Posthumous J Dilla record out in June

A 25-track disc comprised of beats made by the late J Dilla is "dropping" (that's hip-hop for "being released") June 2 on Nature Sounds. Dilla was a much-heralded producer who gained fame in the late '80s with the group Slum Village. Many credit him for helping to place Detroit on the hip-hop map, but it was role in the production team The Ummah (with Q-Tip and Ali Shaheed Muhammed) that made him a hip-hop household name.

Dilla's time with The Ummah saw him work on A Tribe Called Quest's two final albums. He later went on to work with Prince, Janet Jackson, Common and Erykah Badu before passing away from Lupus-related issues at 32.

This latest disc, titled "Jay Stay Paid," is said to be mostly instrumental with a few vocals from Black Thought, MF Doom and M.O.P. The tracks were arranged and mixed by Pete Rock, who Dilla looked up to. Dilla's mom acts as executive producer and says her late son would have been "flabbergasted" that Rock was working on his beats.

The songs are compiled from Dilla's early career, floppy discs, DATs and stuff he did in the hospital.