J. Dilla / Various

After focusing on his production for various artists and his remix output, the third volume of the Dillanthology series hones in on J. Dilla's work on his own solo and collaborative projects. With tracks being pulled from Welcome to Detroit, Donuts, The Shining, Jay Stay Paid and the Jaylib album Champion Sound, Dillanthology Vol. 3 focuses on the latter period of J. Dilla's work. Most of the 14 tracks will be familiar to those who followed J. Dilla's career with the speed rock of "Workinonit," the military bounce of "Pause," and "The Red" already acknowledged as Dilla essentials. Of the countless songs he produced that would qualify for this particular volume it's hard to say which 14 should have made the cut and truthfully a blindfolded random selection would probably would have yielded a satisfying listening experience, given the quality of Dilla's output. Dillanthology 3 definitely does not disappoint, but in terms of sequencing it would have been interesting to hear some of Dilla's instrumental workouts such as the remake of Donald Byrd's "Think Twice" or Elzhi's breakout performance on "Come Get It" ― both incidentally from his first solo endeavour Welcome to Detroit ― for the sake of pacing and variety.