Kanye West Talks J Dilla’s Influence on His Work in "Our Vinyl Weighs a Ton"

This week saw the release of Stones Throw Records documentary Our Vinyl Weighs a Ton on DVD/Blu-ray. Coinciding with the release, Rolling Stone has unveiled 30 minutes of outtakes which includes archival footage of Peanut Butter Wolf and Charizma fooling around, candid clips of Madlib and Dam Funk trading records and discussing music, as well as conversations with Tyler, the Creator and Gaslamp Killer, who speak their mind on the Stones Throw movement. Around the 24 minute mark, we find Kanye West on opening up on previous collaborations with Madlib, while also touching on J Dilla’s influence on his own productions.

“It’s amazing: How could we lose Biggie, Pac, Dilla, Steve Jobs, Michael Jackson? It almost feels like the devil’s winning. We gotta make music and we think, ‘If Dilla was alive, would he like this?’ I have to work on behalf of Dilla. When I put a weird-ass Jamaican sample, it works at first but it’s not until I put the [makes discordant musical noise] that it sounds like art or sounds slightly wrong. And now it’ll go to the radio now that it’s wrong, motherfucker. Now play this. Play this five-minute song that completely fucks up your programming. Play this. It’s best respect that we can pay to great artists that have inspired us so much is to never fuckin’…never sell out.”

Enjoy the outtakes above and head to Our Vinyl Weights a Ton to purchase the documentary.