Read A Book: 33 1/3 Takes On J Dilla's Donuts

Around these parts, no one is questioning the classic status of J Dilla's seminal and final work Donuts. And the good folks at 331/3 are treating us to a companion reader to that masterpiece, as author Jordan Ferguson explores the backstory of Donuts. This is more than the Sparknotes for Dilla's last hurrah; Ferguson compiles interviews with notable Dilla cronies like Peanut Butter Wolf, Jeff Jank (Stones Throws' art director, responsible for Quasimoto illustrations and that ill 12-inch cover art for Donuts) Eothen "Egon" Alapatt (ST's general manager of yesteryear) and just about anyone that has something to do with the album's creation into 130 pages of obsessive exploration. The 33 1/3 companion script for Donuts is due out April 24th, but you can pre-order over at Stones Throw. Read an excerpt from the jacket below.

"Drawing from philosophy, critical theory and musicology, as well as Dilla's own musical catalog, Jordan Ferguson shows that the contradictory, irascible and confrontational music found on Donuts is 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."