Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, Academy Award-winning director of Summer of Soul will executive produce Dilla Time, a new documentary about the brief life and pervasive and largely uncredited influence of music producer, J Dilla.

Thompson’s Two One Five Entertainment is partnering with his “Summer of Soul” producer, Joseph Patel, New York Times bestselling author Dan Charnas, Cinetic Media, and Scenario Media to develop the documentary, which will be produced in cooperation with the estate of James Dewitt Yancey (aka J Dilla).

“The estate of James Dewitt Yancey, and its wholly-owned production entity, Pay Jay Productions, Inc., which benefits J Dilla’s two children, his younger brother, and his mother, is proud to give its blessing to an amazing project created by discerning and talented filmmakers who knew J Dilla. We trust the judgment of Ahmir, Joseph, Dan, and Scenario to elevate Dilla’s life, music, and legacy to their rightful place in the canon of music’s great innovators; and their film is the only documentary project we have endorsed.”

“Dilla Time” is based on the New York Times bestseller, “Dilla Time: The Life and Afterlife of J Dilla, The Hip-Hop Producer Who Reinvented Rhythm” by Dan Charnas. The book tells the story of the complicated life of the Detroit-born artist, who died at 32 of a rare blood disease. It also advances a crucial new theory about the seismic impact that Dilla’s time-bending manipulations of the drum machine had on modern pop music.