DETROIT – Tombi Stewart-Fiddler is still, understandably, working through grief.
Her husband was Joseph “Amp” Fiddler, the Detroit music icon, whose work spanned more than five decades and encompassed everything from jazz to hip-hop.
“I try to represent him and his choices and the things that he worked for,” said Stewart. “I try to make sure that that’s maintained, extended, and uplifted.”
Since Amp’s death on Dec. 18, 2023, Stewart has been on a mission to protect his legacy.
On May 16, 2025, the corner of 7 Mile Road and Revere Street, near Amp’s home in Conant Gardens, was named in his honor, which was the culmination of years of work to get Amp recognized by the city.
Stewart also curated an exhibit featuring photos, artwork, performances, and some of his equipment at Wayne State University last summer.
She has been fiercely protective of his legacy.
Which is why when she discovered a digital drum machine, also known as an MPC, belonging to her late husband, suddenly showed up for sale on Facebook Marketplace on March 2, she was both livid and heartbroken.
“All of a sudden, I receive a barrage of text messages from our loving community and musicians who know Amp and I, people who know that I handle the estate,” Stewart said. “There have absolutely been no breaches of security at his home or anything like that.”
Realizing there had been no break-in at their home, she figured out the seller was someone Amp knew and confronted him online, offering him the opportunity to return the MPC.
The seller quickly cut off communication and took down the listing.
The MPC contains beats and samples made by Amp – as well as samples he worked on with another legendary Detroit producer, the late James Yancey, better known as “J Dilla.”
Fiddler is credited with teaching Dilla how to use an MPC, and in his later years, taught kids how to create beats on an MPC.
“I’m sure those kids didn’t know that they were being taught by a master,” Robin Kinnie, the president of Audio Engineers of Detroit, said. “The MPC was his canvas.”
The idea that a machine he used to teach so many young producers could be hocked online is devastating to her and feels it’s an insult to his legacy.
“It’s appalling to me to hear that the machine was taken,” Kinnie said. “A lot of that can’t be duplicated, because it’s how you feel, what’s going on in the moment, things that’s going on in your head, and how this kind of Spirit is moving you, so it’s important that machine is returned.”
A police report at the 11th precinct eight days ago, on March 10.
DPD, this case is currently under investigation with no formal charges at this time.
For Stewart, who still refers to her late husband in the present tense, this has been another challenge for her as she navigates the, at times, crippling grief and simply hopes for a resolution.
“When you love someone, someone that’s loved by the world, you have to check your feelings sometimes, and you have to put on the face that people need for the environment,” Stewart said. “But it has been hard.”
“It’s a lot to move through, it’s a lot to face, it’s a lot to ignore, but at the same time, when it comes to stepping up in the environments that are needed in the way that it’s needed, I try my best to do so,” Stewart.