Donuts (album)

Donuts is the second studio album by the American hip hop producer J Dilla, released on February 7, 2006, by Stones Throw Records. It was released on the day of his 32nd birthday, three days before his death.

Donuts received widespread critical acclaim for its dense, eclectic sampling and its perceived confrontation of mortality. Pitchfork placed the album at number 38 on their list of the top 50 albums of 2006 and at number 66 on their list of the top 200 albums of the 2000s. In 2020, Rolling Stone ranked the album at 386 in their 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. It is regarded, by fans and critics alike, as J Dilla's magnum opus, a classic of instrumental hip hop, and one of the most influential hip hop albums of all time, with artists of many genres citing it as an inspiration.

Background
By the mid-2000s, James Dewitt Yancey, better known as Jay Dee and later J Dilla, achieved recognition in the music industry, with popular contemporary producers such as Pharrell Williams and Kanye West acknowledging his influence and talent. Despite not achieving mainstream success, he worked with numerous artists throughout his career, including the Pharcyde, A Tribe Called Quest, the Roots, Common, Erykah Badu, and D'Angelo. As part of the Ummah collective, together with Tribe's Q-Tip and Ali Shaheed Muhammad, he produced music for Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, and Busta Rhymes.

Following the release of two albums with Slum Village, J Dilla left the group to focus on solo career. In 2001, he released Welcome 2 Detroit. Shortly after, he got signed by MCA. However, the label shelved his second solo album. During that period, he also started working with Madlib, with the duo releasing Champion Sound in 2003 through Stones Throw. In the process, he befriended people running the label and continued working with them, releasing Donuts through the label.

J Dilla's health started declining after a tour in January 2002, when he had been diagnosed with thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP), a rare and incurable blood disease. He spent the next years in and out of hospitals. In 2004, after an invitation from his friend and collaborator, rapper Common, J Dilla moved from his hometown of Detroit to Los Angeles. A few months later, when his condition worsened, he asked his mother to move to Los Angeles to help him. After he was diagnosed with lupus, he spent most of 2005 in Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, continuing creating music in his free time.

Recording
Two different accounts exist regarding the recording of Donuts. According to the popular version, J Dilla worked on the album in the hospital. Throughout the years, Dilla shared his latest work with friends and colleagues using short demo records, called "beat tapes". He played one of them, titled Donuts, to Madlib and Peanut Butter Wolf, the founder of Stones Throw, who then shared it with other members of the label. All of them loved it, but Eothen "Egon" Alapatt, Stones Throw's general manager, did not want to release it, since he thought Dilla should instead work on a sequel to Champion Sound. Peanut Butter Wolf convinced him that they should release an instrumental album, as Dilla was unable to record vocals due to his deteriorating condition. They brought vinyl records, portable turntables and samplers to the hospital, allowing Dilla to work on the album. Some sources claim that most of Donuts was recorded in hospital, using a portable turntable and Boss SP-303 sampler. According to Egon, "almost all of [the album]" was created before Dilla was hospitalized, but he continued working on the album during hospital stays. The Source magazine claimed 29 out of 31 tracks were "completed" in the hospital. At times, when Dilla's hands swelled up, causing pain, his mother massaged them, allowing him to continue working on the album. His mother, Maureen Yancey, had requested Dilla's MPC, Moog keyboard, a turntable, a laptop, an audio interface, and a crate of records to his hotel room. Occasionally, he would wake up in the middle of the night and ask her to move him from his bed to the instruments. According to Kelley L. Carter of Detroit Free Press, Dilla told his doctor he was proud of the work, and that all he wanted to do was to finish the album. While working on the album, Dilla forbade anyone to listen to the unfinished version and was furious when he found out his mother listened to it while he was in dialysis.

Dan Charnas, the author of Dilla Time, presented a different version of events. According to his 2022 book, written based on nearly 200 interviews he conducted, the album began as a beat tape made by J Dilla but was largely finished by Stones Throw's art director Jeff Jank. Citing people close to Dilla, Charnas asserted that the original version of Donuts was not recorded in the hospital, but rather at home, using Pro Tools audio editing software. He pointed out that time stretching used throughout the album is impossible to achieve on an Akai MPC drum machine Dilla used previously. The author concluded that while publications created the "dramatic creation story" of Donuts, based on the reports of J Dilla's condition and equipment being placed in his hospital room, Stones Throw, who at the time faced financial difficulties, chose not to refute it, as it increased popularity of the record and consequently its sales.

When Peanut Butter Wolf refused to ask weakened Dilla for any new material, Jeff Jank came up with an idea to release an extended version of the Donuts beat tape, which originally consisted of 27 track and was shorter than 30 minutes. However, when they asked Dilla about making a longer version, he replied: "Why don't y'all do that?" Jank agreed to work on the album, while Dilla focused on The Shining, a follow-up to his 2001 debut Welcome 2 Detroit. Due to other artists angering J Dilla with constant requests for multitrack versions of his beats, Jank chose to use the stereo mixed beat tape as a source, rather than ask him for multitrack project files. He started with minor adjustments, but gradually progressed to larger edits: the first one, which he used to find out what Dilla thought of his work, was combining two tracks into one, titled "Workinonit". Dilla approved it and Jank continued his work. Later he asked J Dilla for more material, as he thought the resulting album was still too short. Dilla gave him a CD with nine more beats, which Jank placed towards the end of the album. Jank named tracks on Donuts himself, but showed Dilla the final tracklist; he approved it, laughing at a couple of names.

Composition
Donuts is an instrumental hip hop album; the only lyrics on it are short phrases and gasps taken from various records. Donuts contains 31 tracks, which was J Dilla's age at the time of recording. Most songs are quite short, running at lengths of 1–1.5 minutes each, and vary in style and tone. Clash called the album "a conversation between two completely different producers". The original press release for the album compared it to scanning radio stations in an unfamiliar city.

In his last interview, which was granted to Scratch Magazine in November 2005, Dilla briefly spoke about the creation of the album:

"It's just a compilation of the stuff I thought was a little too much for the MCs. That's basically what it is, ya know? Me flipping records that people really don't know how to rap on but they want to rap on. There's a bunch of that."

The track order is also unusual: the album begins with an outro and ends with the intro. According to Collin Robinson of Stereogum, "it's almost too perfect a metaphor for Dilla's otherworldly ability to flip the utter shit out of anything he sampled". The ending of the final track flows right into the beginning of the first one, forming an infinite loop, and alluding to donuts' circular form.

Release and promotion
Donuts was ready to be released by October 2005, but according to Stones Throw, their distributor, EMI, "didn't think a weird, difficult instrumental album by an underground producer would move the projected 10,000 copies", since Dilla's previous album, Champion Sound, failed to achieve commercial success. Later the label came to an understanding with the distributor and the album was set for release in early February 2006, along with a bonus single "Signs".

Donuts was released on February 7, 2006, J Dilla's 32nd birthday. To celebrate this, his friends, Madlib, Peanut Butter Wolf, Egon, and J Rocc, visited his house. Although J Dilla was generally energetic despite his health condition, he was mumbling and gesturing weakly during that day. Three days later, on February 10, 2006, he died at his home in Los Angeles, California. According to his mother, the cause was cardiac arrest.

The album's cover was designed by Stones Throw art director, Jeff Jank. Due to the state of Dilla's health at the time, it was not possible to compose a new photo for the album's cover. Instead, a photo from some raw footage of Dilla hanging out at MED's video shoot for his single, "Push" was used. The raw footage was submitted from director Andrew Gura to Jeff Jank. Seeing the photo, Maureen Yancey stated that she thought this photo perfectly captured her son's spirit. The album's title came from J Dilla's personal fondness for donuts.

Dilla's death, three days after the album's release, was widely mourned by the hip hop community, including all those who worked with him 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 died soon after Dilla).

Donuts: J Rocc's Picks
To promote the album, Stones Throw, in association with Guitar Center and Adult Swim, released a limited edition EP called Donuts EP: J. Rocc's Picks. The EP contained five extended versions of Donuts instrumentals and the bonus track, "Signs". Copies of the EP were given away on Winter Music Conference (WMC) 2006 and South by Southwest (SXSW) 2006. The label later started selling digital versions of the EP on their official site.

Rereleases
In January 2013, the album was rereleased as a box set. Apart from seven 7-inch vinyl records it contained a bonus 7-inch with tracks "Signs" and "Sniper Elite & Murder Goons", featuring MF Doom and Ghostface Killah. A number of music journalists criticized the box set, stating that the album should be listened as a whole and shouldn't be split.

On September 27, 2014, Donuts was released on compact cassettes, as a part of Cassette Store Day.

In February 2016, on Donuts's 10th anniversary, LP version of the album was rereleased. It included the original cover art with Jeff Jank's drawing on it, new drawing on the back, and liner notes by Jordan Ferguson, containing an excerpt from his book Donuts from 33⅓ series about the making of the album.

Reception and legacy
Donuts was released to universal acclaim from music critics and has since been a cult favorite. The album holds a score of 84 out of 100 on the review aggregate site Metacritic, indicating "universal acclaim". Will Dukes of Pitchfork wrote that Donuts showcases Dilla paying homage to "the selfsame sounds he's modernized", and in that sense, the album "is pure postmodern art—which was hip-hop's aim in the first place." PopMatters' Michael Frauenhofer described Donuts as an "album of explosions and restraint, of precisely crafted balances and absurd breakdowns, of the senselessly affecting juxtaposition of the most powerful of dreams." The A.V. Club's Nathan Rabin noted Dilla's "ability to twist and contort samples into unrecognizable new forms" and concluded that "as an album from one of rap's most revered producers on one of hip-hop's most respected labels, Donuts would qualify as a fairly major release under any circumstances, but J Dilla's recent death lends it additional significance and gravity." Andy Kellman of AllMusic wrote that Donuts "has a resonance deeper than anyone could've hoped for or even imagined" given Dilla's passing shortly after its release, and ultimately "just might be the one release that best reflects his personality". Giving it a three-star honorable mention rating in his review for MSN Music, Robert Christgau called Donuts "more about moments than flow, which is strange when you think about it".

In a 2007 guest column for Pitchfork, Panda Bear of Animal Collective stated that Donuts was "By far the album I've listened to most over the past year, and I feel like almost any of the songs off there I could say is my favorite." Online music service Rhapsody ranked the album at number three on its "Hip-Hop's Best Albums of the Decade" list. It ranked number nine on Clash's Essential 50 countdown in April 2009, and the magazine later wrote that its "legacy is undeniable". In a 2012 review of the Donuts 45 box set, Pitchfork accorded the album a revised 10/10 rating, with critic Nate Patrin writing: "It's a widely praised favorite for so many people, and yet there's something about Donuts that feels like such an intensely personal statement". Q, in 2017, called it a "tour de force in postmodern beatmaking".

Further track appearances
Many rappers have performed over instrumentals from Donuts, both on official and unofficial releases. 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. Ghostface Killah also used "Geek Down" for the song "Murda Goons", released on his Hidden Darts: Special Edition album. J Dilla's posthumously released album The Shining, also released with new verses on Common's Finding Forever, uses a re-edited version of "Bye.” After Dilla's passing, The Roots used "Time: The Donut of the Heart" for their J Dilla tribute "Can't Stop This" on the album Game Theory. In 2005, the track "Mash" was rapped over by MF DOOM and Guilty Simpson on the track "Mash's Revenge", which appears on the Stones Throw compilation "B-Ball Zombie War". DOOM also used "Anti-American Graffiti", which appeared on the Dilla Ghost Doom release Sniperlite, as well as "Lightworks" on a track of the same name on his album Born Like This. Other rappers that have used Donuts instrumentals on mixtape and non-album releases include Drake, Nas, Talib Kweli, Jay Electronica, Big Sean, Big Pooh, Charles Hamilton, and Lupe Fiasco.

Cartoon Network has used many of the album's tracks as bumper music during the Adult Swim programming block. Adult Swim, which has been in a partnership with Stones Throw records, cited the track "Stepson of the Clapper" as a favorite. In 2017, Dave Chappelle used "Workinonit" as the theme music for his two Netflix stand-up specials.

Personnel
Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes.


 * J Dilla – producer
 * Peanut Butter Wolf – executive producer
 * Dave Cooley – mastering
 * Jeff Jank – design
 * Andrew Gura – photography

Sample credits

 * Donuts (Outro)
 * "Stay with Me" by Gary Davis
 * Workinonit
 * "The Worst Band in the World" by 10cc
 * "King of the Beats" by Mantronix
 * "The New Style" by The Beastie Boys
 * "Six Figures" by Skillz and Ras Kass
 * "Pee-Wee's Dance" by Joeski Love
 * "Buffalo Gals" by Malcolm McLaren
 * "Sprite: Melonball Bounce" by Raymond Scott
 * "Yes It's You" by "Sweet" Charles Sherrell
 * Waves
 * "Johnny, Don't Do It" by 10cc
 * "King of the Beats" by Mantronix
 * "Intro" by B.R. Gunna
 * Light My Fire
 * "Light My Fire" by Africa
 * "My Thang" by James Brown
 * The New
 * "What'cha Gonna Wear Tomorrow" by The Detroit Emeralds
 * "The New Style" by The Beastie Boys
 * Stop!
 * "You're Gonna Need Me" by Dionne Warwick
 * "Why?" by Jadakiss
 * "Six Figures" by Skillz and Ras Kass
 * People
 * "My People... Hold On" by Eddie Kendricks
 * "King of the Beats" by Mantronix
 * "Mujhe Maar Daalo" by Asha Bhosle and Laxmikant-Pyarelal
 * "Here We Go (Live at the Funhouse)" by Run-D.M.C.
 * The Diff'rence
 * "The Fruitman" by Kool & the Gang
 * "King of the Beats" by Mantronix
 * "Jungle Boogie" by Kool & the Gang
 * "Six Figures" by Skillz and Ras Kass
 * Mash
 * "Golden Apples Pt. 2" by Galt MacDermot
 * "Season of the Witch" by Lou Rawls
 * "Dance Contest" by Frank Zappa
 * Time: The Donut of the Heart
 * "All I Do Is Think of You" by The Jackson 5
 * "Yes It's You" by "Sweet" Charles Sherrell
 * "Strangers in the Night" by "Sweet" Charles Sherrell
 * Glazed
 * "You Just Can't Win (By Making the Same Mistake)" by Gene Chandler and Jerry Butler
 * "Dreams" by Ramsey Lewis
 * "Ball of Confusion (That's What the World Is Today)" by Edwin Starr
 * "Season of the Witch" by Lou Rawls
 * Airworks
 * "I Don't Really Care" by L.V. Johnson
 * Lightworks
 * "Lightworks" by Raymond Scott
 * "King of the Beats" by Mantronix
 * "Bendix 1: The Tomorrow People" by Raymond Scott
 * "Six Figures" by Skillz and Ras Kass
 * Stepson of the Clapper
 * "Long Red (Live)" by Mountain
 * The Twister (Huh, What)
 * "Kick the Can (Part 1)" by Fred Frith
 * "Cloud Nine (Live)" by The Temptations
 * "For Once in My Life (Live)" by Stevie Wonder
 * "Buffalo Gals" by Malcolm McLaren
 * "His Name Is Mutty Ranks" by A Tribe Called Quest
 * "Pee-Wee's Dance" by Joeski Love
 * One Eleven
 * "A Legend in Its Own Time" by Smokey Robinson and The Miracles
 * "Here We Go (Live at the Funhouse)" by Run-D.M.C.
 * "King Tim III (Personality Jock)" by The Fatback Band
 * Two Can Win
 * "Only One Can Win" by The Sylvers
 * Don't Cry
 * "I Can't Stand (to See You Cry)" by The Escorts
 * "Comedy Routine: Hello, Young Lovers / Cloud Nine / If I Didn't Care" by The Temptations
 * Anti-American Graffiti
 * "Family Tree" by Tin Tin
 * "Pee-Wee's Dance" by Joeski Love
 * "Emergency Program Over-Ride" by David Ossman
 * Geek Down
 * "Charlie's Theme" by The Jimi Entley Sound
 * "UFO" by ESG
 * Thunder
 * "Sweet Misery" by Martha Reeves
 * "King of the Beats" by Mantronix
 * "Who's Making Love (Live)" by Bobby Taylor
 * "I Can't Turn You Loose (Live)" by Blinky
 * "For Once in My Life (Live)" by Stevie Wonder
 * "Sing a Simple Song (Live)" by The Originals
 * Gobstopper
 * "To the Other Man" by Luther Ingram
 * "King of the Beats" by Mantronix
 * One for Ghost
 * "To the Other Man" by Luther Ingram
 * "King of the Beats" by Mantronix
 * Dilla Says Go
 * "Rubber Bands" by The Trammps
 * "Do Ya Thing" by B.R. Gunna
 * "No Games" by Jaylib
 * "Intro" by B.R. Gunna
 * Walkinonit
 * "Walk on By" by The Undisputed Truth
 * "Six Figures" by Skillz and Ras Kass
 * The Factory
 * "Animosity" by Fred Weinberg
 * "King of the Beats" by Mantronix
 * "Mean Old Devil" by Bruce Haack
 * U-Love
 * "Just Because I Really Love You" by Jerry Butler
 * "Do Ya Thing" by B.R. Gunna
 * "Intro" by B.R. Gunna
 * Hi.
 * "Maybe" by The Three Degrees
 * Bye.
 * "Don't Say Goodnight (It's Time for Love) (Parts 1 and 2)" by The Isley Brothers
 * Last Donut of the Night
 * "To You with Love" by The Moments
 * "Rainbow '65" by Gene Chandler
 * Welcome to the Show
 * "When I Die" by Motherlode
 * "Stay with Me" by Gary Davis