J Dilla

Although he crafted beats for hip-hop's finest (A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, Pharcyde, Busta Rhymes, Common), the name J Dilla, a.k.a. Jay Dee, is still largely unknown outside of hip-hop's cognoscenti. All that will change in '06 — if for no other reason than Donutswas released the same week as James Yancey's tragic, untimely death (see Outtakes for his obituary).

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More About

• J Dilla
• Busta Rhymes
• The Pharcyde
• Underground Hip-Hop
• Hip-Hop and Rap

After two decades in the biz, Dilla here dropped only the second album to be released under his own name. Donuts is an instrumental opus, a nonstop mix filled with chopped-up deep funk and soul tunes, crazy electric-guitar samples, stumbling piano loops, and off-the-wall drop-ins by the Beastie Boys, Frank Zappa, and Wolfman Jack. A trippy tour de force, Donuts will leave heads shaking, and J Dilla will be sorely missed.