2008 Woodie Awards
Life after death
Rapper Dilla died last year, but family and friends have released the first of two posthumous albums, showing that he lives on through his music.
Ryan Burns '08
Issue date: 9/21/06 Section: Arts & Entertainment
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J Dilla
The Shining
Bbe
Some legends never die. As forced collaborations on posthumous albums by Notorious B.I.G. and 2Pac have been released throughout the last few years, it is rare to see a deceased artists' material released just as he would have wanted it.
Knowing this, Kariem Riggins, a long- time friend and collaborator of J Dilla, wanted to help. Along with Dilla's mother and Bbe Records, Rigging has released the first of two finished J Dilla albums, the first entitled The Shining. After Dilla's untimely demise last winter after a four-year battle with lupus, his friends and family thought it would be best to release his material to the public with a proceed from the album going to charity.
The album is somewhat of a departure from his critically acclaimed instrumental LP Donuts, which was released three days before his death in February. This album features guest appearances from previous Dilla collaborators such as Common, Dwele, and Black Thought from The Roots. The 12-track album is somewhat of a throwback to the earlier sounds of Dilla with a tiny bit of Donuts sprinkled in. I was somewhat disappointed at the track listing of the album, as there were only nine actual songs. The other three interludes, however, are amazing instrumentals, with an unintentionally funny Busta Rhymes intro that felt a little out of place on the album. While the two pure instrumental tracks are vintage Dilla, I always skip to track two when listening to The Shining, due to the volume of Busta Rhymes voice. I blasted this CD when I first bought it in a Best Buy parking lot, and as soon as Busta yelled "Ay YOOO," a woman next to my car screamed. This is a true story and was embarrassing for everyone involved.
Luckily, Common comes through and saves the day on "E=MC2." Over a head- knocking beat, complete with one of J Dilla's trademark vocal filtering, Common spits as strong as ever, like he did so many times with Dilla in the past. Lines like: "This rap here, something that I felt in the moment/a truth, opponents in the booth/inspired, cause what I write is fire like roof" flow perfectly over Dilla's beat. While listening to this, I felt like I was being taken in a time machine back to 2000 when Dilla and Common frequently collaborated.
The Shining
Bbe
Some legends never die. As forced collaborations on posthumous albums by Notorious B.I.G. and 2Pac have been released throughout the last few years, it is rare to see a deceased artists' material released just as he would have wanted it.
Knowing this, Kariem Riggins, a long- time friend and collaborator of J Dilla, wanted to help. Along with Dilla's mother and Bbe Records, Rigging has released the first of two finished J Dilla albums, the first entitled The Shining. After Dilla's untimely demise last winter after a four-year battle with lupus, his friends and family thought it would be best to release his material to the public with a proceed from the album going to charity.
The album is somewhat of a departure from his critically acclaimed instrumental LP Donuts, which was released three days before his death in February. This album features guest appearances from previous Dilla collaborators such as Common, Dwele, and Black Thought from The Roots. The 12-track album is somewhat of a throwback to the earlier sounds of Dilla with a tiny bit of Donuts sprinkled in. I was somewhat disappointed at the track listing of the album, as there were only nine actual songs. The other three interludes, however, are amazing instrumentals, with an unintentionally funny Busta Rhymes intro that felt a little out of place on the album. While the two pure instrumental tracks are vintage Dilla, I always skip to track two when listening to The Shining, due to the volume of Busta Rhymes voice. I blasted this CD when I first bought it in a Best Buy parking lot, and as soon as Busta yelled "Ay YOOO," a woman next to my car screamed. This is a true story and was embarrassing for everyone involved.
Luckily, Common comes through and saves the day on "E=MC2." Over a head- knocking beat, complete with one of J Dilla's trademark vocal filtering, Common spits as strong as ever, like he did so many times with Dilla in the past. Lines like: "This rap here, something that I felt in the moment/a truth, opponents in the booth/inspired, cause what I write is fire like roof" flow perfectly over Dilla's beat. While listening to this, I felt like I was being taken in a time machine back to 2000 when Dilla and Common frequently collaborated.