What was J Dilla's cause of death? Illa J says Kanye West would not have been "as big as he is" if his brother was alive

Illa J, the brother of J Dilla, was interviewed by AnecDope and the conversation was uploaded to YouTube on May 31, 2024. In the interview, Illa discussed his late brother and made an interesting statement, suggesting that Kanye West might not have been as successful if J Dilla were still alive.

He said,

"I don’t think Kanye is as big as he is if my brother still alive. I’m sorry. Kanye needs seven producers. If you look at the credits, there’s like 20 producers on one track."

J Dilla passed away in 2006 at the age of 32 due to complications from lupus and TTP. His mother, Maureen Yancey, initially stated that he died of a heart attack, but later revealed he was hospitalized for pneumonia shortly before his death.

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Illa J recently opened up about his late brother J Dilla

Before his passing in 2006, J Dilla was hospitalized in Los Angeles during the summer of 2005. Despite his condition, he managed to create two songs for his album Donuts, which was released just three days before his death.

Reports from Detroit Free Press stated that he was unable to stand or walk, and he had issues with his hands. His mother, Maureen Yancey, revealed in a 2016 interview with the National Museum of African American History and Culture that she had been caring for him for the previous two years of his life before he died.

She added:

"The day before he passed away, he was at the table in his wheelchair on that machine working…he would have it no other way."

J Dilla's health issues began in January 2002 after returning from Europe, where he complained of a cold and flu. His mother took him to the emergency room, where doctors found his platelet count was dangerously low. He was diagnosed with thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura, a blood disorder, as per multiple reports.

As per the National Lung and Blood Institute, in this condition, blood tends to clot in different parts of the body. Due to the clotting, a huge number of platelets "get used up", leading to decreased amounts.

This disorder made him take rounds of the hospital several times over the years. He ended up having kidney failure and also had to go through dialysis. Just a few weeks before his 31st birthday, J Dilla was diagnosed with lupus.

In a recent episode with AnecDope, Illa J added that making beats is not the same thing as being a record producer. Illa further explained,

"It’s a thing to make beats and then it’s a thing to producer. Yeah, you’re making some crazy stuff, but we’re talking producer, man. Quincy Jones is still the goat. That’s a real music producer. Most people are beat makers, if we’re being real."

For the unversed, Dilla had worked alongside Kanye West, back in 2006, before passing away. Earlier this year, even Common spoke about Ye and Dilla while talking on Hot 97. According to him, they had loads of love for each other. Common added,

"It was great to see somebody who was as great as Ye just be like, 'Dilla gave me these joints!'"

Kanye West had always spoken highly of Dilla. In 2013, in a documentary named Our Vinyl Weighs a Ton (This Is Stones Throw Records), he said that artists should make music keeping the rapper and record producer in mind.

The rapper had a special and devoted fan base covering Japan and Europe. He further received the PLUG Award for Artist of the Year, a year after he passed away.

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Illa revealed that he got acquainted with hip-hop music from his brother

In the interview, Illa J was asked about his earliest memories with his brother J Dilla. He said that as a child, he mostly listened to jazz and soul music, as those were his parents' preferences. However, J Dilla introduced him to hip-hop.

Illa said,

"He had a cassette player so like that was kind of my introduction cuz like you know obviously I didn't have you know these were explicit records, so I couldn't buy them at that time..."

From his interview, it could be noted that the siblings grew up in a family that loved music.