Because even as early as 2003 Dilla was gravitating towards Madlib's approach to making beats: raw, unfiltered soul and prog rock. Donuts was simply Dilla at his most Madlib, and Dilla never kept it secret that Madlib was the only producer he feared.

The thing is that when Dilla was doing Madlib, he still had his unique touch that separated him artistically. Although many say that Madlib was equally influenced by Dilla, I think that's a huge stretch. Madlib certainly employed certain Dilla-like drum arrangements at times, but it was really Madlib who led the charge between the two as far as where they converged artistically. They, like Pete and Premier, were the two influencers of their day and are both to be seen as equals in the pantheon of beatmaking.