Donuts was made on a hospital bed and in a home studio, on a stripped-down setup with a stack of vinyl. Released on its maker's 32nd birthday, three days before he passed away, the album has a resonance deeper than anyone could've hoped for or even imagined. Some who were close to Dilla have said that there are hidden messages in the samples, the track titles, and who knows where else. It's impossible not to speculate about some things, like the track titled "Don't Cry," the looped "broken and blue" from a version of "Walk on By," the presence of Eddie Kendricks singing "My people, hold on," or the fact that there are 31 tracks, a possible signal that Dilla survived a little longer than he expected. Then again, for every possible message, there are two or three elements that could've been designed to throw any analysis off its trail. After all, if there's one single image that the disc brings to mind, it's that of Dilla goofing off, having fun with some of his favorite records, and messing with some heads in the process. (And you could probably make the album's title out to be a metaphor for the circle of life, but sometimes a donut is just a donut.) -
Tracklist
- Donuts (Outro)
- Workinonit
- Waves
- Light My Fire
- 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
- Donuts (Intro)
