The Shining is only further evidence that a master was at work. And that may be the saddest part of listening to this record: We will never know what he would have come up with next.  Full text...

The Shining serves as a splendid documentary of the legacy Dilla created during his career, and sadly, the ongoing genius that was cut short.  Full text...

The Shining is a decidedly Dilla affair. In under 40 minutes it manages to encompass the various styles and sensibilities which have come to define J's unique aesthetic.  Full text...

It's an expression of Dilla's steadfast commitment to his own vision amid the shifting tides of rap culture at large.  Full text...

The Shining is not a masterpiece, obviously, and nobody ought claim it as such, but it does show the producer striking out in a moderately novel direction and finding consistently satisfying results.  Full text...

This posthumous disc pairs Dilla's atmospheric sample-based backdrops and vocal snippets from The Shining (the movie) with generous vocal contributions from Common, D'Angelo, Madlib and other high-performance MCs to the left of hip-hop's center.  Full text...

Donuts, an album of 31 instrumental tracks, is the most impressive hip-hop recording of recent memory and will most likely serve as both the capstone and legacy of Yancey's storied career.  Full text...

It's not without its moments, and I'd recommend it for committed J Dilla fans, but you can't help but think what might have been.  Full text...

Yancey is dead. J Dilla is not. Legends never die.  Full text...

While most of the tracks on The Shining lack the abstract ideas and flow of Donuts, it’s still an admirable record.  Full text...

The popular but introverted hip-hop producer’s specialty was warm, soul-inflected beats, and on The Shining, his tracks (peppered with cameos from high-profile MCs such as Busta Rhymes and Common) throb with a vitality that makes his passing seem even more premature.  Full text...