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J Dilla - Donuts

£31.99 Sold out

Product variants

Special Edition · 12" RECORD

Pickup currently unavailable at 12 Bar Music and Social - Exeter

J Dilla's "Donuts" is a masterpiece of instrumental hip-hop, showcasing his genius in beat-making and sampling. Each track is a soulful journey, from the hypnotic "Workinonit" to the poignant "Don't Cry," celebrating Dilla's legacy as a pioneer of the genre.

Tracklist

Donuts (Outro)
Workinonit
Waves
Light It
The New
Stop!
People
The Diff'rence
Mash
Time: The Donut of the Heart
Glazed
Airworks
Lightworks
Stepson of the Clapper
The Twister (Huh, What)
One Eleven
Two Can Win
Don't Cry
Anti-American Graffiti
Geek Down
Thunder
Gobstopper
One for Ghost
Dilla Says Go
Walkinonit
The Factory
U-Love
Hi.
Bye.
Last Donut of the Night
Welcome to the Show

Details

Format: 12" RECORD

Release Date: 7th February 2006

Barcode: 0659457212612

Why We Love It

Donuts is unlike almost any other record in this shop, or any other shop. J Dilla made it largely from a hospital bed, chopping soul, rock and jazz samples into loops that stutter, skip and dissolve just as they should be settling in. It's often described as instrumental hip-hop, but that undersells it — there's barely a straight beat in sight, more a series of gorgeous fragments that loop back into each other, ending where the record began. Made under the shadow of terminal illness, it doesn't feel morbid. It feels alive, restless and strangely joyful.

Sam's Note

Put this on and just let it run start to finish. It's short, it loops, and every producer who's touched a sampler since owes it something.

Sounds Like

• Madlib
• MF DOOM
• Flying Lotus
• The Avalanches

Mood

• Hazy
• Reflective
• Restless
• Warm

Perfect For

• Late-night listening
• Beat-making inspiration
• Sunday mornings

12 Bar Listening Guide

First Listen

Reveals More

Atmosphere

Originality

Why This Album Matters

Released on 7 February 2006, J Dilla's 32nd birthday, and just three days before his death from complications related to lupus, Donuts was largely assembled at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center using a portable turntable and an SP-303 sampler. It has become one of the most studied and sampled records in modern hip-hop production — a masterclass in sample chopping that influenced a generation of beatmakers, from Flying Lotus to Kanye West, and reshaped what an instrumental hip-hop album could be.

James Yancey, known as J Dilla or Jay Dee, was a Detroit producer whose drum programming and sample chopping quietly reshaped hip-hop and soul production from behind the scenes. He worked with Slum Village, A Tribe Called Quest, Erykah Badu and Common, prized feel over precision, and is now regarded as one of the most influential producers of his generation, even though most of his work happened out of the spotlight.

Fragments that loop back into each other, ending where the record began.

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