Top Ten Tuesday: Busdriver - HipHop

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 and three days before his death.

On Metacritic, Donuts has received "universal acclaim" from critics, based on an aggregate score of 84/100 from 15 reviews. 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.

Background

In 2002, J Dilla had been diagnosed with thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP), an incurable disease of the blood, while also battling lupus, which had been diagnosed a year previously. According to close friend and fellow producer Karriem Riggins, the impetus for Donuts came during an extended hospital stay in the summer of 2005.

In the December 2006 issue of The Fader, J Dilla's mother, Maureen Yancey, a former opera singer, spoke of watching her son's daily routine during the making of 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 him all day, everyday. 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.

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.

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.

Recording

In 2005, J Dilla underwent treatment at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center for complications brought on by TTP and a form of lupus. While in the hospital, he worked on two albums: Donuts and The Shining. 29 out of 31 tracks from Donuts were recorded in hospital, using a Boss SP-303 sampler and a small 45 record player his friends brought him. Records his mother and friends would bring were used as the source of the samples for the album. She recalled it in the Crate Diggers documentary: "When I took the crate up, and he looked through it, I think out of a whole milk crate full of 45s, I think he might have taken a dozen out of there and set them aside. He said 'you can take that back to the house'. He said 'none of that's good'."

Throughout the year his condition worsened. His legs swelled, making it difficult to walk. At times his hands swelled so much he could barely move them. If the pain was too intense, his mother would massage his fingertips, so he could continue working on the album. Sometimes he'd wake up in the middle of the night and ask his mother to move him from his bed to the instruments. According to Kelley L. Carter of Detroit Free Press, J 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 didn't allow anyone to listen to the unfinished version. He got furious when he found out his mother listened to it while he was in dialysis.

Aftermath

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 also died 2 months later on April 11).

In regards to the name, "Donuts," The New York Times published an article on Dilla's death, on February 14, 2006, saying, "The record company issued a brief note about the title: 'Easy explanation. Dilla likes donuts.' Yesterday his mother managed a chuckle when she confirmed that fact. 'I just bought two dozen a week ago,' she said."

Legacy

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. 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." "Workinonit" was used by The Roots for a collaboration with Saigon for the album Game Theory. The verse from Saigon can be heard on his mixtape Return of the Yardfather. 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."

The aforementioned tracks were, for the most part, recorded or planned during Dilla's lifetime. 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, under the track name "Sniper Elite". DOOM later used "Lightworks" on a track of the same name on his album Born Like This. "Lightworks" was also used for the "B-Ball Zombie War" track "Lightworking," which features Talib Kweli and Q-Tip. Busta Rhymes added a verse to Q-Tip and Talib Kweli's on "Lightworks" and included it in his 2007 mixtape Dillagence.

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 their addiction.

Many other rappers and hip hop artists have used various beats from Donuts. Termanology also recorded a track titled, "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. Talib Kweli has used "Bye" on a track called "I Feel You" from the 2006 mixtape Blacksmith: The Movement and "Dilla Says Go" on a track called "Kweli Says Go" from the mixtape with Clinton Sparks "Get Familiar". Rapper Big Pooh had used "Gobstopper" for a track titled "Plastic Cups", and he also used "One Eleven" for a track with the same name featuring O-Dash on a mixtape with Mick Boogie. Drake used "Time: The Donut of the Heart" in a song called "Where to Now" on his mixtape Comeback Season (2007). Charles Hamilton created a mixtape titled And Then They Played Dilla rapping over tracks from Donuts. He also created a sequel, which is named "And Then They Played Dilla 2".

Rapper Skyzoo has recorded tribute tracks using "Two Can Win" and "Last Donut," among others. Jay Electronica used "Gobstopper" for his track "Abracadabra" and several other Dilla beats for various tracks of his Victory mixtape. XV released Thanks For The Donuts, a tribute EP using J Dilla beats, on February 7, 2011 (Dilla's birthday as well as the fifth anniversary of Donuts). Big Sean has also released freestyle which uses the beat for "(Only) Two Can Win", and uses the same title. Nas released "The Season" on October 30, 2014 which uses "Gobstopper" as the backdrop for his track. J Dilla is listed as the producer. Lupe Fiasco used "The Diff'rence" on the track "Of" from his August 29, 2015 mixtape "Pharaoh Heights".

In 2013, for Complex, the singer Bilal named it among his 25 favorite albums, explaining that, "I love the way he chopped on that album and the beats were so strong he didn't really need anyone rhyming on anything. It was just great music."

In 2017, Dave Chappelle used "Workinonit" as the theme music for his two Netflix stand-up specials.

In 2018, rapper Andy Mineo released his EP, the Sword, with a song named after Donuts with rapper Phonte of the underground rap Little Brother and singer Christon Gray.

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Nas announces new track E.P.M.D this Friday with Hitboy

Posted: 08 Feb 2021 03:49 PM PST

From Nas Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/p/CLDMr6dhI5H/?igshid=15hx2jvj4rylk

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2 Chainz posts video of a packed show he did with Gucci Mane last night.

Posted: 08 Feb 2021 04:45 PM PST

Link to the post on insta. I dont see a single mask in that crowd.

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[FRESH VIDEO] BRENT FAIYAZ - CIRCLES FEAT. PURR

Posted: 08 Feb 2021 11:56 AM PST

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[FRESH EP] Brent Faiyaz - DO NOT LISTEN

Posted: 08 Feb 2021 12:31 PM PST

Don't really know what to call this lmao but Brent just dropped 3 tracks:
Circles (feat. Purr)
Paper Soldiers (feat. Joony)
Price of Fame

Link (from his youtube): https://www.dropbox.com/sh/s53906m1759kpwh/AADnkrjdhQ2C1MSutTRSln_ba?dl=0

Edit: Guess it was a limited-time link, here's the songs on Soundcloud
https://soundcloud.com/justleavemelone/sets/brent-faiyaz-do-not-listen

Thread for Circles:
https://old.reddit.com/r/hiphopheads/comments/lfk8hi/fresh_video_brent_faiyaz_circles_feat_purr/

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Daily Discussion Thread 02/08/2021

Posted: 08 Feb 2021 01:13 PM PST

Welcome to the /r/hiphopheads daily discussion thread!

This thread is for:

objective questions with right/wrong answers (e.g. "Does anyone know what is happening with MIXTAPE?", "What is the sample in SONG?")
general hip-hop discussion
meta posts...e.g. ideas for the sub

Do not create a separate self post for these types of discussions outside of this thread - if you do, your post will be removed, as stated in the guidelines.

Weekly/Monthly Threads

Other ways to interact

There are a number of other ways to interact with other members of HHH:

HHH JQBX room (Spotify premium required)
HHH Official Instagram Account
HHH Official Twitter Account

New to /r/hiphopheads or hip-hop in general?

Check these out:

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Coolio ft. L.V. “Gangsta's Paradise” on the Howard Stern Show (1995)

Posted: 08 Feb 2021 04:46 PM PST

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Lil Tjay announces new song ‘Calling My Phone’ featuring 6LACK, dropping 2/12

Posted: 08 Feb 2021 10:37 AM PST

Via Instagram

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R&B Artist Spotlight: PARTYNEXTDOOR

Posted: 08 Feb 2021 09:40 AM PST

Spotify
Intagram
Youtube Channel

Music Style: Dark Moody Alternative R&B that incorporates Dancehall, Afrobeats, Cloud Rap, and Trap music

Many of you would recognize the name PARTYNEXTDOOR or PND from a lot of his features. He has been featured on Still Got Time (Zayn's Icarus Falls), Ghost Town and Wouldn't Leave (Kanye West's ye), Fue Mejor (Kali Uchis' Sin Miedo (del Amor y Otros Demonios) ∞ ), With You (Drake's Views), Wednesday Night Interlude and Preach (Drake's If You're Reading This It's Too Late), Just Might (Summer Walker's Over It), and Cash Out (Calvin Harris' Funk Wav Bounces Vol. 1). PND not only has done a lot a features, he's also penned songs for other artists with his most recognizable one being Work and Sex with Me (Rihanna's Anti). He's also penned Let Me (Usher's Hard II Love), Legend (Drake's If You're Reading This It's Too Late), Wild Thoughts (DJ Khaled's Grateful), Maria (Christina Aguilera's Liberation), Ratchet Happy Birthday (Drake's Scorpion), and The Blinding (Jay Electronica's A Written Testimony). So, If you've never heard a PND song, you would of at least heard a track that he penned.

The majority of PND's music is a moody Alternative R&B sound that is often bass heavy with 808s (Come and See Me, Peace of Mind, Rendezvous), incorporates Dancehall music (Eye on It, Only U, Not Nice), Afrobeat music (Believe it, Loyal, Low Battery), or Hip-Hop based (Don't Know How, West District, Thirsty, Don't Worry). His music sometimes will have tribal elements (Over Here), a saxophone (Her Way), more electronic (Let's Get Married), atmospheric (Peace of Mind, Problems and Selfies, Temptations, Split Decision), or more on the pop side (Damage). There are even slight tempo changes within songs (Persian Rugs, Girl From Oakland). Overall, a typical PND track would be bass heavy with 808s.

While a bass heavy R&B track with 808s may seems like nothing really special, it actually describes a form of R&B called Toronto R&B. Toronto R&B is simply moody bass heavy R&B with 808s. You may call that Trapsoul which was coined by Bryson Tiller. However in reality, PARTYNEXTDOOR is actually person who started trapsoul. A lot of his music is pretty much trapsoul when you listen to it. PND's music style is the one that's been replicated the most. From every typical male R&B singer in any "R&B Vibez" Spotify playlist, to albums like Positions (Ariana Grande) and Changes (Justin Bieber) from mainstream pop stars. Even R&B singer Zayn emulated some PND on his album Nobody is Listening. You can even find PND's influence on many songs on RnBass and EscapeTracks. PND influence has even hit the Spanish market with songs like Con La Luz by COASTCITY along with Fruto Prohibido and En Tru Cuerpo by Lyanno. It also his the German market with songs Wrong For Me, Needs, and Stay by German singer Nolai. PARTYNEXTDOOR is pretty much responsible for this trap R&B wave that music has right now. Although it's beyond over saturated, it still has its gems. Basically, without PARTYNEXTDOOR, there would be no Trapsoul, think about it.

Lyrically, PND songs revolve around relationships, love, and sex. While his lyrics may seems like stuff for the typical R&B fuck boy handbook, there are time when they truly shine. PND's lyrics often have a very high energy to them, and are self preserved. This element can be seen in songs like Peace of Mind, Only U, and Ballin'. On a vocal spectrum, PND isn't really the best in that department. His singing ability is probably only somewhat higher than Drake. However, don't assume that PND can't sing. In fact, watch this live performance of Joy. PND's singing voice is very soft and reminicent of late 90's to early 2000's R&B singers. It makes a lot of sense considering how that live performance of Joy is very 90's R&B inspired. In some of his songs such as Joy, Don't Know How, 1942, Don't Run, Ballin', and Belong to the City help showcase his vocals. PND is not only a singer, he's also a rapper as well. PND has shown that he can go full on rapping in his songs (Over Here, Break From Toronto, Preach, Don't Worry), engage in a sing-rap style (Thirsty, Sex on the Beach, One I Want), or even alternate between singing and rapping (Right Now).

Make sure to check out PARTYNEXTDOOR's projects: PARTYNEXTDOOR, PARTYNEXTDOOR TWO, PARTYNEXTDOOR 3 (P3), Seven Days, PARTYMOBILE, PARTYPACK, COLOURS (contains both COLOURS 1 & 2)

Some of my favorite PARTYNEXTDOOR songs: Ballin', Believe It, Split Decision, Girl From Oakland, Damage, Sex on the Beach, Belong to the City, Persian Rugs, Over Here, Right Now, Eye on It, Her Way, Only U, Break From Toronto, Loyal, Come and See Me, 1942, Never Played Me, Problems and Selfies, Spiteful

Also here's a little Spotify Playlist for him.

Here are some good performances: Joy (Live), Live in Sarcamento, Wireless Festival

Next R&B Artist Spotlight: Jorja Smith

If You use discord, make sure to check out R&Bcord. If you want to be in a place to discuss R&B music. Here's a link if you're interested. https://discord.gg/DP35Kttb\Note, This link will expire in one day*

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Papoose Announces Plans To Retire From Rap To Focus On Family, Will Release New Project Every Month Of 2021

Posted: 08 Feb 2021 04:39 PM PST

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RZA - Grits

Posted: 08 Feb 2021 02:47 PM PST

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$UICIDEBOY$ - TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT

Posted: 08 Feb 2021 12:51 PM PST

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Lucki - Jigga 98 ft. Da$H

Posted: 08 Feb 2021 08:01 PM PST