Understanding Donuts: J. Dilla’s Emotional Goodbye

One of the things that makes hip-hop unique and powerful is that when you turn it on, you can‘t run from it. It’s a genre of in-your-face self-expression.

A man or woman with a microphone speaks directly into your ear. Sometimes it’s watered down or made for radio. But in any format, no emcee can hide from the fact that line after line, verse after verse, they must constantly find words to express themselves.

In that sense, J. Dilla’s Donuts is a clear outlier: An undeniable, universally beloved hip-hop classic that doesn’t feature a single verse.

It’s a near-impossible achievement when compared to other hip-hop classics. Dilla creates one of the most emotionally expressive, moving hip-hop albums ever without uttering a single word.

When considering what makes Donuts so special, it’s hard not to start by discussing the context in which it was created.

For most of the creation of the album in 2005, Dilla was in the hospital for complications brought on by a rare blood disorder known as thrombotic…