The Shining (J Dilla album)

The Shining is the third studio album by American hip hop producer and rapper J Dilla, who died on 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 newly recorded 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.

The Shining
Studio album by
J Dilla
ReleasedAugust 22, 2006
Recorded2005–2006
GenreHip hop
Length36:25
LabelBBE
ProducerJ Dilla, Madlib, Karriem Riggins, J. Rocc
J Dilla chronology
Donuts
(2006)		 The Shining
(2006)		 Ruff Draft
(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]
Pitchfork7.4/10[6]
PopMatters[7]
Rolling Stone[8]
Stylus MagazineB-[9]
XXLXL[10]

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.[11] While J Dilla underwent treatment at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center for complications brought on by TTP and a form of lupus, he worked on two albums: Donuts and The Shining using a Boss SP-303 sampler and a small 45 record player his friends brought him.[12] Records his mother and friends would bring were used as sample sources. She recalled it in the Crate Diggers documentary:[13]

"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 and J Dilla himself for the completion and handling of the record.[14] Riggins 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".[15]

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 solo. He also performs 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, 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 and director Brian "B.Kyle" Atkins of Okayplayer Films[16] was in the process of putting together a production consisting of footage he had shot with J Dilla. The label heard about the project 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, Atkins created the production entitled J Dilla: Still Shining, which was made available online for free. 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.

According to J Rocc of the Beat Junkies, Dilla's original idea for the cover of The Shining was to use a photograph of him wearing the CPAP mask used to treat his thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura at the time; the cover used instead was chosen after his death before the album's completion.[17]

Influence and legacy

J Dilla was known for being experimental, which influenced contemporary musicians who grew up listening to his music. Because he usually chose to enter beats manually on a drum machine rather than quantizing, he developed a behind the beat style that has caught on with young jazz musicians who are now incorporating it into their music as well.[18] J Dilla was also among the first mainstream artists to experiment with tonality in such a liberal way, which is now becoming more apparent in modern electronic music and pop music.

At the time of its release, The Shining was widely considered J Dilla's last opus as it showcased his broad set of talents, showcasing his ability to create distinct beats that would complement each performer that he worked with. The album showed off the growth that he made before his passing by showcasing his experimental nature in different ways throughout this album.[19]

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.[20]

Track listing

Unless otherwise indicated, Information is based on Liner notes[21]

No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Geek Down" (featuring Busta Rhymes)James "J Dilla" Yancey, Busta RhymesJ Dilla1:53
2."E=MC²" (featuring Common)James Yancey, Lonnie R. LynnJ Dilla3:17
3."Love Jones"James YanceyJ Dilla1:01
4."Love" (featuring Pharoahe Monch)James Yancey, Pharoahe MonchJ Dilla3:14
5."Baby" (featuring Madlib and Guilty Simpson)James Yancey, Guilty SimpsonJ Dilla, Madlib3:28
6."So Far to Go" (featuring Common and D'Angelo)James Yancey, Lonnie R. Lynn, Michael "D'Angelo" Archer, Ronald Isley, Rudolph Isley, O'Kelly Isley Jr., Marvin Isley, Ernie Isley, Chris JasperJ Dilla5:36
7."Jungle Love" (featuring MED and Guilty Simpson)James Yancey, Guilty Simpson, MEDJ Dilla2:44
8."Over the Breaks"James YanceyJ Dilla, Karriem Riggins2:14
9."Body Movin'" (featuring J. Rocc and Karriem Riggins)James Yancey, Karriem Riggins, J. RoccJ Dilla, Karriem Riggins, J. Rocc2:17
10."Dime Piece (Remix)" (featuring Dwele)James Yancey, Andwele “Dwele” GardnerJ Dilla3:15
11."Love Movin'" (featuring Black Thought)James Yancey, Tariq “Black Thought” TrotterJ Dilla3:34
12."Won't Do"James YanceyJ Dilla3:52

Personnel
  • J Dilla - vocals (rap on 2, 5, 12, sung by on 12), tambourine (7), Rhodes electric piano (3), Nord Lead synthesizer (3), Octave Cat synthesizer (7, 9), Micro Korg synthesizer (8), guitar (11), bass played by (11), audio mixing (10)
  • Black Thought - rap vocals (11)
  • Busta Rhymes - rap vocals (1)
  • Common - rap vocals (6, additional on 2)
  • Dave Cooley - audio mixing (2-7, 9, 12), recording engineer (5)
  • D'Angelo - vocals (sung by) (6)
  • Dwele - vocals (10)
  • Kelly Hibbert - recording engineer (9, 12)
  • Mela "L.A." Machinko - additional background vocals (4)
  • Madlib - additional rap vocals (5)
  • M.E.D. - rap vocals (7)
  • Pharoahe Monch - lead vocals (4)
  • Bob Power - audio mixing (1, 11)
  • Karriem Riggins - drums (3, 9, 11), Triton synthesizer (8), Korg synth (9), bass programming
  • J. Rocc - DJ scratches (2, 9)
  • Shotyme - additional background vocals (4)
  • Guilty Simpson - rap vocals (7, additional on 5)
  • Dontae Winslow - trumpet (3)

Sample Credits

Charts
Chart Peak
position
Billboard 200 103
Top Independent Albums 9
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums[32] 35

References
  1. "The Shining by J Dilla aka Jay Dee". Metacritic. 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. Dukes, Will (August 2, 2006). "J Dilla: The Shining". XXL. Archived from the original on August 28, 2006. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
  11. Dilla's manager speaks on upcoming albums, November 26, 2005.
  12. Patrin, Nate (January 16, 2013). "J Dilla: Donuts (45 Box Set)". Pitchfork. Retrieved January 16, 2013.
  13. Roper, Tamara. "The Evolution of J Dilla". Noisey. Retrieved 22 September 2017.
  14. "The Shining | Pitchfork". pitchfork.com. Retrieved 2018-09-09.
  15. The article requested can not be found! Please refresh your browser or go back. (C4,20080208,,80208013,AR)
  16. "J Dilla's Shining ready to go". Archived from the original on 2008-02-06. Retrieved 2008-05-27.
  17. Crate Diggers delves inside J Dilla's record collection fuse.tv. Retrieved 2018-12-18.
  18. https://www.npr.org/sections/ablogsupreme/2013/02/07/171349007/why-j-dilla-may-be-jazzs-latest-great-innovator
  19. https://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/9712/J-Dilla-The-Shining/
  20. "J Dilla, The Shining (BBE)". Spin. November 24, 2014. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
  21. J Dilla. “The Shining”. BBE Records. 2006.
  22. Associated Press Staff. “J Dilla’s Turn In Spotlight...”. Today: Pop Culture. 30 August 2006. https://www.today.com/popculture/j-dilla-s-turn-spotlight-comes-after-his-death-wbna14587861
  23. DJ Asma. “The Classical Side of Dilla”. Music Is My Sanctuary. 25 February 2016. http://www.musicismysanctuary.com/dilla-classical-samples
  24. Barber, Andrew. “The 50 Best J Dilla Songs”. Complex. 7 February 2012. http://www.complex.com/music/2012/02/the-50-best-dilla-songs/
  25. DOK. “J Sampleecious”. Rappamelo. 7 February 2016. http://rappamelo.com/2013/07/j-sampleecious/
  26. DJ Nightkrawler. “Song of the Day...”. DJ D-MAC & Associates. 13 March 2012. http://www.djdmac.com/blog/song-of-the-day-placebo-humpty-dumpty/
  27. Howe, Brian. “J Dilla - The Shining”. Pitchfork. 23 August 2006. https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/9335-the-shining/
  28. Frauenhofer, Michael. “J Dilla: The Shining”. Pop Matters. 25 August 2006. https://www.popmatters.com/j-dilla-the-shining-2495694634.html
  29. J Dilla, et. al. “Body Movin’”. Lyrics 007. 22 August 2006. https://www.lyrics007.com/lyrics/j-dilla-feat-j-rocc-karriem-riggins-body-movin/TWpjNU9EWTJOdz09
  30. “Happy Birthday, Dick Hyman”. Moog Music. 8 March 2017. https://www.moogmusic.com/news/happy-birthday-dick-hyman-0
  31. Yungun (aka Essa) and Tommy Evans. “Silent Mobius”. Soundcloud. 2002. https://m.soundcloud.com/djharrylove/silentmobius
  32. J Dilla - The Shining, billboard.com.
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