Published at 9:26 AM on July 29, 2008

By Henry Freedland

Tracks released from J Dilla, MF Doom, Ghostface collab.

When J Dilla (born James Dewitt Yancey) died from a rare blood disease in February of 2006, he had unleashed instrumental hip-hop opus Donuts just three days earlier, on his thirty-second birthday.

The previous fall, Ghostface Killa and MF Doom were recording vocals over the beats, some of which saw the light of release on Ghostface's 2006 album, Fishscale (#40 on Paste's 2006 list). Others, from collaborative work done by Dilla and oft-masked rapper MF Doom, fell by the wayside after the producer's untimely death.

Two tracks from those sessions, "Sniper Elite" feat. MF Doom and "Murder Goons" feat. Ghostface Killah, were made available recently via Stones Throw. It's not clear if the Sniperlite 12-inch is the beginning of another torrent of J Dilla releases—The Shining, Ruff Draft, Champion Sound and Dillagence have all come out posthumously—or just a tease of what could have been. Either way, you can sample or buy the tracks here.

Related links:
J-Dilla.com

MF Doom on Myspace
Ghostface Killah at Def Jam

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