My recommendations 2006:Donuts by J Dilla

J Dilla: Donuts
Stones Throw 2/7/2006

Available on Emusic

It's taken me until the past two years to start getting over the bad taste that was left in my mouth by mainstream hip-hop. I was turned off by the seemingly narrow subject matter and the overt homophobia and sexism in all the MTV-friendly rap and hip-hop that was popular during my teens. However, after reading some appealing reviews of underground hip-hop records from independent labels, I started testing the waters. After a few positive experiences, I got over my preconceptions. Donuts exemplifies what I thought was missing from hip-hop. It's a very strange record, eschewing typical song structures for very short compositions that blend into each other to create a surreal sound experience. It's completely unlike anything I had expected from any form of music, let alone hip-hop.