If You Like Donuts by J Dilla, Listen to These 4 Albums

Recommendations based on

Donuts

By J Dilla

This recommendation by Shawn Dub, Employee of Human Head in Brooklyn, New York City

I don’t think there’s a record that really embodies record digging and sample culture more than Donuts. This record is really a love letter to J Dilla’s relationship with the art of sampling that he made predominantly in his hospital bed in the final months of his life. Very few instrumental hip-hop albums have had the impact of Donuts, and I don’t think any ever will.

Recommendation #1

PeteStrumentals

Pete Rock

J Dilla and Pete Rock were always each other’s biggest fans and I think Petestrumentals is possibly the “other” pinnacle of instrumental hip-hop albums that sits right next to Donuts because of its similar influence and school of hip-hop production. It features dusty samples, filtered bass lines, and soulful Rhodes chords throughout the 14 tracks.

Recommendation #2

Endtroducing…..

DJ Shadow

On its release, as critically acclaimed as Endtroducing was, it was almost seen as an outsider to the hip-hop scene and often described as “leftfield.” It wasn’t until the release of Donuts that we really understood how ahead of its time this album was. It is a cut-and-paste collage of eclectic samples that really feels like a blueprint for an album like Donuts.

Recommendation #3

Shades Of Blue

Madlib

It’s hard to say whether Dilla had any contemporaries as he was definitely in a class of his own, but if there was anyone worthy of the title, Madlib is that producer. Both had a very loose, jazz-like approach to production and nothing sums that up better for Madlib than this collection of reimagined jazz classics.

Recommendation #4

Stro Elliot

Stro Elliot

Since J Dilla’s passing, there have been countless imitators and very few have managed to embody the spirit of his music and build on it. Stro Elliot’s self-titled LP is an instrumental journey that feels like a testament to where Dilla may have taken his sound had he not sadly passed in 2006.