Donuts (album): Difference between revisions

Untitled

Donuts is an instrumental hip hop album by producer J Dilla. Donuts was released on February 7th, 2006, three days before his death. This album was a major breakthrough for this underground artist, in which his unique style could be shown and many see as having subtle meanings in many of its tracks and their names (for example, the titling of "Don't Cry" and "Bye" in light of Dilla's passing afterwards). The album landed on many 2006 year-end 'best-of' lists.

Creative process

In the December, 2006 issue of The Fader magazine, J Dilla's mother, Maureen Yancey, who is a former opera singer herself, spoke of watching her son's daily routine, while he was working on Donuts:

I knew he was working on a series of beat CDs before he came to Los Angeles. Donuts was a special project that he hadn't named yet. This was the tail end of his "Dill Withers" phase, while he was living in Clinton Township, Michigan. You see, musically he went into different phases. He'd start on a project, go back, go buy more records and then go back to working on the project again.

I saw it because I was at his house every day, all day. I would go there for breakfast, go back to Detroit to check on the daycare business I was running, and then back to his house for lunch and dinner. He was on a special diet and he was a funny eater anyway. He had to take 15 different medications, we would split them up between meals, and every other day we would binge on a brownie sundae from Big Boys. That was his treat.

I didn't know about the actual album Donuts until I came to Los Angeles to stay indefinitely. I got a glimpse of the music during one of the hospital stays, around his 31st birthday, when [friend and producer] House Shoes came out from Detroit to visit him. I would sneak in and listen to the work in progress while he was in dialysis. He got furious when he found out I was listening to his music! He didn't want me to listen to anything until it was a finished product.

He was working in the hospital. He tried to go over each beat and make sure that it was something different and make sure that there was nothing that he wanted to change. "Lightworks," oh yes, that was something! That's one of the special ones. It was so different. It blended classical music (way out there classical), commercial and underground at the same time.

Aftermath

File:JDilly Donuts LP.jpg

the vinyl sleeve cover

Dilla's death (he suffered from an incurable blood disease, TTP, as well as lupus) three days after the album's release, was widely mourned by the hip-hop community, including all those who he worked with in the past and the years closer to his death, especially Detroit's hip-hop community (which included rapper Proof, a friend and associate of Dilla's, who also died 2 months later on April 11th.)

The tracks "One for Ghost" and "Hi" were used in Ghostface Killah's Fishscale, under the names ""Whip You With a Strap" and "Beauty Jackson", respectively. Busta Rhymes and Rah Digga used "Gobstopper" and "Last Donut of the Night" as beats for "Just Another Day at the Range" and "Best That Ever Did It", and The Roots used "Time: The Donut of the Heart" for their J Dilla tribute "Can't Stop This" on the album Game Theory. "Workinonit" was used too by The Roots for a collaboration with Saigon for the album Game Theory, however it was not included out of respect for Dilla's passing.[2] The verse from Saigon can be heard on his mixtape Return of the Yardfather. Given the (yet-unreleased) use of "Workinonit" by MF Doom, it is believed that various "Donuts" from the album will continue to be used for years to come in tribute to the late great producer.

Adult Swim, which has been in a partnership with Stones Throw records, cited the track "Stepson of the Clapper" as their addiction.

Rapper Skyzoo recently recorded a song titled, "Sky's Last Donut," using "U-Love." The song has circulated across the web and has received quite a buzz within the hip hop community. The song is a dedication to J. Dilla, whom Skyzoo cites as "the greatest of all-time."

Rapper Termanology also recorded a track entitled, "Only One Can Win" using J. Dilla's track "Two Can Win." The song is a tale about a man choosing between rap and a woman. He pays respect to Dilla in the beginning of the song.

Atlanta based rapper Willie The Kid recorded a song using "Last Donut Of The Night" and played on the intro to the track calling the song, "Live @ The Regal". It can be heard on his mixtape "Divide & Conquer"

Track listing

1. "Donuts (Outro)" – 0:12
2. "Workinonit" – 2:57
3. "Waves" – 1:38
4. "Light My Fire" – 0:35
5. "The New" – 0:49
6. "Stop" – 1:39
7. "People" – 1:24
8. "The Diff'rence" – 1:52
9. "Mash" – 1:31
10. "Time: The Donut of the Heart" – 1:38
11. "Glazed" – 1:21
12. "Airworks" – 1:44
13. "Lightworks" – 1:55
14. "Stepson of the Clapper" – 1:01
15. "The Twister (Huh, What)" – 1:16
16. "One Eleven" – 1:11
17. "Two Can Win" – 1:47
18. "Don't Cry" – 1:59
19. "Anti-American Graffiti" – 1:53
20. "Geek Down" – 1:19
21. "Thunder" – 0:54
22. "Gobstopper" – 1:05
23. "One for Ghost" – 1:18
24. "Dilla Says Go" – 1:16
25. "Walkinonit" – 1:15
26. "The Factory" – 1:23
27. "U-Love" – 1:00
28. "Hi." – 1:16
29. "Bye." – 1:27
30. "Last Donut of the Night" – 1:39
31. "Welcome to the Show" – 1:11

Donuts: J Rocc's Picks

File:Jdilla-donuts-wmc400.jpg

Donuts: J Rocc's Picks

In promotion for the album, Stones Throw released a limited edition EP called Donuts EP: J. Rocc's Picks. This EP contained five extended versions of Donuts instrumentals and the exclusive track, "Signs."

Track listing

1. "Lightworks"
   
2. "Two Can Win"
   
3. "Signs"
   
4. "People"
   
5. "Light It Again"
   
6. "High"
   
   

Album Chart Positions

Year	Album	Chart positions
		Top Independent Albums
2006	Donuts	#21