Dilla Time

5. Questlove posted on Okayplayer that James was near death and in a coma, followed by refutations from friends like T3. Maureen Yancey now states that James was “semi-comatose” in the intensive care unit during the hospital stay in question.

6. That writer is the author of this book.

7. The recollections of the people who were closest to J Dilla and to this project, including Peanut Butter Wolf, J-Rocc, and Jeff Jank, collectively confirm that the tracks on this initial iteration of Donuts were created on Pro Tools, at home; not in the hospital, on another machine.

8. James became infamous for his outgoing messages in this period, leaving one in response to a fellow producer, 88 Keys, whom he felt was representing himself as closer to James than he really was: “88 Keys … geek down!”

9. Joy’s visits to California are also a subject of contention for the family. Maureen and Martha Yancey insist that James did not really want to see Joy, but did so because it was the only way he could see his daughter Ja’Mya.

10. Several aspects of the will’s creation story are misaligned, and thus make the truth about that creation difficult to discern. For more on this, see the Reporter’s Notes and Sources section.

11. Doctors know more about the family of diseases called thrombotic microangiopathy now, and James’s case history indicates that there is a possibility that his illness may have been TTP’s “sister” disease, the ultra-rare aHUS, or atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome. TTP tends to be intermittent and episodic, while aHUS tends to get progressively worse, as James did. TTP responds well to plasma exchange, aHUS responds poorly. By 2012, effective drug treatments were developed for aHUS, enabling patients to eventually discontinue dialysis.

12. Those tracks were eventually named “Stepson,” “Geek Down,” “Gobstopper,” “One for Ghost,” “U-Love,” “Hi,” “Bye,” “Last Donut of the Night,” and “Welcome to the Show.”

13. Zealots

1. There is another conversation that Joylette remembers that Maureen Yancey says did not happen. Janell Hunter says that after James’s death she made contact with Maureen and got her sister and Maureen on the phone together. Joy says that when she inquired about the funeral arrangements, wanting to come with Ja’Mya, Maureen said to her, “I didn’t think you would want to go through all that.”

2. The prayer that broke the tension was: “Dear Lord, if it’s your will to leave us here with just Ahmir, then so be it. I guess we’re stuck with Afro now.”

3. Q-Tip would begin to stake a claim to his personal credits in the 2009 Moovmnt.com interview.

4. This conversation was confirmed by Clarice Hayes.

5. Chav states that Erykah delayed delivery of her album so she could re-cut her vocals on the anniversary of James’s death in February 2008. James’s collaborators and friends would grapple with their loss in song over the next decade, some of the most prominent examples being J-Rocc’s “Thank You Jay Dee” (Acts 1, 2, and 3) (2006, 2007, and 2008), Q-Tip’s “Shaka” (2008), The Roots’ “Dilltastic Vol Won(derful)” and “Can’t Stop This” (2006), and their album of interpretations of his beats called Dilla Joints (2010); De La Soul’s Smell the D.A.I.S.Y. mixtape (2014); Phife’s “Dear Dilla” (2014); Common’s “Rewind That” (2016); Dwele’s “Workin on It” (2008); Elzhi’s “February” (2016); and Madlib’s Beat Konducta 5-6: A Tribute to Dilla (2009).

6. According to a consultant for the estate, James Dewitt Yancey had tax liens against him for every single year of his professional career, in which time he worked with several different accountants and business managers. Though the amount due to the IRS was later revised downward toward $500,000, the debt was significant. For a man who once declared, “I don’t ever want to see a bill,” this was a foreseeable result. When James’s final bill arrived, it was his heirs who had to pay it.

7. Phonte Coleman’s tribute to J Dilla would instead be through his own music with Little Brother, and also with the Foreign Exchange, who were nominated for a Grammy Award in 2009.

8. Micheline Levine says that the estate had several serious concerns about the foundation: It was trading on J Dilla’s name and likeness without their knowledge or permission. It called itself a foundation but had no tax-exempt status. It was selling J Dilla merchandise, and they were hearing reports of customers complaining about orders not being fulfilled. And the estate had no clarity in what the foundation was doing with its proceeds.

9. The text continued: THE ONLY PERSON LEGALLY AUTHORIZED TO EXECUTE TRANSACTIONS OR MAKE ANY DECISIONS WHATSOEVER REGARDING THE COMMERCIAL USE OF DILLA’S NAME, MUSIC, MERCHANDISE, PHOTOGRAPHS, VIDEO APPEARANCES, ARTWORK, ETC., IS THE EXECUTOR OF J DILLA’S ESTATE, ARTHUR ERK. NO OTHER PERSON, INCLUDING FRIENDS OR FAMILY MEMBERS OF DILLA’S ARE ENTITLED TO DO SO.