J Dilla equipment donated to Smithsonian museum

21 July 2014, 15:43 | Written by Patrick Mills

(News)

(J Dilla)

The mother of the late hip-hop producer J Dilla will donate equipment from her son’s collection to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, where it will become part of its music and performing arts exhibit when the museum opens in 2016.

The collections includes Dilla’s custom-made Minimoog Voyager synthesizer and Akai MIDI Production Center 3000 Limited Edition, as well as additional items owned by Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Chuck Berry and more.

“I feel it’s necessary to raise the level of art appreciation in the hip-hop sector and honour my son James Dewitt Yancey, one of the most influential individuals in the history of hip-hop,” Maureen “Ma Dukes” Yancey said in a press release.