Wiki
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Release Date
21 August 2006
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Length
12 tracks
The Shining is the title of the second official solo album from late Hip Hop producer and rapper 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.
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. 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".
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, D'Angelo, Madlib, and Black Thought on the LP. The last track, "Won't Do", is the only song to feature Dilla rhyming by himself. It was also issued as a single (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 sometime in February 2006. The album itself was scheduled for an August 2006 release to allow time for the completion of a bonus DVD that was due to be attached to each retail copy produced by Brian "B. Kyle" Atkins of Okayplayer Films. Eventually, however, it was decided to release the two separately, with the DVD following the album. To date, the documentary has not been released. 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.
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