Lil Wayne Steps on a J Dilla Beat for the First Time on Busta Rhymes’ ‘Talk Ya Shit’

Busta Rhymes released ‘Talk Ya Shit’, featuring Lil Wayne and produced by J Dilla. The single arrived August 13 ahead of Diligence 2, the full album due August 25. Busta Rhymes built the project around beats the Detroit producer left him, more than 300 in total, following their earlier collaborations and the original 2007 mixtape Dillagence. The New York MC has treated that archive as a way to keep the connection active across decades of his catalog.

‘Talk Ya Shit’ moves on a classic J Dilla bounce, the kind of loose, locked-in rhythm that defines so much of his work. Lil Wayne appears for the first time on one of those beats, matching Busta Rhymes with a focused 16 full of wordplay about cash, pleasure and hardship. J Dilla (James Yancey) developed one of the most distinctive approaches to hip-hop production in the 1990s and 2000s, centered on the Akai MPC series, especially the MPC 3000, after starting on the E-mu SP-1200 and moving through the MPC 60. His methods prioritized human feel over rigid grids, turning machine limitations into expressive tools.

Busta Rhymes told GQ: “J Dilla left me with over 300 beats before he passed. I’ve always tried to represent and uphold the legacy of the late, great J Dilla… I think Dilla is probably the top three best producers in the world.”

Listen to ‘Talk Ya Shit’, featuring Lil Wayne