In September 2001, James Yancey began work on the tracks that developed into this posthumous album. Intended for release on MCA, the project was shelved after Wendy Goldstein, the A&R VP who had signed the revered producer and rapper, moved to Capitol. Yancey had catalyzed MCA's success with the Roots and Common, and he was also behind Black Star's brilliant "Little Brother" for the Hurricane soundtrack. Even so, minus Goldstein's support, MCA wasn't keen on the latitude Yancey accorded himself in his Clinton Township basement and at Dearborn Heights' Studio A. Known primarily for his progressive beatmaking yet uninterested in doing the same thing twice, the artist took the solo MCA sessions, which commenced only a few months after BBE released Welcome 2 Detroit, as an opportunity to shine as a rapper over beats from admired peers. The album was aborted in April 2002, after which Yancey continued to add credits and created Ruff Draft, the Madlib summit Champion Sound, Donuts, and what became The Shining. All the while, the MCA album was classified as unfinished business. During a hospital stay prior to his 2006 death, Yancey expressed to then Stones Throw general manager Eothen Alapatt and mother Maureen Yancey that he wanted it to circulate. As descriptively outlined in Alapatt's liner notes for The Diary of J Dilla, the creative and legal processes necessitated to finish and free the album were Byzantine -- or, as he told Rolling Stone, "a pain in the fucking ass."

1		The Introduction
2		The Anthem
3		Fight Club
4		The Shining, Pt. 1 (Diamonds)
5		The Shining, Pt. 2 (Ice)
6		Trucks
7		Gangsta Boogie
8		Drive Me Wild
9		Give Them What They Want
10		The Creep (The O)
11		The Ex
12		So Far
13		Fuck the Police
14		The Diary