NOTE: I am not posting this because I agree with it, or to be disrespectful to the memory of Dilla (I am a huge, huge Dilla fan!). I am just posting it for the sake of discussion.

Also NOTE: the reviewer does have some good things to say, and gave the record a 80%.

Taken from:
http://www.cokemachineglow.com/reviews/jdilla_donuts2006.html

J Dilla
Donuts
(Stones Throw; 2006)
Rating: 80%
Combined Rating: 78%

The release of Donuts and the death of its maker so closely coincide, it’s an impossible task to separate the music from the ghost. This album’s primed for posthumous press favor, and manic, conspiratorial cynicism would call it some carefully timed marketing ruse. The simple fact, though, is that we have this sterling example of instrumental hip-hop to celebrate, and now we have a dead Jay Dee to mourn, and life leaves us no room for questioning. That fact is cold, and it is hard, and at first it seems at odds with the soulful warmth of these beats. For anyone who really cares, listening to Donuts is a rather full emotional experience.

In my review of Med’s Push Comes to Shove, I called Jay Dee a “wack-ass drum connoisseur.” Now that he’s gone, well, I won’t pretend to rescind it. The promotional sticker on this album’s shrink wrap, however, has Kanye proclaiming, “Jay Dee is a drum god. His drums can only be paralleled, they can’t ever be topped.” Kanye’s been wrong before (he was wrong about his Grammy outfit, for instance), and he’s wrong again. As Newell has previously noted, Slug says that Jel can program an amazing drum sequence on his SP 1200 in about five minutes. On a bad day and, say, with only two minutes working time, Jel would still out-drum Dilla. It’s not that the texture of Jay’s hits are poor, and maybe Kanye’s just been spending too much time listening to Top 40 rap, thinking that chintzy 808/303 ticks are the top of the competition. For the most part Dilla smartly chopped his drums from samples. The problem’s that his sequencing often relies on single drum strokes or standard 4/4 kicks paired with trap taps, nary a fill or stutter or change-up to be heard. Donuts does little to rectify that M.O., but these beats average a minute and a half long, and so Dilla stumbled upon the perfect sort of album format for his particular style of production, percussive variety brought about through the actual track changes, even if it’s just a shift from one sort of click-track to another. And, in some cases (“The Twister”), a rollicking break does await.

For some reason the 31 tracks are given individual names, ones probably assigned in less time than it takes Jel to make an amazing beat, alternating between generics (“The Diff’rence”), single syllable words (“Stop”), silly donut-themed nonsense (“Time: The Donut of the Heart”) and games like naming a track after its runtime (“One Eleven”) or following a track “Hi” with a track “Bye.” Quite evidently, and in contrast with more serious instrumental hip-hop, the names mean nothing, or they at least have no intention of injecting meaning into the compositions they mark; furthermore, the containing album is less about the donut than it is about the pack of donuts. Appropriate to its record label, Donuts is a winding, Madlibian exploration of music via the strident vessel of hip-hop.

Unlike Madlib, however, Dilla stuck closer to the soul and funk roots of his career genre, shying away from bossa nova and Afro-beat and the rest of Lib’s castle vault collection. And there’s a refusal in Dilla’s work to sound underground, to allow stand-off mix-downs or layers of vinyl crackle to bury his source elements; there’s no obscurant will here. With Donuts the end result should feel eminently familiar to most heads, and not just because it twice uses samples most recently employed by Edan’s Beauty and the Beat (“The Diff’rence” – “Murder Mystery”; “Geek Down” – “The Science of the Two”). All the ingredients here are standards, most of the lifts having appeared in beats prior to this; why, “One Eleven” scratches up the “Aw yeah,” hip-hop’s Wilhelm Scream and the ubiquity of which is probably only exceeded by loops of the “Funky Drummer” break. Thus, Donuts is something a bit more specific and reflexive than a “Madlibian exploration of music.” It’s a sample-based exploration of sample-based hip-hop. While Madlib plumbed bottomless crates and Edan blazed psych-hop hybrids and Kanye flipped tokens of pop music mass consciousness over strings and keys from the guy who produces download-only Fiona Apple, Dilla was making these immediately pleasing beats, beats that are all about remaining within a head’s bubble of comfort while simultaneously reshaping and reinforcing that bubble. In context the idea almost seems revolutionary.

If all the verb tense changing of this review is a bother, understand that it’s motivated. Donuts is an intensely present listen, as much an in-this-moment reminder of hip-hop’s past as it is a reminder of the past that contains the prolific doings of J Dilla. It’s entirely too richly tragic and fitting that the man’s last release is the apotheosis of his work, the finest and most representative example of what he contributed to music and, in turn, how music inspired him. I find myself very thankful that this disc doesn’t reach for innovations, doesn’t try to prognosticate the future. It’s hip-hop pregnant with memory; for a head, that’s the most reassuring sort of elegy.

Chet Betz
February 16, 2006

right from the very start of the review he comes across as a pompous jerk.

"it’s an impossible task to separate the music from the ghost."

-- bull

"This album’s primed for posthumous press favor, and manic, conspiratorial cynicism would call it some carefully timed marketing ruse."

-- rolling my eyes @ that

i'm not even going to touch on the rest

my name is LOWD...and i wanted to comment on yer review of JAY DEE'S "DONUTS".

First off you are very disrespectful not only to the man and his legacy, but you have no place even commenting on a legend. Just by reading yer writing, it is obvious you are a biased "slug/jel" fan. Which is NOT how what critique is about. You are suppossed to have an unbiased ear and in that you LOST.

Second, if you REALLY were familiar with DILLA's catalogue for real, you would know that he has the illest track record besides DJ PREMIER.

"For some reason the 31 tracks are given individual names, ones probably assigned in less time than it takes Jel to make an amazing beat, alternating between generics (“The Diff’rence”), single syllable words (“Stop”), silly donut-themed nonsense (“Time: The Donut of the Heart”) and games like naming a track after its runtime (“One Eleven”) or following a track “Hi” with a track “Bye.” Quite evidently, and in contrast with more serious instrumental hip-hop, the names mean nothing, or they at least have no intention of injecting meaning into the compositions they mark"

DID YOU READ THAT?

My question is, were you really thinking when you wrote this?

anyone who listens to DONUTS and doesnt see the coincedence in the titles of the songs, let alone the subliminals in the music...

THEY HAVE NO BUSINESS COMMENTING ON THIS MAN OR HIS WORK.

ask SLUG and JEL to make 2 TRIBE albums..
ask SLUG and JEL to make "runnin" and "drop"
ask SLUG and JEL to make "welcome to detroit"
ask SLUG and JEL to make anything half way decent in the hospital with months to live...

OH wait... them 2 cats u named are "BACKPACK" rappers...

no competition for jay or even any rapper from the D.

SHUT YER MOUTH....
YOU LOST.

"i dont know why cats named "CHET BETZ" could have the nerve to shit on a legend in the hip hop shit in print after death and be cocky about it"


learn about DILLA. research his work.
then slap yerself.

LOWD

Yeah man...that pretty much sums it up!

The part that kills me is that the dude went after Dilla for his drums....HIS DRUMS?!!

Man, are you serious? If there is one thing about Dilla that is NOT weak....its the damn drums man!

I spend about 200% more time on my drums now when I make a track, because of this man....

well played.

Kenny Fresh
www.Bling47.com

(by the way, my screenname's lame.)

...did you not see the part where he gave DONUTS A GOOD REVIEW? You probably did not even send that wack ass response to the reviewer...at least I hope you didn't, because if you did, you look like a dick-riding idiot.

--------------------------------------
https://smallprofessor.bandcamp.com

go play a banjo whitey.

fuckin fags.

peace,
-ram

why you gotta be so hateful??  dude didn't even comment about
jay-dee, just that jel could program a tight track.

It seems that he's making the assertion that hiphop drums have to be of the "DJ Shadow" variety...

...it sounds like he would probably dig some of Just Blaze's work, as well. But even Just would tell you you don't need all that shit in hiphop to have "great" drums.

Dilla's simplicity is what made his drums what they were. They had a natural "swing" to them.

...is it just me, or do you cats get overly sensitive about this type of shit? Is it just me or was this review a good one? Judging by ya'll responses you'd think he gave Donuts a 2/5 or some shit...sheesh. I agree, the Jel/Slug comment wasn't really needed, but it makes up a very small part of the review, and was easily forgotten...same goes for the comment about the song titles and their relation to the tracks, but all that is PURE SPECULATION; yes, it would be dope if Dilla was trying to tell us something thru the song titles but I can completely see how dude could think otherwise. I guess because the man didn't slob Dilla with no ounce of dignity like some reviews I've read, his 4/5 review or whatever GOOD things he said about the album are automatically negated. Word.

--------------------------------------
https://smallprofessor.bandcamp.com

honestly it bugs the fuck out of me cause my cousin and my friends listen to that shit (jel and them other anticon associated fools) and i just cant fuck with it...them dudes is too alternative for me..aint no boom bap or soul in their shit

i've seen em. anything remotely related to sage francis, slug or anticon is classic in their books

picking on dilla's drums of all things makes it laughable..and comparing him to slug's producer is even better, i won't lose any sleep over this

_______________________
James Yancey 1974 - 2006

Jel isn't Slug's producer. Ant is.

Slug makes great hip hop. Just because this guy is using them to contrast against a producer you like doesn't mean they are "wack ass rappers."

i thought the same & then i heard this 'dark sky demo' song i was told to download... thats got 'boom bap'and maybe even 'soul'.

if pete rock made it a lot of people would cum themselves, itd be his return from them boring baseline dominated sleepers.
other Themselves (Jel & Doseone) have been less inspiring, maybe cos the ridiculous lyrics are given more room.

______________________________

R.I.P. - The Curse

Let's hug it out bitch
www.lhiob.com

1918-2004

NEW ENGLAND...FUCK YEAH!!!
http://www.myspace.com/strongliketauro

A pretty incitful review although this cat needs to peel Jels balls off his forehead. Here is something to scratch your head at: Without Jay Dee there would be no Jel, rhymesayerws or even an undergroud movement (especially in the sota). As genuies as they are, slug and the crew would be working there way up in the fast food industry.

Where do you think jel received his inspiration? Who do you think he measures up too? Even under the pretext of drum skills how can you compare the two, let alone devote a whole paragraph

Let me ask you this.
Who has more soul and funk? James Brown or George Clinton?


Cant answer that? well this one is easier
Where would parliment be without JB?

I beleive we all can answer that one.

Furthermore
It seems chet (If that's ur name), has really lost the true meaning of what Dilla was trying to do:

"It’s a sample-based exploration of sample-based hip-hop"

Well, for anybody FAMILAIR with Jay Dee's production resume, it is pretty frustrating to find his samples and his inspirations. Knowing that his life would soon end, he made his samples more transparent in respect to his influences and his fans who loved him. Being the innovetor he is, you can expect Donuts to be an influence amongst future beat conducter. Nice reveiw w/ no focus

www.thedictatoronline.com

"the only newspaper that will cuddle with you in the morning."

hey all.

i appreciate that many of you, while not necessarily agreeing with my review, have balanced and level-headed responses to it. i've received my share of hate mail over that piece, one i never imagined would be very controversial because it was a positive review for a great album. i certainly never intended any disrespect to Dilla. i think an issue with my review is that i never wrote a paragraph that should have been there because it's a little unclear what my final word on Dilla's drums are. i've always appreciated Dilla on some level, and the whole review was meant to have an arc in which Donuts is the catalyst that strengthens my appreciation for him and takes it to a greater height than it had been before. and the paragraph's that missing would have focused on how Dilla's drums work so well for his purposes on Donuts, how they might not be as dynamic or Jel's or what have you, but that's a little beside the point. his and Jel's are completely different styles, after all, and that would have been something that i would have done well to mention, too. i actually had a long back and forth with a reader about this review, so maybe i'll post some of that because i did a lot of explaining. this would be a huge issue with my review, that i have to do all this explaining, if i didn't think that you can really get what i'm trying to say out of the review if you read the whole thing carefully. but i suppose it does require that you give me the benefit of the doubt a little bit, and i understand how little anyone, myself included, likes to give a critic the benefit of the doubt.

...what Jel likes? You guys have to understand that just because Dilla's everything you hold dear in hip-hop, everybody else is not obligated to feel the same way. Just because ?uestlove says it's so, does not mean it is so. It's really disturbing that you don't even realize how emotional you get over this artist's work and other people's opinion of his work.

--------------------------------------
https://smallprofessor.bandcamp.com

Hey K,

Thanks for the feedback. I'll try to address your issues with my review.

>First off, i would like to say that you obviously have a less than
>stellar grasp on hiphop production (please don't let this sentence
>persuade you to stop reading now) and a obvious bias toward white
>guys making hiphop. (Edan reference AND Jel reference in the same
>review??)

the Edan reference is in there because it's a recent album that uses two of the same samples that Dilla uses. it's not meant to be an implication of superiority on Edan's part, simply one example of how Dilla was exploring all manners of sample-based hip-hop, which is what that paragraph happens to be about. Jel happens to be really great with drums... and really white, which is really beside the point, and i have to question your motives for bringing it up. i love good hip-hop, made by people of whatever color.

>I'll start off by using this
>
>The simple fact, though, is that we have this sterling example of
>instrumental hip-hop to celebrate, and now we have a dead Jay Dee to
> mourn, and life leaves us no room for questioning.
>
>a "dead jay dee to mourn"???? The man (for lack of a better term)
>hasn't been gone more than 2 months, and already this type of overt
>language about his passing makes the final cut for this piss poor
>review?

i'll admit that the prose is a little stilted and flowery, mostly because i was getting kind of emotional while writing that thing. and then i decided that, for all its awkwardness, it was best to leave the emotion in. the man passed away. i am not going to ignore that. it is relevant. i don't believe i did him any disrespect. if you disagree, i'm sorry.

>Secondly
>
>In my review of Med’s Push Comes to Shove, I called Jay Dee a “wack-
>ass drum connoisseur.”
>
>How can you make a statement about Jay Dee's drums based off of 2
>tracks for MED in 2005? His drum choice and style of programming on
> MED's album was a reflection of a certain period in Jay's
>production career, showing his ability to do different things.
>Push shows Jay's ablility to construct a mainstream tempered "club
>song" while keeping it rooted in true school hiphop....the other
>beat on Push Comes to Shove.....you can't be serious......the kick
>programming (not to mention his use of various different velocity
>on the kicks) is light years ahead of Jel's choice of kick drums.
>(And i have both Jel albums, purchased both of them, so this is
>no diss to the man)

actually, in that review, i wasn't basing the statement on Jay Dee's production for Med, but just on my general experience with Jay Dee's drums with much of his past work that you talk about. i actually felt that his drums came out the best on that album. i do think Dilla's kicks have a nicer sound to them (which i mention), but Jel's more dynamic/unpredictable. less subtle about it, sure, that's a whole other article, though.

>Third
>
>The promotional sticker on this album’s shrink wrap, however, has
>Kanye proclaiming, “Jay Dee is a drum god. His drums can only be
>paralleled, they can’t ever be topped.” Kanye’s been wrong before
>(he was wrong about his Grammy outfit, for instance), and he’s
>wrong again. As Newell has previously noted, Slug says that Jel can
>program an amazing drum sequence on his SP 1200 in about five
>minutes. On a bad day and, say, with only two minutes working time,
>Jel would still out-drum Dilla.
>
>First of all, the drum hits on Donuts are not supposed to be of the
>same caliber of a "standard" hiphop beat......they are not designed
>to counteract the sample. the choice of drums directly reflects the
> original mood of the song he sampled...for instance, Last Donut of
> the Night keeps the claps vibe in tact from the original Moments
>song Jay spliced up for the beat......Dilla Says Go uses trap hits
>to keep the Trammps vibe alive but still allowing the drums to
>stand out in the mix.
>
>Kanye West was not referencing Jay Dee's "Drum God" status based on
>Donuts alone either sir. He was referencing Dilla's 10+ year career
> in hiphop as being the defining source in drum choice/programming.
> Go back and listen to Pharcyde's - "Bullshit".....or "Wordplay"
>by ATCQ (that's A Tribe Called Quest....he produced that in 1996,
>prolly while Jel was hitting puberty) His drum display on Donuts
>only shows his ability to ALWAYS make the drums fit the
>beat.........why would he have a super break heavy drum sequence on
>a beat like One Eleven? He made beats that sound like SOUL
>SONGS....if you are wondering why Kanye is calling him a Drum God,
>do the research before you pull Jel's pants down.

i'm not sure why you assume i haven't done the research. i knew what Kanye was talking about, and i'm very familiar with the work you mention. obviously we have differing philosophies about what impresses us with hip-hop drums, and in the end, this review is just my opinion. i never intended to make any grandiose statements about what beats should sound like, and, in fact, a large part of the review's point is how valuable Donuts is in terms of highlighting just how much Dilla makes these "SOUL SONGS" work. i always had an appreciation for Dilla on some level, but Donuts, by getting rid of the distraction of rapping and fully embracing the soul, took that appreciation to a higher level. and i was very grateful to Donuts for that realization and seeing how Dilla's drums work in this context. you mention some examples, but i also really enjoy the way the trap trips that insistent kick on "Factory" and the woozy meter-shifting of "People." if i could go back, i would pull out more of these examples as they're definitely worth a paragraph to counterpoint that second one, which ends up looking like my final word on his drums.

>The problem’s that his sequencing often relies on single drum
>strokes or standard 4/4 kicks paired with trap taps, nary a fill or
>stutter or change-up to be heard.
>
>Hey Einstein....THIS IS HIP-HOP!! HIP-HOP IS A 4/4 sequenced genre!
> Last time i checked hiphop wasn't rapping over 5/8 jazz
>standards.

but instrumental hip-hop has often stepped outside of those time signature boundaries, or at least employed stop-start dynamics, scratched stuttering, polyrhythms, etc. the thing is, though, in the end i don't hold my personal taste against Donuts, and in fact really respect what Dilla was trying to do. that's what the whole second half of the review is about.

>Did you notice the different alternating snares on EVERY SINGLE
>TRACK?

not to put down Dilla, but this is a common technique, used throughout an album as recently as Grandmasters. i do admire the skill, though.

>I find myself very thankful that this disc doesn’t reach for
>innovations, doesn’t try to prognosticate the future.
>
>I just got an income tax check refund in the mail for $2,000....if
>you can construct a list of 10 hiphop beats in the last 20 years
>that even remotely use the techniques Jay used on Donuts, i will
>send you half of my check directly to your bank account sucka. Hi
>and Bye alone redefine chopping soul records alone, not to mention
>chopping Lightworks to say "light up a spliff" or 10CC to say "buy
>me"......FROM A HOSPITAL BED.

i could certainly try and take up that challenge (Madlib, Mekalek, etc.) but that would just be argumentative with no purpose. and i'm certainly not going to debate the merit of "Hi" and "Bye" and the gorgeous "Last Donut of the Night." i ask if you read the paragraph that led up to the statement you quoted...

"While Madlib plumbed bottomless crates and Edan blazed psych-hop hybrids and Kanye flipped tokens of pop music mass consciousness over strings and keys from the guy who produces download-only Fiona Apple, Dilla was making these immediately pleasing beats, beats that are all about remaining within a head’s bubble of comfort while simultaneously reshaping and reinforcing that bubble. In context the idea almost seems revolutionary."

this is what Donuts does for me. it makes the familiar new and powerful while keeping all of that warmth and familiarity. Dilla's skill and passion and dedication negates the risk of cliche.

>if you really wanna enjoy donuts, you can either call me and i will
>explain it in layman's terms to you, or you can just turn off Jel's
>album next time you are listening to it.

i dunno, i'm pretty sure that's enjoyment i'm feeling when i listen to Donuts, layman though i may be, and you might notice that i gave Jel's newest album a 59%. i'm not so easily pleased.

>I've already spent too much time on this, but you really pissed me
>off with the falsehood of this review.....remind me again how you
>got a job reviewing hiphop records.

again, i'm sorry if my review struck you as false. i tried to write it with the utmost sincerity, which is why i even went so far as to start off with addressing my past assholishness towards Dilla's drums and how Donuts gives me a better understanding of how Dilla's beats, at their core, work.

i guess i'm a little confused. you obviously love the album, and you didn't like the way i wrote my take on it, i can understand that. but your umbrage seems to go beyond just problems with how i wrote and structured my review (which is meant to have a logical flow from beginning to end, but maybe the frontloaded faux-negativity gives a very wrong impression). i feel like you're offended by my review as a fan would be offended by a panning of an album they cherish... but i love Donuts, too, and it strengthened my love for Dilla, and i thought that was clear. i gave the album an 80%, which is a hell of a high rating for me, and right now it is my third favorite album of the year, with the two albums above it having a better rating by only one percent. so i didn't express my love in the way that you would have. that's why it's my review. i have a job reviewing hip-hop records for Cokemachineglow because i love Liquid Swords and ATLiens and Mecca and the Soul Brother and Stress: The Extinction Agenda and Hot Shots and Paid in Full and Goin' Off and Illmatic and hundreds of others, and i spend a lot of time thinking about what it is i love about hip-hop, and constantly trying to improve the way i express that love while working on my critical faculties and maintaining consistent standards. if you think you can do better, please do apply, CMG can never have too many good hip-hop writers. in the meantime, i'm going to keep writing, and i hope my future efforts don't lend themselves to the same sort of misunderstandings. several people expressed their appreciation of this J Dilla review to me, so i'm gonna hope that i can be effective enough to increase that percentage of the readership.

thanks again for the feedback and take care.

cheers,
Chet Betz
Cokemachineglow.com

>don't make excuses about the wack review......to say kanye west is
>wrong about Dilla's drums is absurd, and not only does it discredit
>your opinion, but it makes you look rather unintelligent. If
>Kanye's opinion is not good enough, try Pete Rock, ?uestlove,
>Q-Tip, DJ Spinna, Madlib, and Pharrell Williams, because they all
>say Jay Dee's drums are the best in hiphop history as well. He made
>donuts in a hospital bed with a fucking powerbook........and the
>edan sample is coincidence, 100% pure coincidence....i can assure
>you that dilla did not pick up a copy of beauty and the beat.

i wouldn't call it making excuses. i explained it further since you e-mailed me about it. i disagreed with how you interpreted my review on some points, and i tried to show why. not sure what you're expecting from me there. i suppose maybe you want me to throw my hands up and say, "review sucked, i know nothing, you're completely right." which obviously is not going to happen. i think that perhaps you're not accepting the review on its own terms: one person's perspective on Donuts (a very positive one) and how i arrived at that perspective. it's different from yours, and there'd be no point to reading it if it weren't different from the reader's perspective in some way.

i don't know how you can assure me that Dilla did not pick up a copy of Beauty and the Beat, but even if it was a coincidence, it doesn't affect my point in that paragraph. and besides all that, i certainly wasn't suggesting that Dilla was jacking ideas.

you continue to emphasize that Dilla made these beats from his hospital bed, as if i'm somehow not giving that fact proper respect. well, i respect the hell out of it.

you say it's absurd that i contradict Kanye on the statement that Dilla's drums can never be topped. i think it's a little absurd any time any one person tries to assert that someone is the ABSOLUTE best at something, and even with all the other appeals to hip-hop authority (how many of those people actually claim Dilla can't be topped), there are plenty of other DJs and heads who'd differ on the matter, and that's why appeals to authority usually mean a little something, but never everything. i had ideas about what constituted great hip-hop drums/beats, Donuts proved some of those ideas irrelevant in the right context, that's a part of the review.

i respect your opinion (i still struggle to see what makes it so drastically different from my own), but that in no way changes that i stand by what i wrote, because what i wrote represents how i approached this album and how it engaged me. you don't have to like or sympathize with it, but that doesn't make it wack, either.

cheers,
Chet Betz
Cokemachineglow.com

>i showed ?uest, Nicolay and the Stones Throw staff your
>review

well, hey, thanks.

>......and all thoughts were a consensus.....trash.
>Food for thought man.......in further reviews, please don't diss the greatest
>hiphop producer of alltime, especially without merit and
>continiuing comparisons on how jel can make better beats faster.

i'm sorry that was the consensus, i really am. and i can understand why they might feel that way. these people were friends with Jay, and i imagine just about anything a critic could say about Donuts or Dilla would be inadequate or even offensive in some way or another. but i don't know how much more clear i can be on the fact that what i wrote, whatever its flaws of lacking elucidation, is the complete opposite of a diss. and that's plainly apparent in the article itself. please read the review, not an incomplete, straw man version of the review that lets you get angry at a guy who happens to like both jel and jay, edan and diamond d, in equal measure but for different reasons.

i could have written a two-dimensional piece of unmitigated, pseudo-opinionated praise, and everyone would have called it nice and harmless and not have given it a second thought. but i don't write like that. i try to give the reader something to engage with, think about, reject... whatever, i want them to be really reacting to my opinion. criticism should be about trying to further that sort of discourse on art. i started with a stance, one that took issues with idolization, showed some of my thoughts about Dilla's past work, conveyed a sense of my inability to really feel Dilla's drums at first. i used that as a launching point so i could force my review to develop with an arc and to arrive at a conclusion, and a tremendous appreciation, for what i think Dilla was trying to do on Donuts, something that retroactively strengthened my respect for his past work. the conclusion is in the second to last paragraph and its effects on me are in the last.

the piece isn't littered with "in my opinions" because that should be a given to anyone who reads music reviews.

ultimately, though, my biggest intention was to encourage CMG readers to buy Donuts. i know at least one reader did just that after reading.

if, however, ?uest and Nicolay and the Stones Throw staff thinks that my review is propagating misconceptions of Dilla's work (as inadvertent as that might be on my part), and any of them wants to write something that gives their perspective on the matter, CMG would gladly publish it. we could even put together a feature article including this conversation and any comments that those friends of Jay might have, and we'd make sure that all parties involved would get to look and approve the final edit before running it. i'm not sure if such a piece sounds in poor taste, and if it does, i apologize, but i think it would be a compelling way of paying tribute to a man who richly deserves it.

i thank you again for the time and effort you've put into responding. i don't know if it was meant to undermine my confidence (a hopeless task, i'm afraid), but even so, i really appreciate that there are people out there who are reading and care strongly enough to speak out.

cheers,
Chet Betz
Cokemachineglow.com

so that about sums it up. if anyone actually read all that, i'm sorry i didn't take the time to abridge and summarize, but, like, i spent a fair amount of time just responding to that fellow, so i'm not really going to expend much more on the subject.

i realize that no amount of disclaimers or elaboration is going to stop some of you from hating my review and my guts, but that's fine. i just wanted to make it especially clear how much i love Donuts and what it did for my love of Jay Dee.

LOWD, i dunno if this going to make me sound like a total prick, but i got a real kick out of your e-mail. thanks for the response.

i got another great one from a gentleman by the name of hieu dang:

"what fuckin business do you have writing reviews????????? DILLA, THE WACK DRUM CONNESOUR????? ARE U FUCKING KIDDING ME? WHO THE FUCK IS JEL ANYWAY BITCH ASS NIGGA ILL FUCK U UP FOR DISRESPECTING THE GOD. NOBODY, LIVE OR DIGITAL, CAN FUCK WITH DILLAS DRUM SELECTION U SORRY ASS BACKPACKER ASS BITCH. KEEP LISTENING TO UR ANTICON AND SLUGS AND RJD2S. U DONT DESERVE TO TOUCH NONE OF THAT REAL SHIT. BITCH. HOLLA AT ME IF U WANT 2 GET IT MOTHERFUCKA. U ARE NOT GOING TO WRITE ANOTHER REVIEW IN UR DAMN LIFE TRUST ME"

ironically, i haven't received any hate mail on my much more negative Soul Position review yet. probably because that one's too ungodly long for anyone to bother reading.

...I respect the fact that you came to explain yourself, but I don't know why you bothered. I read your review. I felt the same way OVERALL; yes, some minor details about J Dilla we disagreed on, I don't like Jel, blah, blah...whatever. It was quite clear, to me at least, that you were giving the album a very positive review. But these cats in here for some reason are unable to grasp anything about Dilla that's not 100% positive. They believe what they feel about his work is somehow fact because ?uestlove holds the same opinion, because Nicolay holds the same opinion. It shouldn't be that way, at all...everybody has different tastes; I prefer Madlib's discograpy over Dilla's, the next man prefers Pete Rock over DJ Premier. It's all opinions, but I guess people get the crazy thought in their heads that because you are saying it in a review, you are saying that it is fact, and that threatens them. It disgusts me to some degree. Kudos to you, but like I said, there's no reasoning with these thick skulled buffons. Peace.

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https://smallprofessor.bandcamp.com

To say Dilla is a "drum god" is stupid.
It is an insult to the diversity and the impulsive dynamism* of our senses of rhythm. The drum is central to everything!! This whole idea of a linear hierarchy is maybe a natural response to the scale of this music culture. When something like hiphop is created by so many thousands of different people, all with different scenes, touching points and so on, some people will want to have clear figureheads they can trust in.
Dilla is easily my favourite beatmaker, but sometimes I'd rather hear something else for different reasons. So in a way I agree with Kanye that he can be equalled but never topped.
I think this is about frustration with 2 different sorts of linear attitudes to a subject which is anything but. It doesn't help when some people bother bringing racism into it. If I felt someone's attitude to music was retarded by racism I don't think I'd bother corresponding with em myself.

Calling Dilla a 'wack-ass drum connoiseur' is just as stupid of course. But I get the feeling it was subconsciously aimed at these people who lazily write off other producers, mainly because the drums Dilla were praised to high heaven by so many influential, talented people...

One of the better Donuts reviews simply because it got a reply and this counter to it, which is properly considered & makes up for that stupid 'wack-ass' statement.


*Yeah I used a thesaurus for that...

SIG:
"There is in a man an upwelling spring of life, energy, love, whatever you like to call it.
If a course is not cut for it, it turns the ground round it into a swamp."
Mark Rutherford (William Hale White), More Pages from a Journal, 1910

Who is this Dilla? Who and why? And why should we care? The review covers these insinuous angles with an alarming ease. You know, you guys should stop being the Aeon Flux of fucking critics. Godzilla, man, Goddilla.

should never be nestled into the same sentence. whatever the intent, its just too risky.

& it runs the risk of fucking with your credibility.

& this guy writes like his mind is about to blow up. i've tried to read several of his other reviews, but it feels like i'm decoding well-written run-ons.

_____________________________

"It's hard to see the future thru a scratched lens w/ broken frames..."
© Elzhi

"The world is a brainswashed kid gone wild"
© Slick Rick

uuggh © - pusha t (clipse)

this shit is gross! almost homo-erotic...

_____________________________

"It's hard to see the future thru a scratched lens w/ broken frames..."
© Elzhi

"The world is a brainswashed kid gone wild"
© Slick Rick

um ...ok, ima big ass dilla fan yada yada, but...erybody on his dick for his drums....do yall mean the actual tone and sound of the drums he chooses or are yall diggin the patterns??? I agree he is a master at getting them to sound a certain way, but...the patterns are usually pretty basic..


to me, the samples are what makes his style bang out...



just the oppinion of the Kang....

Hiz review started to talk about Jaydee az a legend & den went on to comment about how otherz felt about J-Dilla'z drumz & programmin', den he went off on a tangent about how "Donuts" wazn't thought through carefully & iz more like a Jaydee doin' a Madlib-ish beat-tape (which I will agree with).

Yez da drumz J-Dilla selected on "Donuts" were more 808izh than hiz uzual cracklin' snarez & hard-punchin' kickz with da drunk drum programmin' we uzually uze to on hiz otha beat tapez or even previouz workz.

Even with all dat in mind it waz suppoze to be a journey not let me top all my otha work, "Donuts" iz a package all to itself & da muzik fitz itself but da writer never made any good opinionz otha than comparin' J-Dilla to some cornball rapperz & producerz.

Peace & Pizza Greaze!

Anotha Keyztylebonic Vizion Prezentation!

http://myspace.com/GrandStyleDecypher
http://soundclick.com/GrandStylezlistenstation
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/halftimewnyu The Halftime Show (Wednesdays 10:30pm-1:00am)

Look at the archives on this site... there's more anticon-related stuff here than anything else. That shows a fundamental lack of understanding about how hip-hop works. This site is great for certain genres of music, but hip-hop sure as hell isn't one of them.

>Look at the archives on this site... there's more
>anticon-related stuff here than anything else. That shows a
>fundamental lack of understanding about how hip-hop works.
>This site is great for certain genres of music, but hip-hop
>sure as hell isn't one of them.

I googled "donuts review" and this was one that came up...I thought it was an interesting comment, so i posted it for discussion. Hey, it did turn out to be an interesting discussion so....

Is this guy for real????? What a prick! Jay Dee not underground???? Not enough vinyl crackle????? 4/4 beats????? What? Does this guy actually produce or has he read a few posts and thinks he has any idea about producing??? Does he actually understand what producing is?? Anyone who takes 5 mins to lay down a "professional" track isn't taking the artform very seriously and is working to a format. You can't pick drums in 5 mins.