On Feb. 7, 2006, late hip-hop producer J Dilla released his final album on his 32nd birthday. “Donuts” would be the album that highlighted what made him one of the most well-renowned producers in the genre a few days before his passing on Feb. 10.
Since the album is past its anniversary, I wanted to revisit the project to further analyze the context behind the project as well as understand more about the creativity and vision Dilla put into it.
Dilla’s early work included his contribution to the group, Slum Village. He was also a prominent producer who produced for the likes of The Pharcyde, The Roots, Erykah Badu and more. He has been well known for his creativity when it came to his production.
But what makes this album fascinating, as well as saddening, is that the process of making this album was completed while Dilla was hospitalized. He made the whole project with an MPC sampler and record player provided by his friends in his label, all while he was in his hospital bed.
The album, “Donuts,” contains 31 tracks, though it has a short runtime of around 44 minutes, with nearly all of the songs being less than two minutes long. This instrumental hip-hop album experiments a lot with sampling other music that varies in sound and genre.
The moods vary in each song, where they can be jazzy, trippy, upbeat or melancholic. Despite all of the songs being short, the creativity that is implemented within each song is undeniable.
What makes this album special are the sampling techniques Dilla uses. One instance is the output of the music, where he chops vocals and loops the samples to create something new, which is one of the most well-known art forms of hip-hop in general.
Dilla samples works from various artists like 10cc, The Jackson 5, Stevie Wonder and more, and the artists he samples touch on various genres, including soul, funk and rock.
Dilla even does unique techniques like changing the tempo or the measurements of the song. For example, in “Hi,” the original song Dilla samples is in a 6/8 time signature, but Dilla alters the song to turn it into a 4/4 time signature for his own creation.
Even with all of the songs being instrumentals, Dilla still finds a way to communicate hidden messages to the listeners with the samples he uses. For example, in “Workinonit,” Dilla samples 10cc’s “Worst Band In The World” and chops the vocals to communicate something to the viewer.
Lines like “play me” and “buy me” is Dilla asking the listeners to support this album. But the lines toward the end say, “save me,” when the original vocals said, “fade me.” Dilla adjusted those lyrics to say something completely different, using that to refer to his inevitable departure.
On other songs, he has messages dedicated to people close to him, like in “Waves,” where he sends a message to his little brother, John Yancey, with the sample saying, “Johnny, do it.” Another song, “Don’t Cry,” is dedicated to his mother, where he asks for her to not mourn for him but to celebrate his life after he’s gone.
There are many other examples where Dilla touches on his eventual departure, like in “Bye” or “Stop.” The latter has vocal samples that have lyrics like “Is death real” (another adjusted vocal sample) or “You’re gonna want me back in your arms, you’re gonna need me, one day.”
One odd thing about this album is the tracklist, where the outro is the first track of the album, while the intro is the last one. This was a creative choice, where the whole track order is reversed. When the album reaches its end, the song “Welcome To The Show,” creates a smooth transition back to the start, indicating a loop in the album, like a donut.
Dilla made an incredible mark on his music career with his final album before his passing. The context behind the project makes it bittersweet. We saw Dilla display his talent for one last time, where he communicated to the listener in a unique way with sampling, a unique art form in hip-hop in which he excelled at.
Rest in peace, J Dilla.