J Dilla

Although he has crafted beats for hip-hop’s finest (A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, Pharcyde, Busta Rhymes, Common), the name J Dilla, aka Jay Dee, is still largely unknown outside of hip-hop’s cognoscenti. This should change in ’06. After two decades in the biz, Dilla here drops only the second album to be released under his own name, the instrumental opus Donuts. This nonstop mix is 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.