Donuts (CD)

Though he kept a relatively low profile in comparison to his less diffident producer contemporaries, J Dilla (born James Dewitt Yancey) confirmed that in hip-hop, substance above flourish will confidently withstand the test of time. Emerging from Detroit's thriving mid-`90s underground hip-hop scene, Dilla initially took the role of emcee for local rap ensemble Slum Village. His first forays into beat-making came under the tutelage of area musician Amp Fiddler, who lent the aspiring producer an MPC sampling drum machine. By the end of the decade, Dilla's deft production hand--both as Slum Village's beatsmith/emcee and as part of the Ummah collective (which counted Q-Tip and Raphael Saddiq as members)--was being sought by important players in both R&B and hip-hop. Though Slum Village's major label debut was shelved by A&M in 1998, Dilla's profile was raised tremendously in the coming decade through his work with artists like Common, Erykah Badu, and Busta Rhymes. In the new millennium, the producer enjoyed a fruitful solo career and continued collaborations, but eventually succumbed to complications brought on by a rare blood disease in 2006.

• Category:  Music  »  Rap & Hip Hop  »  Rap & Hip Hop/General
• Format: CD   Learn more about the CD format using Tower WIKI.
• Release Date: February 7, 2006
• Label: Stones Throw
• UPC: 659457212629
• WAPI (Tower ID): 106482213
• Average Customer Review:    (1 customer review)
• Tower.com Sales Rank: #18422 in Music (See Top 100 Music Bestsellers)
• #412 in Rap & Hip Hop (See Top 100 Rap & Hip Hop Bestsellers)
• #227 in Rap & Hip Hop/General (See Top 100 Rap & Hip Hop/General Bestsellers)

•  [J Dilla - Official Site this link opens a new window] 
  
•  [J Dilla - Myspacethis link opens a new window] 
  
•  [J Dilla - Wikipedia Entry this link opens a new window] 
  
•  [J Dilla - Music at LAST.fmthis link opens a new window] 
  

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Rolling Stone (p.63) - 3.5 stars out of 5 -- "[A] box-fresh assortment of thirty-one instrumentals...built from a basic palette of sweet soul loops, rudimentary scratches and glazed electronics."
Uncut (p.112) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "[Q]uick-cutting homemade electronic beats with smoker-friendly breaks and heavy soul joints."
The Wire (p.74) - "This is career salvation....The Trammps are still riding high off that Game song, but Dilla gives them another look, fuzzy mallet to vibes, from the beginning of 'Rubberband'."
Clash (magazine) (p.73) - "His memory clearly lives on in his music, rippling constantly in samples and spirit."

Donuts was made on a hospital bed and in a home studio, on a stripped-down setup with a stack of vinyl. Released on its maker's 32nd birthday, three days before he passed away, the album has a resonance deeper than anyone could've hoped for or even imagined. Some who were close to Dilla have said that there are hidden messages in the samples, the track titles, and who knows where else. It's impossible not to speculate about some things, like the track titled "Don't Cry," the looped "broken and blue" from a version of "Walk on By," the presence of Eddie Kendricks singing "My people, hold on," or the fact that there are 31 tracks, a possible signal that Dilla survived a little longer than he expected. Then again, for every possible message, there are two or three elements that could've been designed to throw any analysis off its trail. After all, if there's one single image that the disc brings to mind, it's that of Dilla goofing off, having fun with some of his favorite records, and messing with some heads in the process. (And you could probably make the album's title out to be a metaphor for the circle of life, but sometimes a donut is just a donut.) Armed with sources that are either known to novice sample spotters or only the most seasoned diggers -- surprisingly, the former greatly outweighs the latter -- Dilla's also just as likely to leave his samples barely touched as he is to render them unrecognizable. It's fitting that Motown echoes, a predominant theme, are often felt, from the use of Dionne Warwick's Holland-Dozier-Holland-written "You're Gonna Need Me" (on "Stop"), to the shifting waves of percussion plucked from Kendricks' "People... Hold On" (on "People"), to the Stevie-like piano licks within Kool & the Gang's "The Fruitman" ("The Diff'rence"). Most of the tracks fall into the 60-90 second range. It's easy to be overwhelmed, or even put off, by the rapid-fire sequence, but it's astounding how so many of the sketches leave an immediate impression. By the third or fourth listen, what initially came across as a haphazard stream of slapped-together fragments begins to take the shape of a 44-minute suite filled with wistful joy. Like everything else Dilla has ever done, Donuts is not defining; in fact, elements of its approach bare the apparent influence of Jaylib collaborator Madlib. His mode has always been too slippery and restlessly progressive to be equated with any one track or album, but Donuts just might be the one release that best reflects his personality. ~ Andy Kellman

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