Stones Throw Records teetered on the brink of insolvency before James died. But the death of J Dilla just days after the release of Donuts earned it mentions in The New York Times and other publications that might have otherwise ignored the bizarre instrumental record from an independent label. With stories of James’s intermittent hospitalization and reports of sampling equipment in his room, the coverage spread a dramatic creation story for the album—namely that Donuts had been largely composed bedside while James was being treated at Cedars-Sinai. It was a romantic narrative if not
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