Exclusive: Red Hot Chili Peppers' Flea Says New J. Dilla 'Brought Him To 'Tears'

[GATMAN]

(AllHipHop News) Red Hot Chili Peppers are planning to release their new 10th studio album I'm With You, which is due in stores this August.

The 14-track album, which was produced by legendary Def Jam co-founder Rick Rubin, is the Red Hot Chili Peppers' first studio album since 2006's release, Stadium Arcadium.

AllHipHop.com's Chuck “Jigsaw” Creekmur sat down and spoke with the group's bassist Flea, who revealed that for the past few months, he has been influenced by legendary producer James “J. Dilla” Yancy.

"I was playing with Erykah Badu a while ago, you know, and she really got me into J. Dilla," Flea told AllHipHop.com. "She [Erykah Badu] got me hooked. And for, like, the last month that’s all I’ve listened to."

According to Flea, he was granted an early preview of an upcoming album being produced titled The Rebirth of Detroit, that features artists J. Dilla worked with.

Each artist will be rapping over previously unheard productions by the revered producer, who died in February of 2006 of complications from the incurable blood disease, Lupus.

"[It] brought me to tears because of how beautiful it is," Flea told AllHipHop.com. "I discovered – growing up Jimi Hendrix was my big thing…like, almost like a guiding light to believe in. And that’s how it started out with Dilla, man. It’s just, like, right now it’s kind of consuming me."

Flea said he was most impressed with J. Dilla's astounding ability to re-craft a sample into a brand-new piece of work.

"[I'm impressed with] the depth and the width and the long, far-reachingness of everything he did," Flea told AllHipHop.com. "The different styles within the, you know, Hip-Hop beats."

In addition to Rick Rubin's influence on the Red Hot Chili Peppers' new album, Flea said the album was impacted by African music after a trip to Ethiopia, where he played with local artists.

J. Dilla's upcoming album The Rebirth of Detroit is due in stores this Fall, while the Red Hot Chili Peppers' new album I'm With You is due in stores on August 30th.


http://allhiphop.com/stories/news/archive/2011/06/29/22823180.aspx

[Suga Foot]

RHCP is one of the few rock bands I check out