Keep on Shining

Alright, so I've got a confession. Yea I've been listening to the Shining for about a month now...and sadly enough 4:28 a.m. I'm itching to get my ass in line to pick up the actual vinyl for this piece. Yea I could just order it - but why do that when I can get this vinyl in my hands pronto to add to my stack? Wouldn't make sense to wait now would it?

If you even know anything about Dilla - then ain't anything I need to say to you. If you don't I got a few choice words: Like Water for Chocolate + Electric Circus + some songs off of "Be", Slum Village, Pharcyde, Roots, A Tribe Called Quest, Erykah Badu, Kanye West, Pharrell, D'Angelo, Madlib, Bill Withers, Pete Rock, Janet Jackson, Stan Getz, Joe Pass...the list goes on, and on when it comes to the bridge that Dilla built between a generation of soul and Jazz for his fellow musicians and listeners alike.

One example...and this is mind you ONLY ONE example of the genius at hand here. Piece these 3 songs together and you got the ingredients for one slammin' ass track:

1 Part old OLD primordial school type hip hop ESG "UFO"


1 Part old soul/funk The Vibrettes "The Humpty Dumps" (drums)

powered by ODEO

1 Part jazz courtesy of Joe Pass "Gaint Steps"

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+ 1 Part Lyricism from one of hip hop's finest
+ a heaping handful of ingeniuty from James Dewitt

and you get: Let's Ride from Q-Tip's "Amplified" album



Now imagine that... but ALLOVER Donuts, The Shining, AND the upcoming "Jay Love Japan" (which from the 7 or so tracks I've already heard is *still* beyond most production technically and creatively than most anyone out today). Get the damn album. Get two. Peep the whole discography. Throw a dollar or two to the Yancey Family Fund. Tell ya mama. And ya grandmama...