing real-time rhythms and choosing not to quantize them, thus creating a "drunk" and "laid-back" style which "[was] a significant contribution to contemporary popular music that evade[d] quick interpretation, transcription and definition".

[42] The University of Illinois' Adam Kruse states that Yancey is "considered one of the greatest beat producers in hip-hop's history".

[45] A recent BBC documentary inspired by the Olympic runner Usain Bolt contained two Yancey-produced songs—"So Far To Go" by Common and "Runnin'" by the Pharcyde.

In an interview with LA Weekly, Erk described how difficult it was for the estate to "protect his legacy" due to bootlegging and unofficial mixtapes.

[48] A few weeks later Yancey's mother, who appeared on such unofficial mixtapes as Busta Rhymes' Dillagence, gave her take on these issues.

[49] One of the things Dilla wanted me to do with his legacy was to use it to help others, people with illness, kids who were musically gifted but had little hope due to poverty.

She still lives in the same Detroit ghetto, is still a daycare worker at Conant Gardens and also suffers from lupus, the same disease which killed Yancey.

[58] Created by Yancey's uncle Herman Hayes to honor his nephew's legacy, it sold out of donuts three times on its first day.