Denver Nuggets: Wardell’s Take-“They’re Playing Basketball”
By Wardell
Mike Malone = J Dilla
Wardell (@ponaxWardell):
Before you criticize, just know that I realize that J Dilla wasn’t really known as a rapper. But it also doesn’t seem appropriate to compare Mike Malone to someone who is just a rapper.
A head coach doesn’t control the specific play but they do have their hands all over the game, in a similar way which producers do for songs. For Malone, the best comparison in the production industry is J Dilla.
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In his heyday, Dilla had his hands over an era of hip hop we now call neo-soul. Neo-soul was a fuse of classic soul music (which included acts similar Marvin Gaye and Otis Redding) and the native tongue movement (which included acts similar to A Tribe Called Quest and De La Soul).
Dilla produced for various neo-soul acts, including but not limited to: Q-tip, The Roots, Common, Erykah Badu and D’Angelo.
Both Malone and Dilla are greatly undervalued for their careers, but they both have shown that they are dedicated and talented. They’ve also left great impressions on those they’ve worked with.
Malone has been praised by DeMarcus Cousins, which means a lot considering Cousins doesn’t like very many coaches. Dilla the focal point of countless musical tributes since his passing in 2006. A few artists who have made such tributes include: J Cole, The Roots, J Rocc, Pete Rock, Busta Rhymes, Kendrick Lamar, Chance The Rapper, Nas, Phife Dawg, Talib Kweli and even the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
That list doesn’t even make up for one-fifth of the amount of tributes Dilla has received. But that just speaks to how much of an impact he has had on the music industry.
People wanted to work with him as much as possible and were greatly missed him when he left. That’s very similar to Malone’s relationship with Cousins. After Malone was fired, no other coach has come close to Malone in Cousins’ eyes.
Now I realize that this one is a bit of a stretch, but J Dilla is very high on my personal list of artists all-time. I mean, he’s part of the reason I love donuts so much.