Track Listing

1. Geek Down - J Dilla & Busta Rhymes
2. E=MC2 - J Dilla & Common
3. Love Jones - J Dilla
4. Love - J Dilla & Pharoahe Monch
5. Baby - J Dilla & Madlib/Guilty Simpson
6. So Far To Go - J Dilla & Common/D'Angelo
7. Jungle Love - J Dilla & MED/Guilty Simpson
8. Over The Breaks - J Dilla
9. Body Movin' - J Dilla & J Rocc/Karriem Riggins
10. Dime Piece - J Dilla & J Rocc/Karriem Riggins
11. Love Movin' - J Dilla & Black Thought
12. Won't Do - J Dilla

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #13937 in Music
• Released on: 2006-08-21
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Explicit Lyrics

Customer Reviews

The Dullness.
Hearing this album and reading the pre-existing reviews is a bit like having a Stepford Wives moment, where you ask is everyone else a robot with a pre-programmed sycophacy of the 'late great Dilla'. Experimental production and playing with beat sounds and samples is creative, but what happens when the output simply doesn't sound tight or coherant? With an overeliance on looping with little innovative variation in structure, plus the overuse of Jack Nicholson's soundbites from Kubrick's The Shining, make this LP highly tedious and rarely attention grabbing. I know I sound like a blasphemer, but the release is wack, and probably well below what he was capable of. Maybe the other '25%' was what brought this down, but having listened to all his other material, I doubt it. Severely overrated.

R.I.P To J DILLA/JAY DEE his music will live on!
J Dilla's "The Shining" serves as a testament to the fact that legends never die. On February 10th, 2006, the world of hip hop lost J Dilla aka Jay Dee. James "J Dilla" Yancey leaves behind an impression on hip hop that will last the test of time!
A bridge between hip hop's underground and mainstream, Dilla's contributions ranged from single handedly defining Detroit Hip- Hop, as a founding member of Slum Village to providing his production talents to Common, D'Angelo, Dwele, Frank N Dank, Steve Spacek, Erykah Badu, A Tribe Called Quest, The Pharcyde, The Roots, Busta Rhymes, Janet Jackson and Macy Gray. "The Shining" marked the reunion of J Dilla & BBE, who had released "Welcome 2 Detroit", J Dilla's debut album, a few years ago.
"The Shining" serves as showcase of J Dilla's talents which features him not only as a producer, but also as a rapper, singer and musician. Featured guests on this album include Busta Rhymes, Common, Pharoahe Monch, D'Angelo, Madlib, Dwele, Black Thought, Medaphor aka MED, and Guilty Simpson.
A must for proper rap lovers, who like their BEATS and RHYMES and support the artist, who was one of the best producers in the rap game to date, and will sadly be missed by many!

A True Hip-Hop Great!
"The Shining" is the second album to be released since J Dilla (Jay Dee) passed away earlier this year. The first thing to say is that in my opinion Dilla has been behind some of the best hip-hop to come out over the past decade. The second thing to point out is that this album was only 75% complete when Dilla died. Karriem Riggins was given the job of finishing the album.

For fans of J Dilla's the bad new is that this album is a bit of a let down. To start with there are only 12 tracks on the album including three instrumentals and an intro. Furthermore I have to say I was slightly let down with the artists featured on the album. Considering this is the first release to feature guest appearances since Jay's death I was disappointed not to see the likes of Q-Tip & especially Slum Village.

In terms of the music itself it is rather mixed and there is no flow to the album. "Baby" sounds like it belongs more on a Diplomats album, while "Geek Down", "Jungle Love", "Over The Breaks" and "Body Movin" quite simply do nothing for the album. However, it is not all bad. "Love Jones" is an amazing instrumental (although its only a minute long), while "Love" feat. Pharoahe Monch, "E=MC2" feat. Common & "Love Movin" feat. Black Thought of the Roots are all good songs. "Dime Piece" sounds like an extended version of the last twenty seconds of Dwele's song "Sho Ya Right". The final let down with "The Shining" is that there is not more of Dilla himself on the mic. Jay only appears rapping on one song "Won't Do". Fortunately this is one of the best songs on the album. Yet not the best. In my opinion this accolade goes to "So Far To Go" feat. Common & D'Angelo. This is a wonderful song and it shows just how much Dilla still had to offer.

Overall while "The Shining" may not be the best release in his career this should not detract away from the fact that J Dilla has been producing some of the best hip-hop for over a decade and as such he should not be judged on this posthumous release. As such any fan of Dilla's or hip-hop in general will like this album.