Donut Of The Heart: Revisiting J Dilla’s Masterpiece

Kay Tee Vlk
5 min readFeb 7, 2021

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You’ve found yourself in the little corner of the internet, where I like to shine a spotlight on classic albums, from a musical and cultural perspective, that I consider highly essential and always in some way relevant to the current month. Sometimes regularly, sometimes less so. Nevertheless, always with love.

Around this time each year, the life of the Detroit beat-maker legend, one of the most respected producers of all time in music: James Dewitt Yancey a.k.a. Jay Dee / J Dilla is celebrated in all corners across the globe. February 7th marks the release day of his legendary ‚Donuts‘ album as well as his birthday. On top of that, this month we also have the 20th anniversary of his ‘Welcome To Detroit’ album coming up. He would be turning 47 today: Hence, let’s raise it up for the late great Dilla and honour the legacy he’s left with us, the infinite soulfulness and his otherworldly genius. Love of music in it’s purest form.

“His music embraces the soul, heart and mind of the listener, because it is built on love. His music is a recipe for loving others and the disappointment that sometimes affects us when we dare to care.” - Ma Dukes

Growing up in Detroit (a.k.a. Motor City, home of Motown records) as the eldest of four children in a musical household with mother, Maureen “Ma Dukes” Yancey, trained vocalist in classical and jazz, former opera singer, and father Beverly Dewitt Yancey, jazz bass player, also songwriter who ghost-wrote “It’s a Shame” for the Spinners. Introduced to the MPC machine at a young age by musician and producer Amp Fiddler, later learning from his idol Pete Rock, Dilla didn’t believe in reading manuals or automatising anything. Still, he mastered his instrument to the point of perfection and his skills on the MPC are untouchable. Dilla had a way to fill these square pads with pure soul and guide the machine into translating humanity in the most flawless way.

Dilla’s created music as co-founder and one third of the acclaimed Slum Village, member of production collective called the Ummah and the Soulquarians Collective, also in collaboration with iconic names such as Busta Rhymes, Erykah Badu, The Roots, A Tribe Called Quest, Dwele, D’Angelo, MF DOOM, Talib Kweli, Madlib, Pharcyde, Common, De La Soul, among many others… All of that ground-breaking music touching every genre imaginable, with his production techniques still influencing some of the biggest names in the game today. J Dilla lived as a representation of complete humility, a strong personality and proper honouring of musicians that he loved in his life. The importance of the man‘s presence on this planet remains steady despite his passing in 2006, only three days after his 32nd birthday, when one of his most fascinating and beloved albums was released. ‚Donuts‘. Clocking in at 43 minutes with 31 songs, this album is definitely a high point of instrumental hip hop, without a doubt and one of the most important albums of the 2000’s to say the least.

A love letter to the closest family before departing to another realm, one of the most touching swan songs. The majority of this album was produced in the hospital bed during his very last days amongst us, therefore in a way it is the last piece of music that was released under his personal conduct. ‚Donuts‘ as Dilla’s favourite tasty treats/record-shaped objects/circles symbolising loops, blood clots or things coming full circle.. there are many speculative metaphors for what the album title truly represents, along with hidden messages in the choice of the original samples, circling around the theme of mortality. Like leaning towards songs with titles like ‘Sweet Misery’, ‘You Just Can’t Win’, ‘I Can’t Stand to See You Cry’, and ‘When I Die’. The manner of how Dionne Warwick is sampled in the ‘Stop!’ track with music being briefly paused after she says the word. The way ‘Time: The Donut Of The Heart’ slows down that cues in my mind almost every time I think of Dilla. The ‘Hi’ and ‘Bye’ before ‘The Last Donut Of The Night’… Yet, the record is full of life, to say the least. Powerful demonstration of the music vibrations capacity to enable time travel. What remains certain is that ‚Donuts‘ is still widely recognized as the best instrumental hip-hop album of all times and it has forever changed the way beatmakers view their artform.

This post could be really long, but there aren’t many things that have been left unsaid. J Dilla’s genius is very well grounded. So instead, let’s just let the music speak for itself. Following are some of the most cherished tributes to the man himself to soothe your soul this weekend.

THANK YOU JAY DEE

4-part series released between Feb 13 2006–2009 by J.Rocc

TIMELESS: SUITE FOR MA DUKES

Touching tribute concert to late great J Dilla by a 60-piece orchestra put together by Miguel Atwood Ferguson. Salute from the classical world.

STILL SHINING DOCUMENTARY

B.Kyle’s directed this remembrance piece as a tribute to the memory and legacy of James “J.Dilla” Yancey. Designed for fans and supporters aware of his accomplishments before 2006 and those that have grown to appreciate his genius over time.

Much love and thank you, Mr. Yancey. Rest in Beats.

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Feel free to share the love & hit me up with what’s been catching your ears these days. I’m always on the look-out for music and would love to hear from you.

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