{"product_id":"j-dillas-donuts-9781623561833","title":"J Dilla's Donuts","description":"\u003cp\u003eFrom a Los Angeles hospital bed, equipped with little more than a laptop and a stack of records, James \"J Dilla\" Yancey crafted a set of tracks that would forever change the way beatmakers viewed their artform. The songs on \u003ci\u003eDonuts \u003c\/i\u003eare not hip hop music as \"hip hop music\" is typically defined; they careen and crash into each other, in one moment noisy and abrasive, gorgeous and heartbreaking the next. The samples and melodies tell the story of a man coming to terms with his declining health, a final love letter to the family and friends he was leaving behind. As a prolific producer with a voracious appetite for the history and mechanics of the music he loved, J Dilla knew the records that went into constructing \u003ci\u003eDonuts \u003c\/i\u003einside and out. He could have taken them all and made a much different, more accessible album. If the widely accepted view is that his final work is a record about dying, the question becomes why did he make this record about dying? \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eDrawing from philosophy, critical theory and musicology, as well as Dilla's own musical catalogue, Jordan Ferguson shows that the contradictory, irascible and confrontational music found on \u003ci\u003eDonuts \u003c\/i\u003eis as much a result of an artist's declining health as it is an example of what scholars call \"late style,\" placing the album in a musical tradition that stretches back centuries.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eJordan Ferguson\u003c\/b\u003e is a freelance culture writer based in Toronto. He can be found online at poetryforgravediggers.com.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Bloomsbury Academic","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50613952053522,"sku":"9781623561833","price":10.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_b73061d0-eb99-4243-9908-bfcc4ab5bf8f.jpg?v=1732422973","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/j-dillas-donuts-9781623561833","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}