Donuts (album) - Re-use of Beats

Re-use of Beats

The tracks "One for Ghost" and "Hi" were used in Ghostface Killah's Fishscale, under the names "Whip You With a Strap" and "Beauty Jackson", respectively. Ghostface Killah also used "Geek Down" for the song Murda Goons released on his Hidden Darts: Special Edition album. Busta Rhymes and Rah Digga used "Gobstopper" and "Last Donut of the Night" as beats for "Just Another Day at the Range" and "Best That Ever Did It." "Workinonit" was used by The Roots for a collaboration with Saigon for the album Game Theory, however it was not included out of respect for Dilla's passing. The verse from Saigon can be heard on his mixtape Return of the Yardfather. J Dilla's posthumously released album The Shining, also released with new verses on Common's Finding Forever, uses a re-edited version of "Bye."

The aforementioned tracks were, for the most part, recorded or planned during Dilla's lifetime. After Dilla's passing, The Roots used "Time: The Donut of the Heart" for their J Dilla tribute "Can't Stop This" on the album Game Theory. In 2005, the track "Mash" was rapped over by MF DOOM and Guilty Simpson on the track "Mash's Revenge" feature on the Stones Throw compilation "B-Ball Zombie War". DOOM also used "Anti-American Graffiti" which appeared on the Dilla Ghost Doom release Sniperlite, under the track name "Sniper Elite". DOOM later used "Lightworks" on a track of the same name on his album "Born Like This". "Lightworks" was also used for the "B-Ball Zombie War" track "Lightworking," which features Talib Kweli and Q-Tip. Busta Rhymes added a verse to Q-Tip and Talib Kweli's on "Lightworks". This was included in his Dillagence mixtape, 2007.

Cartoon Network has used many of the album's tracks as bumper music during the Adult Swim programming block. Adult Swim, which has been in a partnership with Stones Throw records, cited the track "Stepson of the Clapper" as their addiction.

Many notable rappers and hip hop artists started to use many of the beats from Donuts:

• Termanology also recorded a track titled, "Only One Can Win" using J Dilla's track "Two Can Win." The song is a tale about a man choosing between rap and a woman. He pays respect to Dilla in the beginning of the song.
• Talib Kweli has used "Bye" on a track called "I Feel You" from the mixtape Blacksmith: The Movement and "Dilla Says Go" on a track called "Kweli Says Go" from the mixtape with Clinton Sparks "Get Familiar".
• Big Pooh had used "Gobstopper" for a track titled "Plastic Cups" he also used "One Eleven" for a track with the same name featuring O-Dash on a mixtape with Mick Boogie.
• Ghostface Killah used "One For Ghost" in a song called "Whip You with a Strap" and used "Hi" for "Beauty Jackson" on his album Fishscale. Those two songs were initially created for Ghostface, hence the title "One For Ghost".
• Ghostface Killah also recorded a song called "Murder Goons" over the beat from "Geek Down" in the Fishscale sessions, but the song remained unreleased until 2007 when it appeared on Hidden Darts (Special Edition).
• Drake used "Time: The Donut of the Heart" in a song called "Where to Now" on his mixtape Comeback Season (2007).
• Charles Hamilton created a mixtape titled And Then They Played Dilla rapping over tracks from Donuts. He also created a sequel, which is named "And Then They Played Dilla 2".
• Rapper Skyzoo has recorded tribute tracks using "Two Can Win" and "Last Donut," among others.
• Rapper Jay Electronica used "Gobstopper" for his track "Abracadabra" and several other Dilla beats for various tracks of his Victory mixtape
• XV released Thanks For The Donuts, a tribute EP using J Dilla beats, on February 7, 2011 (Dilla's birthday as well as the fifth anniversary of Donuts).
• Big Sean has a song on his mixtape F.F.O.E. which uses the beat for "Two Can Win", and uses the same title.