The New York Times Presents: The Legacy of J Dilla

"I call it the weirdness. When it comes out, I never know what I'm gonna do."
-J Dilla

Arguably one of the greatest hip-hop producers to ever live, James Yancey aka J Dilla was the driving force behind some of the most influential songs in hip-hop and would go on to influence an entire generation of artists and musicians, before passing away at the untimely age of 32.

Towards the end of 2022 I had the distinct honor of putting together a GFX package and animated intro for the New York Times Presents: The Legacy of J Dilla, on Hulu. It was a tight turn around project, however I knew it was something I had to do to honor one of the greatest producers to ever get into the game. In the style of J Dilla, I aimed at channeling much of his "weirdness" for the animated intro. Going into it with only a rough idea of what I wanted and a few quickly rendered styleframes, I would let the weirdness guide me in layering on textures, hand-drawn lettering, illustrations, patterns, cut-up album covers, and old footage of James Yancey. Some might call it improvisational and others might call it, working under a time crunch haha. Regardless, I enjoy the jazz-improv-style of working because the process of unexpected successes and failures will always take you in directions you weren't expecting. Go check it out, now on Hulu.

Credits:
Agency: Left/Right
Directors: Esther Dere & Christopher Frierson
Film Editing: Geoff O'Brien
Animation Director: Magnus Atom