With 2023 serving as the 50th anniversary of hip-hop, the Detroit Pistons knew they wanted to honor one of their hometown heroes. On Feb. 7, what would have been J Dilla’s 50th birthday, the Pistons’ vision came to life when announcing the Dilla-inspired merchandise collection paying homage to the late Slum Village production member.
“Educating NBA fans around the world about his lasting impact on the global music [scene] and his deep pride for Detroit was also important to us,” Pistons VP of Brand & Marketing Bilal Saeed tells Billboard.
The Pistons tapped Royce Da 5’9″, who developed a friendship with Dilla in the early 2000s while Royce was finding his footing in the Detroit rap scene, to serve as the project’s art director overseeing the capsule. The two would go on to collaborate on records such as “Let’s Grow,” while others remained in the stash. “What better reason to come together in unification than Dilla,” the 46-year-old tells Billboard. “I’m honored to even have the job.”
With Dilla’s estate backing the endeavor, properly saluting the Detroit icon in a tasteful manner was of the utmost importance to Royce. He admits he felt a “little bit of pressure,” but referred to the daunting task as the “good” kind of pressure, as perfection was on his mind. “Quality control, that’s what Dilla was all about,” Royce says. “Have you heard a bad Dilla beat? I haven’t.”
The first step was finding elements authentic to J Dilla’s persona and artistic vision, like the signature Dilla Donut and building the collection out from there. “My thing was ‘Let’s not redo the same thing over and over that’s been done,’” Royce explains. “Be as original as you could possibly be.”
Billboard has exclusive images from the Pistons x J Dilla capsule, which is set to arrive — fittingly — on 313 Day in Detroit (March 13). In addition to Royce Da 5’9,” Dilla’s daughters Ty’Monae Whitley and Ja’Mya Yancey modeled looks in the photo shoot, as well as Dilla’s close friend Frank Nitt.
The collection of T-shirts, hoodies and snapback hats will be available on the Pistons313Shop website, while the Dilla Donut Pistons cap and Welcome to Detroit gray hoodie will be sold only at the Pistons Team Store inside Little Caesars Arena on March 13 when the Pistons take on the Toronto Raptors.
Dilla — born James Yancey — was rarely spotted without a fitted cap, and the Detroit Stars hat was one of his go-to’s. The Pistons paid homage to the D’s Negro League baseball team with a cap as part of the capsule.
Several tees and hoodies include mesh graphics combining a map of Detroit with the Minimog Voyager Synthesizer and Akai MPC3000, machines that J Dilla used to churn out abstract beats.
Dilla’s daughter Ja’Mya relayed that the image merging the city layout and MPC reminded her the most of her late father. “It represents what made him James versus what made him J Dilla,” she tells Billboard.
Ty’Monae spilled about some funny quirks Dilla had when it came to his eye for fashion, like how he never wore the same white tee twice or “how he would buy multiples of everything in different colors.”
“He was always very organized and clean,” she reveals. “He even had a particular way he liked to dress me as a kid whenever he bought me clothes, too. I have a picture of myself in an oversized Avirex jacket he bought and ‘styled’ on me. I still have that jacket today.”
Two pieces that will be must-haves for any J Dilla fan are the gray Welcome to Detroit hoodie and the accompanying crisp snapback. Those two items won’t be shipping, and are going to be available only at the team store.
Both were handpicked as favorites in the capsule from Dilla’s daughters, too. The vintage flaming tailpipe Pistons logo from the late ’90s-early 2000s fits perfectly when replaced with J Dilla in front of his classic bitten-donut logo. The Welcome to Detroit patch is a nod to the producer’s 2001 debut album, and the back of the cap is inscribed with “Forever Dilla 1974-2006.”
Feb. 10 marked 18 years since J Dilla’s life was cut short in 2006, when he passed away due to a combination of thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura and lupus. Still, the super producer’s legacy withstands the test of time, and even nearly two decades later, Royce Da 5’9″ is hailing J Dilla as the best beatmaker hip-hop’s ever seen.
“I would define him as [the] GOAT,” Royce declares. “I don’t really know any other way I could look at it. You had beatmakers and you had producers. I think J Dilla was both, but in the beatmaking category, I don’t think there’s anybody better.”
Find more images from the J Dilla x Detroit Pistons collection — which arrives on March 13 — below.
