In discussing the late Jay Dee/J Dilla/James Yancey, it’s almost too difficult to avoid getting in the ‘what could have been…’ That, though, doesn’t serve anyone well. We won’t know – no one will. And pretending that Dilla was poised for international success only does a disservice to what music we have left from the producer. If he wasn’t famous – and not in the underground kinda way – during his life, that was his lot. It doesn’t lessen the talent that he toted around with him everyday whether in Detroit or Cali. He was a man, not a myth. He just happened to be able to create some of most rewarding production in the game over a career that was just roughly over a decade long. Yea, it is horribly unfortunate and so is the mess that Ma Dukes has had to wade through in its aftermath. Life, though, sucks for a little bit, then gets better and goes back again.

But for all of those reasons, I’ve been hesitant to comment upon Jay Stay Paid. There’s certainly no shortage of folks cropping up to sing the praises of this producer – as it should be. But that, somehow, is just able to point out the fact that in the media saturated culture that we all live in now, there’s an abundance of criticism (commentating might be a better word) that just doesn’t matter at all. Nothing written about Jay Stay Paid is going to quell the loss of Dilla’s family and the folks that he worked with - just like saying he coulda/woulda/shoulda been a huge star and a millionaire isn’t gonna help either.

Nonetheless the cobbled together Jay Stay Paid does wind up being as strong a beat tape as will be released this year. Composed of tracks that Pete Rock along with Ma Dukes found appropriate for feature here, the twenty eight tracks clock in at just under an hour. But in true mix tape fashion, a great majority of what’s here is contained in tracks between one and two minutes in duration.

There’s some space age reverie from “On Stilts” that only makes listeners want it to be longer than a minute and change. But roughly the same territory is covered with “Lazer Gunne Funke” and “Expensive Whip” – whose title made me laugh when I first read it. Everything that comprises Jay Stay Paid is what fans have come to expect.

Elsewhere, though, writers have figured that this disc still isn’t on the same level as Donuts from a few years back. And it shouldn’t be seeing as Jay Stay Paid wasn’t composed as a singular offering. What’s messed up, though, is that it’s close. And with a few vocal offerings from the likes of Black Thought, Detroit native Phat Kat, Havoc from Mobb Deep and a surprisingly average effort from Blu, there’s a bit of something for every Dilla fan.

Most probably someone you know, by this point, owns this disc already, but it wouldn’t look bad in your crates, digital or otherwise.