You go to most hip hop shows or gatherings, and you might hear a phrase or see five words emblazoned on someone’s shirt: J Dilla Changed My Life. For those who may not be too much into hip hop, I’ll give you the elevator pitch. Dilla, Jay Dee, James Yancey, no matter what moniker you call him, was one of the most prolific producers in all of hip hop. A gifted beat crafter whose creativity and imagination allowed him to piece together some of the most storied tracks in hip hop, for some of the most venerated artists, using some of the most well known songs…or some of the most obscure vinyl records. A long time friend of J Dilla once said that Dilla would take something that we all know or are familiar with and make it barely recognizable…or he’d take something that no one cared to listen to and would make it into something that would be on repeat in everyone’s playlist.
What does this have to do with Melee? Well, not too much off hand. But, J Dilla changed my life and a project about him inspired a project you may have heard of.
The tale of Last Stock Legends begins on a night like many others. I had been spending some time watching some tournament matches I had missed on YouTube. Eventually, that transitioned into searching for Dilla samples. And well, somehow I stumbled on this series.
Whoa. To me before, the song was just a song. Now it was a process, now I had a history, I had concepts. I was far wiser. But, being a hip hop junkie, I ended up binging and watching every episode that night. I was hooked.
It was probably 4 AM…and it all came together over a slice over cold pizza. You know, the documentary was great for a lot of veterans for nostalgia purposes, but with a community with as large and storied a history as Melee, it is impossible to cover everything. New players and fans instantly became interested in players, but yeah, not everything could be covered. But there is an always an opportunity to cover more.
So, I slept on it. Thought about it more in the morning while on the way to work, and I fell in love with the idea more and more. I messaged a couple of members of the MIOM team to get their thoughts, and the response was that it was a task with pursuing. Of course, I couldn’t finish there. I spoke to Samox, his thoughts and his approval came quickly. And then, one more person: Glenn of Get Your Tournament.
I was concerned that this project would be stepping on his toes, but somehow, he gave me his blessing nearly instantly.
Gathered up maybe 40 Smashers who I wanted to hear from, players, TOs, community leaders, just to bounce the idea off of them, and slowly it began developing. People were saying they wanted to hear about this match, or this combo video, or this crew, or why can’t we expound on this. I had a list of 90 stories I wanted to hear, a Canon, I was working out a schedule for interviews on a few of them at APEX…Even announced the intent to the world.
And then APEX actually happened. Friday was lost, the event took first priority, there would be other chances.
Word had spread. Slowly but surely, community members reached out. Not just the veterans you see like Tafokints, Papapaint. Not just the people who wanted to be in front of the camera. But people who wanted to join forces to make it all happen. Other Smashers with experience in television and film. Musicians that wanted to contribute a track or two for the score. And well, who am I to turn any of it down? There’s a difference between doing something, and doing something right. Working on it alone..I would have done something. However, the team assembled is committed to making sure not only do we do it right, but we do something that educates, enlightens and entertains.
And well, roughly 6 months after the entire band came together, we hope to be in Vegas producing our first run of episodes. Interviews on some of the most famed moments in Melee history, with the people that lived it? As a fan, I was enraptured.
Not only that, but we saw the need for a group like this rise. It started with Bach at APEX 2015, I had a bit of a fanboy moment. At some point, he mentioned that he had all of this old footage still, and he hadn’t seen it since shooting it. What history is on them? Will we see a young Armada? Interviews/footage of Chudat, at a time period where people could argue him being the second best in the world? What is here from Japan? What about all of these old tournament series that are forgotten by a majority of players? Then throw in AlphaZealot and the sheer volume of things he has saved.
It wasn’t an original intent of the project by any means, however, it is something we have to do. Whether or not we use this material in our interviews…it doesn’t matter. They belong to the community, and we’ll make sure the community doesn’t miss an instant of it.
To me, this entire project is a microcosm of the Smash community. A lot of people of various backgrounds coming together for something beautiful. It has its challenges, especially with all of working together remotely (for the most part), but we will make it happen.
And when it does, we’ll have more stories to tell.
I’m so excited for this. Great article.
Hella pumped.
Also diggin the Action Bronson