MTV, Save the Music launch grant named after J Dilla

NEW YORK (AP) — MTV and the Save the Music nonprofit organization has launched a grant named after the J Dilla, the highly influential rapper-producer who died in 2006.

MTV and Save the Music said the J Dilla Music Tech Grant will focus on electronic music production and will assist students who produce and create through various computer programs, mirroring the current state of the music industry.

Detroit-born Dilla was a revered producer who worked with acts like A Tribe Called Quest, Common, Erykah Badu, De La Soul, Busta Rhymes and more.

The new grant was developed in partnership with Pharrell Williams’ i am OTHER company and Arizona State University. The multi-year initiative will benefit seven high schools in Philadelphia; Brooklyn, Los Angeles, New Orleans; Miami; and Newark, New Jersey.