The Shining (J Dilla album)

The Shining
Studio album by J Dilla
Released August 22, 2006
Recorded 2005-2006
Genre Hip hop
Length 36:25
Label BBE Records
Producer J Dilla, Madlib, Karriem Riggins, J. Rocc
J Dilla chronology
Donuts
(2006)		 The Shining
(2006)		 Ruff Draft
(Reissue)
(2007)
The Shining: Instrumentals
Cover for the instrumental version
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic80/100[1]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
The A.V. ClubB+[3]
HipHopDX[4]
Now[5]
Pitchfork Media7.4/10[6]
PopMatters[7]
Rolling Stone[8]
Stylus MagazineB-[9]
Tiny Mix Tapes[10]
XXLXL[11]

The Shining is the third studio album by album by American hip hop recording artist J Dilla, who died February 10, 2006. The Shining was incomplete at the time of J Dilla's passing and was posthumously completed. Discounting the instrumental album Donuts, The Shining was the first full-length solo release by J Dilla (featuring vocals) since Welcome 2 Detroit five years earlier, and as such was highly anticipated. It was released on August 22, 2006 through BBE Records. An instrumental version of the album followed its release shortly afterward.

Background

In the works for many years under working titles such as the rumored Welcome 2 LA, Dilla's manager, Tim Maynor, said in November 2005 that The Shining would come out in February 2006 on BBE and that the Dilla self-titled album would follow in the same year.[12] As the album was ultimately only 75% complete at the time of J Dilla's passing, his friend and fellow Detroit hip-hop artist Karriem Riggins was entrusted by Dilla's mother for the completion and handling of the record. Riggins himself has indicated that there will be further future releases of Dilla's music in the coming years, stating that "all of his music needs to be heard".[13]

A few of the tracks on The Shining are vocal versions of previously heard material such as "So Far to Go" (Donuts track "Bye" revamped and extended to serve as an intended remix to Common's "Go!"). This song was originally to be released by Common during the last quarter of 2005, as part of a Be special edition package. In 2007, an alternate version of "So Far to Go" containing new verses and a new mix was released on Common's Finding Forever album.

Dilla features some of his past collaborators, such as the aforementioned Common on two songs, Busta Rhymes, D'Angelo, Madlib, and Black Thought on the LP. The closing track, "Won't Do", is the only song to feature Dilla rhyming by himself. He does however also rhyme on "Baby" together with Madlib and Guilty Simpson and provide the chorus for "E=Mc2". "Won't Do" was also issued as a single (as The Shining EP2), accompanied by a video that premiered on December 12, 2006. The video included appearances by Common, Slum Village, will.i.am, Frank-N-Dank, Karriem Riggins, Black Thought, Talib Kweli, and J Dilla's younger brother, John Yancey (aka Illa J).

A promo single called "Love", featuring Pharoahe Monch, was leaked onto the internet in February 2006, days after J.Dilla's death. Plans for the album's retail release was accelerated and scheduled for April 2006. Video Producer/Director Brian "B.Kyle" Atkins of Okayplayer Films [14] was in the process of putting together a production consisting of exclusive footage he had shot with J.Dilla... a project which the label heard about and wanted as a bonus DVD to accompany each retail copy of the album. Eventually, however, it was decided to release the two separately. In honor of J.Dilla, Brian "B.Kyle" Atkins created the production entitled J.Dilla: Still Shining, which was made available to J.Dilla fans online, for free, at www.TheJDillaProject.com and YouTube. The album received generally positive reviews and debuted at #103 in its first week of release according to Billboard. An instrumental version of the album soon followed.

The advance copy of the album contains samples from The Shining over the tracks to prevent sharing. These samples are not in the retail version but the advance copy is available on the internet, leading many to believe that the samples are part of the album.

Reception

At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, The Shining received an average score of 80% based on 21 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[1]

It ranked at number 35 on Spin's "40 Best Albums of 2006" list.[15]

Track listing

No.TitleProducer(s)Length
1."Geek Down" (featuring Busta Rhymes)J Dilla1:53
2."E=MC²" (featuring Common)J Dilla3:17
3."Love Jones"  J Dilla1:01
4."Love" (featuring Pharoahe Monch)J Dilla3:14
5."Baby" (featuring Madlib and Guilty Simpson)J Dilla, Madlib3:28
6."So Far to Go" (featuring Common and D'Angelo)J Dilla5:36
7."Jungle Love" (featuring MED and Guilty Simpson)J Dilla2:44
8."Over the Breaks"  J Dilla, Karriem Riggins2:14
9."Body Movin'" (featuring J. Rocc and Karriem Riggins)J Dilla, Karriem Riggins, J. Rocc2:17
10."Dime Piece (Remix)" (featuring Dwele)J Dilla3:15
11."Love Movin'" (featuring Black Thought)J Dilla3:34
12."Won't Do"  J Dilla3:52

Charts

Chart Peak
position
Billboard 200 103
Top Independent Albums 9
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums 35

References

  1. 1 2 "The Shining by J Dilla aka Jay Dee". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
  2. ↑ Kellman, Andy. "J Dilla - The Shining". AllMusic. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
  3. ↑ Rabin, Nathan (September 19, 2006). "J Dilla: The Shining". The A.V. Club. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
  4. ↑ Ketchum, William (August 24, 2006). "J Dilla - The Shining". HipHopDX. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
  5. ↑ Perlich, Tim (August 17, 2006). "J Dilla". Now. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
  6. ↑ Howe, Brian (August 23, 2006). "J Dilla: The Shining". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
  7. ↑ Frauenhofer, Michael (August 25, 2006). "Dilla: The Shining". PopMatters. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
  8. ↑ Serpick, Evan (August 10, 2006). "J Dilla: The Shining". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on February 11, 2009. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
  9. ↑ Macdonald, Cameron (August 22, 2006). "J Dilla - The Shining". Stylus Magazine. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
  10. ↑ Ranta, Alan. "J Dilla - The Shining". Tiny Mix Tapes. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
  11. ↑ Dukes, Will (August 2, 2006). "J Dilla: The Shining". XXL. Archived from the original on August 28, 2006. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
  12. ↑ Dilla's manager speaks on upcoming albums, November 26, 2005
  13. ↑ The article requested can not be found! Please refresh your browser or go back. (C4,20080208,,80208013,AR)
  14. ↑ J Dilla's Shining ready to go
  15. ↑ "J Dilla, The Shining (BBE)". Spin. November 24, 2014. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
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