“Everybody knows me and Jay fell out for a bit…so my favorite memory is us being able to make peace with each other. Me and Jay had squashed the shit in 2004. He was doing his thing and I was doing my thing so after we squashed it [we still didn’t talk often]. After the rumors [about this health] after the European tour people started hitting my phone up and I just went into emergency mode, you know? We had our lil' issues and shit, but he’s still my brother. I got a hold of T3 [from Slum Village] and he got me in contact with [Dilla’s mom] Ma Dukes. She filled me in on everything…she said he was in the hospital real sick. She gave me the number to the hospital room where she was staying with him. A little later I called the hospital and she answered the phone. I was like, 'May I speak to Jay?' and she was like, 'He’s sleeping, may I ask who this is?' I said, 'It’s Shoes,' she said, 'Hey Shoes! Jay said you’re the only person he’ll talk to.' And that really fucked me up, 'cause even though we had squashed the shit, it really wasn’t the same between us then. But she put him on the phone so we could talk. I told him I was gonna come see him. I threw all my shit in a bag, grabbed a bunch of music and shit, went out there and kicked it with him every day in the hospital for like a week. We were just chillin', listening to music, telling old stories…And during that week I felt like I kinda helped him get it together, 'cause three days after I left he checked outta the hospital.”
-- DJ House Shoes, deejay and collaborator

“My favorite memory was the last tour that we did in Europe right before he passed…we were there for like two or three days already…and we ain't have no weed. [Laughs] So we were trippin'. So we were chillin' backstage before the show and this guy came wit the weed! So we were smoking and shit…and after Dilla came out the blue like, 'Yo Kat,' I was like, 'What up?' He said, 'You know you’re gonna be straight, right?' It was me, Dilla and Ma Dukes just standing there. He said it again and I was like, 'Huh?...um..yeah,' it kinda threw me off. Then I finally realize what he meant.”
-- Phat Kat, artist and collaborator

Check HipHopDX's extensive J. Dilla Tribute pieces: interview with Dilla's mother and brother [click here], and Dilla Wafers: Remembering J. Dilla [click here].