J. Dilla - Donuts (2xLP)

Donuts began simply enough as an idea to turn a particularly good demo beat tape into a full-length release, and has since became a classic hip-hop album, one of the defining works of J Dilla's life.  

Completed during a year in which J Dilla spent in and out of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, and released on his birthday Feb. 7, 2006, Donuts would gain particular poignancy when the producer died on Feb. 10, 2006.

Announced in Fall 2005, the concept of a “rap album without rappers” struck some as novelty but Donuts would prove to transcend the rigid definitions of what a hip-hop album could be.