from the LP Donuts, Stones Throw Records, 2006Human beings are the only creatures on earth who live life in the shadow of their own foreseen future death, cognitively understanding at an early age that what we experience & understand as “life” will one day cease to exist, whatever that might mean afterwards; even as much as I am convinced, at times, that dogs are both intelligent and psychic, I wouldn’t dream of arguing that a dog (or a chimp or a whale, etc…) contemplates their own eventual passing, because that is nonsense. Indeed, there are sociologists and other members of the social science community that would argue passionately about virtually anything you see in front of you (i.e. buildings, cars, highways, education, religion, traditions, etc…) ultimately being an expression of fear, clamoring to stay busy and informed enough about the here-and-now so as not to dwell too much about that one daunting inevitability; for the record, I’m not quite that fatalistic, but I undoubtedly agree that death drives us all to varying degrees, perhaps emphatically so amongst those who are terminally ill. Legendary beats master J Dilla was in and out of the hospital throughout the recording of this album, on what would sadly prove to be his death bed (from complications of the rare blood disorder TTP and Lupus), and there are hints sprinkled all over the place that he may have known the end was nigh; for one example, try not getting goosebumps (and, frankly, becoming kinda misty) hearing that Dionne Warwick sample in “Stop”, “…hmm, you’re gonna want me back, in your arms; you’re gonna need me, one day, mmm, you’re gonna want me back, in your arms…” From the heavy vibe there, to the reeling mood on “Time”, and even on the hands-in-the-air party track “Gobstopper”, Dilla’s raw passion for life & music are easy to see, weighty to absorb. This album dropped on his 32nd birthday, he died only three days later; R.I.P.
