Editor's Note:
By now you might have heard of J Dilla, a highly-regarded hip-hop producer from Detroit who passed away last year. His family, friends and fans have shown fortitude in their grief and have been on a crusade to spread Dilla's name and most importantly his music. The crusade has brought about tributes of all sorts, including the 'J Dilla Changed My Life Tour.' Andres was fortunate enough to attend one of those shows and even converse with the artists on the bill (Aloe Blacc, Exile, House Shoes and Illa Jay). Here's his account of the Oslo tour stop, peppered with interviews, pictures and videos. (For the sake of expediency, the aforementioned pictures and videos will be included later. I appreciate your understand and hope you enjoy this nonetheless.)

The day of the show I bounced from where I was staying around the early afternoon, just to walk around the neighborhood of the venue and check it out. The venue, Club Bla, was a small, progressive spot in the middle of two active art galleries and right next to an alley that was adorned with a makeshift chandelier. Around 8 or 9 at night, after waiting for a lil' bit, a car pulls up to the club and DJ's Exile and House Shoes are the first to get out, with Aloe, Illa Jay and the rest of their touring crew following. We say greet each other then go inside to check out club and conduct some interviews. Aloe was first up, and after some deliberation concerning how edible the snacks were backstage (the final consensus was, "No"), I got a chance to have a conversation with Aloe Blacc about his progression as an artist, what the J Dilla Changed My Life Tour is about and his favorite Dilla beats.

While House Shoes and company roll themselves some home-grown comfort, I get a chance to speak with Exile about his upcoming projects. He tells me what it was about Dilla that constantly inspired him and tells me about his own MC/producer album that he's been crafting.

The show began about 5 minutes ago and DJ Exile is getting warmed up on his tables. People are still piling into the place and you can feel the music through the ceiling, booming onto the upper floor. That's where House Shoes and Illa Jay are chilling, shooting the shit while Aloe Blacc preps himself to play host onstage. He runs downstairs and sheds his low-key demeanor in favor of a more energetic and lively attitude onstage. He weaves between playing host and kicking off verses, all the while reminding the Norwegian crowd that this tour is in honor of J Dilla. And even though all one eager fanboy in the front row could do was shout the opening lines to Emanon's Count Your Blessings, Aloe never misses a step as he punctuates his set with a dope freestyle. Towards the end of his set, Aloe motions for Exile to step out from behind the turntables and get on the mic. Exile comes out to play a more loose and laid-back counterpart to Aloe's precise and energetic performance.

As House Shoes takes over DJ duties from Exile, Illa Jay is getting ready to go onstage. Before that though, I got a chance to talk to him about his music and his legacy. He sat there, with a very low-key demeanor telling me how much the music meant, and how that was first and foremost.

This was pretty much the opposite of his performance onstage, as he ripped through shit like Crushin' very enthusiastically. Two thirds of his set were spent on his brother's joints, but the few that were Illa Jay originals didn't disappoint. My favorites were seeing him do Fuck The Police and Won't Do. Jay didn't lose a step juggling his brother's flows or keeping the intensity that some joints required. It's not just anyone that knows Dilla's shit can do it justice.

But you can't forget House Shoes. As soon as Illa Jay's set is finished, House Shoes begins his DJ set of original samples, Detroit shit and of course both classic and exclusive Dilla music. He played joints off of the MCA album -- for those that do not know, that's the Dilla unreleased MCA album. The only thing that brought his set down was the lethargic audience; it seemed like the crowd didn't know how to chill to a DJ in a club. House Shoes didn't seem to mind. He kept the whole idea of the tour going when he would play stuff like a Badu voicemail commentary on Dilla as an interlude between songs.

I didn't get a chance to speak to House Shoes professionally (read: on tape) that night, so it took various attempts, one of which was even thwarted by my landlady, to make his interview happen. It happened and he spoke to me about his impressions of Europe and how it felt to tour. He updated me on the things he's got coming up, things we'd talked about before.

As House Shoes plays his last record, the bar is closing down. Aloe, Exile and Illa Jay are by the stage, getting ready to pack it up and go, maybe sell some last merch or accommodate a vinyl request. House Shoes is on stage, polishing off a bottle of Courvoisier, getting ready to wind it down. The entire night seemed to go right, from the DJ sets to the MC's, to what they chose to play, to the legacy that was being represented. If you can catch any of these cats, you shouldn't miss the opportunity. It seems to me more and more that underground cats know how to put on a good Hip Hop show, rather than a concert.

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