Initially intended for release in 2002, The Diary was shelved after the legendary J Dilla began a creative renaissance in L.A. The long lost vocal album has been painstakingly assembled from two-track mixdowns and multi-track masters discovered in Dilla’s archives after his death in 2006, and is now finally presented as the final batch of unissued material that he had assembled for release during his lifetime. The Diary features two tracks previously released on 12” in 2013 – ‘The Anthem’ and ‘Trucks’, the latter an incredible Gary Numan flip – as well as the previously heard ‘Fuck the Police’. Bright, muscular production from the likes of Madlib, Pete Rock, Karriem Riggins, Bink! and House Shoes, with guest vocalists including Nas and Snoop Dogg. Dilla’s status as a producer has never been in doubt, but if you ever had him pegged as anything less than a seriously hot MC then it may be time to reconsider.