Waajeed of Bling47 breaks down the Roy Haynes sample J Dilla flipped on the beat for Q-Tip‘s “Higher”.

Needless to say, without Q-Tip’s contributions to Dilla’s career, most people would’ve never heard of him at all. In May of 1999 I got a chance to hang out with Dilla and Tip in New York during a session for Common’s Like Water For Chocolate and D’Angelo’s Voodoo.

“Higher” is one of my favorite Q-Tip tracks on Amplified, partially because I heard a sneak preview of the beat early one morning. Dilla was notorious for calling in the middle of the night, leaving voicemails with beat ideas and demos of songs.

On our weekly record trips, we’d trade notes, exchange ideas and occasionally exchange records. This Roy Haynes album, “Vistalite” is one of those records I wish I’d gotten my hands on first. –iStandardProducers