THE STORY OF D N U T S

It is every artist’s fantasy to not only enter their field and dominate with their unique abilities but also leave a transformative impact on the game where no preconception is the same as when you started. Though many enter the scene with this ambition, very few are able to make that connect with a core audience. Success in any industry, especially music, is a right place, right time and unfortunately right look affair. You have to be able match the image that best corresponds to what is popular leaving many with shattered hopes of someday making it big. So many resort to becoming louder with their messaging and their appearance to compensate for this need of braggadocious bravado demanded by the same audience they are attempting to connect with. So with this understanding, it is ironic that one individual was able to completely shift the infrastructure of music while simultaneously being the quietest person in the room. This is the tale of a man’s far reaching legacy that became the new standard for what every producer would aspire to be. The story of J Dilla’s Donuts.

James Dewitt Yancey better known by his stage name J-Dilla originated from Detroit, Michigan where he became a well known up and coming artist in the music industry. His ability to dig deep into the archives of all forms of music and dissect melodies and chords no one else could hear, made his production both indistinguishable but also completely unexpected. His style dug deep into the roots of jazz, funk and the origins of hip hop to offer an authentic sound that the rest of the rap world couldn’t ignore. The most iconic acts in music at the time salivated at the opportunity to get a J Dilla beat. From producing albums for groups like the Pharcyde and De La Soul to using his own lyrical talents on the microphone for the rap group JayLib alongside another musical genius Madlib. At the height of this success, Dilla didn’t rest on the accolades that come along with breaking through to the mainstream. What he dreamed of was a reformative compilation of music that would defy anything conventionally expected from the genre.

J Dilla’s debut studio album titled Donutswas set to be an entirely instrumental album.

For someone with so many connections and acclaim within the music industry, a featureless album with solely beats was almost too daring of a decision. The distributor for Dilla’s record label was strongly against the notion following the commercial flop of the JayLib’s collaborative album Champion Sound. The financial investment appeared too high to take a risk on something profoundly too abstract for mass listeners to appeal to. And while the discussion of the feasibility of the project raged on, the prolific stardom afforded to DIlla ultimately took a backseat to his gradually declining health.

Dilla had been diagnosed with lupus, an autoimmune disease that attacks healthy tissue, as well as TTP, a blood disorder resulting in major dysfunction of vital organs. What at first appeared as an ailment worth monitoring with no major impact on public appearances slowly morphed into a severe breakdown of Dilla’s physical health.

A substantial loss of weight from the treatments and the excruciating pain from the advancing diseases even confined Dilla to a wheelchair for live performances. The medical expenses began piling up and made a substantial financial hole and eventually Dilla found himself confined to a hospital bed with only his family, a Boss SP 33 sampler and a portable turntable.

In the presence of fading mortality, there was no better opportunity to create artistry that no longer had to appeal to the superficial confines of marketability. For Dilla, the completion of this album no longer acted as a mere showcase of talent but a potential send off to the friends and family he cherished throughout his life. The circumstances surrounding each track became vital and dug so much deeper into an already revolutionary depth of music insight to give each song new layers of meaning. Dilla’s mother, Maureen Yancey, even recalled having to massage his fingers due to the intense pain of his condition. In the midst of the countless medications at his bedside, grieving family members, beeping of hospital monitors and harsh reality of increasing medical debt, Dilla courageously turned to music to put all of those feelings in song.

Dilla with his HipHop collective Slum Village featuring artists Baatin & T3

But legendary artistry isn’t solely cultivated by the story surrounding the product but the work itself. And the tracks offered within Donutswere groundbreaking, providing themes and productional execution that have stood in a class of their own. As stated earlier, the songs have no vocals for the tracks but instead use a variety of samples to express core ideas. There are over seventy-five samples present throughout the record that were manually worked in with the very basic music equipment