Vinyl Me Please Rap & Hip Hop

Clint Howard said:
I'm going to throw my two cents in and say that Donuts is nothing to aspire to be. Weakest of all the projects Dilla was involved with while he was alive and only championed cause it was put out right around the time he died. Also inspired all those lame kids with the Dilla Changed My Life Shirts. The only thing Dilla had really changed at that point was how terrible he made Tribe.

Having said that, I don't understand the comparison to Knxwledge at all? Like dude couldn't even hold a candle to a candle of Dilla's production.
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Dilla was the best part of those later Tribe albums.. His beats on those albums you cannot deny..
 
Clint Howard said:
I'm going to throw my two cents in and say that Donuts is nothing to aspire to be. Weakest of all the projects Dilla was involved with while he was alive and only championed cause it was put out right around the time he died.
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I'm willing to go on record and say that the album was a game changer for me. Definitely inspired me to look at hip-hop production in a new way, as well as to check out more of his discography.
And I found a newer, deeper love for my wife a few months before we were married and she surprised me with tickets to see DJ Jazzy Jeff at Brooklyn Bowl. What she DIDN'T tell me was that he was headlining as part of a Dilla Day and the whole night was Dilla music. Dilla's mom came out at one point... very beautiful evening.
 
Clint Howard said:
Really? People really consider it one of the greatest of all time of any genre? Like.. forreal? It wouldn't even crack a top 25 rap records for me. Hell, I could probably list top instrumental rap records I'd rather listen to before that one came up but y'know.. to each their own.

As far as the shirts go, that was not meant as a shot at you. Just being from Toronto. which seemed to kinda be Dilla's home away from home, the number of people I saw rocking that shirt because they'd just read about his death in Now or Eye magazine are way too many to count. The people I knew in Toronto who knew Dilla and/or fucked with him all thought that shit was corny af, but again, your mileage may vary.
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So, maybe Donuts is the instrumental hip-hop record for indie kids. I personally don’t hang with many hip-hop heads but in the circles I run it feels like everyone I know loves Dilla explicitly because of Donuts. IDK, I think it’s brilliant myself but maybe it’s similar to how some Hip-hop heads show their depth by thinking A Rush Of Blood To The Head is a masterpiece.
 
MadLucas said:
I'm willing to go on record and say that the album was a game changer for me. Definitely inspired me to look at hip-hop production in a new way, as well as to check out more of his discography.
And I found a newer, deeper love for my wife a few months before we were married and she surprised me with tickets to see DJ Jazzy Jeff at Brooklyn Bowl. What she DIDN'T tell me was that he was headlining as part of a Dilla Day and the whole night was Dilla music. Dilla's mom came out at one point... very beautiful evening.
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I think people are mistaking my lack of fawning over Donuts as saying its a crap record. That it is not and I have owned multiple copies in my life time (also have that bonus Crushin' 7" pic disc if anyone is looking for a copy). I just don't see it as the game changer others do and as I stated in the first post, I think it is his weakest effort (while still alive). I mean we threw a show for Slum Village 4-5 years earlier and maybe 30-40 kids showed up? And a lot of the people there were upset that Dilla would be taking over a lot of mic duties cause one of the other dudes wasn't there.

TenderLovingKiller® said:
So, maybe Donuts is the instrumental hip-hop record for indie kids. I personally don’t hang with many hip-hop heads but in the circles I run it feels like everyone I know loves Dilla explicitly because of Donuts. IDK, I think it’s brilliant myself but maybe it’s similar to how some Hip-hop heads show their depth by thinking A Rush Of Blood To The Head is a masterpiece.
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And that's totally fair, and the for indie kids makes sense if you know what Now or Eye Magazine are (they're a Canadian/local free paper strictly aimed at indie kids). I like the record a lot, I just don't think it's a masterpiece by a long stretch. I'm also of the belief that the term masterpiece and genre-defining and all that hyperbole are grossly overused in this day and age as well.
 
Clint Howard said:
I think people are mistaking my lack of fawning over Donuts as saying its a crap record. That it is not and I have owned multiple copies in my life time (also have that bonus Crushin' 7" pic disc if anyone is looking for a copy). I just don't see it as the game changer others do and as I stated in the first post, I think it is his weakest effort (while still alive). I mean we threw a show for Slum Village 4-5 years earlier and maybe 30-40 kids showed up? And a lot of the people there were upset that Dilla would be taking over a lot of mic duties cause one of the other dudes wasn't there.



And that's totally fair, and the for indie kids makes sense if you know what Now or Eye Magazine are (they're a Canadian/local free paper strictly aimed at indie kids). I like the record a lot, I just don't think it's a masterpiece by a long stretch. I'm also of the belief that the term masterpiece and genre-defining and all that hyperbole are grossly overused in this day and age as well.
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I agree regarding our lexicon being blunted by the overuse of hyperbole. Everything is the best ever or total garbage. Nuance is all but extinct in our social media verbiage. That being said, IMO Donuts is fucking great.
 
Clint Howard said:
Really? People really consider it one of the greatest of all time of any genre? Like.. forreal? It wouldn't even crack a top 25 rap records for me. Hell, I could probably list top instrumental rap records I'd rather listen to before that one came up but y'know.. to each their own.

As far as the shirts go, that was not meant as a shot at you. Just being from Toronto. which seemed to kinda be Dilla's home away from home, the number of people I saw rocking that shirt because they'd just read about his death in Now or Eye magazine are way too many to count. The people I knew in Toronto who knew Dilla and/or fucked with him all thought that shit was corny af, but again, your mileage may vary.
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Oh it’s on plenty of best of lists. It’s one of my favorites of all time as well but that’s not what I’m referring to. Also the fact that he made it from his hospital bed in his last days really adds to its legendary status.

No offense taken regarding the shirt at all. I bought it from his website to support his family after his death and to show some love. I’ve only worn it outside a couple of times. My only regret is that it doesn’t fit me any more. The dad bod is in full effect over here!
 
MadLucas said:
I'm willing to go on record and say that the album was a game changer for me. Definitely inspired me to look at hip-hop production in a new way, as well as to check out more of his discography.
And I found a newer, deeper love for my wife a few months before we were married and she surprised me with tickets to see DJ Jazzy Jeff at Brooklyn Bowl. What she DIDN'T tell me was that he was headlining as part of a Dilla Day and the whole night was Dilla music. Dilla's mom came out at one point... very beautiful evening.
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She’s a keeper.
 
Donuts is fucking great. Never heard it called a game changer, and personally think that’s a weird label to throw on it, but it absolutely deserves the love people have and show for it.

Also, Hud Dreems is dope too. Just spun my copy again a few days ago and I rather enjoyed it! It was a pleasant afternoon soundtrack to Spin Cleaning a stack of records.
 
Loving this Dilla talk, these are the convos I love seeing on this forum! Really puts into perspective how long these VMP related quandaries go on for when some shit goes down. I feel burnt out at this point but THIS RIGHT HERE, love seeing people exchange these opinions.

As for Dilla, I’m going to have to agree with Clint after much back and forth rationalization. Clint made me realize that I certainly was one of those “Dilla Changed My Life Kids” (which he did) but it feels in hindsight that my adoration for Donuts was more out of conformity than personal preference. It was the answer that I feel was expected to be given and so I’d tell people Donuts was my favorite work from Dilla but let’s be honest. The work he did on Fantastic Volume 2, Labcabincalifornia, Like Water For Chocolate and The Shining far out match the work he did on Donuts. If I’m being honest honest, not a single beat from Donuts would make my top 10 list of Dilla beats, except MAYBE Last Donut Of The Night. Honestly Kjay & We Out and Nag Champa might be my favorite songs from him. Would love to see what people would put in their Top 3 now that I think about it.
 
scotthilk said:
Anyone who hasn’t listened to their Roots album should! This is one of my favorites of theirs and I highly recommend it. If you don’t want it, send it to me and I’ll PIF my black copy :)
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Love listening to it, I think it’s such a feel good and catchy Roots album. They did a great job producing/writing How I Got Over. I’m always entertained listening to it up until the last two songs.
 
Ghost said:
Love listening to it, I think it’s such a feel good and catchy Roots album. They did a great job producing/writing How I Got Over. I’m always entertained listening to it up until the last two songs.
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Don’t like the last two songs? Or they ruin the flow?

To be honest, Donuts isn’t my favorite Dilla either. But what does that have to do with the quality of the album? Enjoy things for what they are and stop ranking things all the time. 🤣😂

Im just being playful.........
........I’m really partial to The Shining 😁
 
Clint Howard said:
I'm going to throw my two cents in and say that Donuts is nothing to aspire to be. Weakest of all the projects Dilla was involved with while he was alive and only championed cause it was put out right around the time he died. Also inspired all those lame kids with the Dilla Changed My Life Shirts. The only thing Dilla had really changed at that point was how terrible he made Tribe.

Having said that, I don't understand the comparison to Knxwledge at all? Like dude couldn't even hold a candle to a candle of Dilla's production.
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This is single-handedly the hottest and worst take I have ever seen on this forum, which is saying a lot. Its ok if you don't like Donuts, but your dislike of it is clearly not allowing you to be objective in evaluating the music. If you can listen to Donuts and not feel some of the heavy weight that was on Dilla's shoulders as he was making this album, you might be a robot. For many including myself, this album is an emotional listen so to just disregard how millions feel about this album with "its only because he died" is pretty arrogant and callous.

Also, Dilla did not ruin Tribe lol. Go back and listen to Beats, Rhymes & The Love Movement and tell me with a straight face that the verses were better than the production. A lot of the verses sound phoned in.

And if you don't see Donuts as a game-changer, well then I am sorry but your knowledge of music production and how Dilla inspired generations of beatmakers with that album is incredibly lacking.
 
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