Deadringer (album)

Deadringer is the debut studio album by RJD2.^[1] It was released on Definitive Jux on July 23, 2002.^[2] It features vocal contributions from Blueprint, Jakki da Motamouth, and Copywrite.^[3] Some editions include a hidden song on the last track, titled "Here's What's Left."^[4] The album was reissued in 2009 with two additional tracks.^[5]

Deadringer
Studio album by RJD2
Released	July 23, 2002 (2002-07-23)
Genre	Instrumental hip hop
Length	67:00
Label	Definitive Jux
Producer	RJD2
RJD2 chronology
Deadringer (2002) The Horror EP (2003)
Singles from Deadringer
"June" / "The Proxy" Released: 2001 "Here's What's Left" Released: 2002 "The Horror" / "Final Frontier (Remix)" Released: 2003

"Ghostwriter" was featured in advertisements for Washington State Lottery and Wells Fargo, as well as in the film Wimbledon.^[6]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
The Boston Phoenix	[7]
HipHopDX	4.5/5[4]
Muzik	[8]
NME	8/10[9]
Pitchfork	8.8/10[10]
Rolling Stone	[11]
Spin	9/10[12]
Stylus Magazine	B+[13]
Tiny Mix Tapes	4/5[14]

Noel Dix of Exclaim! gave Deadringer a favorable review and commented that the album "plays very much like the soundtrack to a motion picture".^[15] Sam Chennault of Pitchfork called it "an essential purchase for any fan of instrumental hip-hop".^[10] Doug Levy of CMJ New Music Report felt that "DJ Shadow may have started the instrumental hip-hop revolution, but RJD2 is here to make the coup a reality".^[16]

Chris Ryan of Spin wrote that RJD2 "goes spelunking for everything from flamenco and pastoral folk to the kind of raw funk breaks that most groove merchants only dream of uncovering".^[12] Tony Van Groningen of Stylus Magazine said that "RJD2 effortlessly changes directions and adds unexpected elements to the mix that do more to perfect the songs than to muddle them up".^[13]

Spin placed Deadringer at number 31 on its year-end list of the best albums of 2002.^[17] Kludge placed it at number three on its list of the year's best albums.^[18] In 2015, Fact placed it at number 28 on its "100 Best Indie Hip-Hop Records of All Time" list.^[19]

Track listing

No.	Title	Length
1.	"The Horror"	4:11
2.	"Salud"	0:38
3.	"Smoke & Mirrors"	4:26
4.	"Good Times Roll Pt.2"	4:57
5.	"Final Frontier" (featuring Blueprint)	4:25
6.	"Ghostwriter"	5:17
7.	"Cut Out to FL"	3:42
8.	"Shot in the Dark"	1:21
9.	"F.H.H." (featuring Jakki da Motamouth)	4:31
10.	"Chicken-Bone Circuit"	3:54
11.	"The Proxy"	2:14
12.	"2 More Dead"	5:17
13.	"Take the Picture Off"	1:02
14.	"Silver Fox"	3:31
15.	"June" (featuring Copywrite)	6:03
16.	"Work" (ends at 3:45, with hidden track "Here's What's Left" (5:58) starting at 5:40)"	11:39

2009 reissue edition bonus tracks (CD and digital only):

No.	Title	Length
17.	"Thine Planetarium"	9:21
18.	"Before Or Since"	3:22

Notes:

• Bonus track "Here's What's Left" does not appear on some versions, including vinyl releases and the 2009 reissue.
• The 2009 reissue bonus tracks originally appeared on the 2002 UK version of the album.^[20]

Charts

Chart (2002)	Peak position
French Albums (SNEP)[21]	63

References

1. Kincaid, Nic. "Dead Ringer – RJD2". AllMusic. Retrieved November 10, 2014.
2. Bittrand, Steve (March 5, 2008). "RJD2 - Deadringer". Prefix. Retrieved November 27, 2015.
3. Thomas-Glass, Daniel (July 25, 2002). "Dusted Reviews: RJD2 - Dead Ringer". Dusted Magazine. Archived from the original on March 22, 2015. Retrieved November 27, 2015.
4. J-23 (August 5, 2002). "RJD2 – Dead Ringer". HipHopDX. Archived from the original on May 3, 2015. Retrieved November 27, 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
5. "RJD2 – Deadringer (2009 Reissue)". discogs.com. Retrieved on February 27, 2021.
6. Bronson, Kevin; Weiss, Jeff (May 10, 2007). "Buzz Bands". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on March 6, 2016. Retrieved November 27, 2015.
7. Patel, Joseph (August 29 – September 5, 2002). "RJD2: Dead Ringer (Def Jux)". The Boston Phoenix. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved November 4, 2016.
8. Ashon, Will (September 2002). "RJD2: Deadringer (Def Jux)". Muzik (88): 79.
9. "RJD2: Deadringer". NME: 34. August 17, 2002.
10. Chennault, Sam (July 25, 2002). "RJD2: Deadringer". Pitchfork. Retrieved November 27, 2015.
11. Relic, Peter (September 19, 2002). "RJD2: Dead Ringer". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on October 30, 2009. Retrieved April 13, 2016.
12. Ryan, Chris (October 2002). "RJD2, 'Deadringer' (Definitive Jux)". Spin. 18 (10): 118. Retrieved April 13, 2016.
13. Van Groningen, Tony (September 1, 2003). "RJD2 – Deadringer – Review". Stylus Magazine. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved November 27, 2015.
14. Jean-Pierre. "Rjd2 – Deadringer". Tiny Mix Tapes. Retrieved November 27, 2015.
15. Dix, Noel (September 2002). "RJD2: Dead Ringer". Exclaim!. Retrieved November 27, 2015.
16. Levy, Doug (July 29, 2002). "Reviews". CMJ New Music Report. 72 (6): 12.
17. "Albums of the Year". Spin. 19 (1): 70–73. January 2003. Retrieved November 27, 2015.
18. "The Best of 2002". Kludge. Archived from the original on July 22, 2004. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
19. Piyevsky, Alex; Geng; Twells, John; Raw, Son; Rascobeamer, Jeff (February 25, 2015). "The 100 best indie hip-hop records of all time". Fact. p. 74. Retrieved September 5, 2018.
20. "RJD2 – Deadringer (UK Version)". discogs.com. Retrieved on February 27, 2021.
21. "Lescharts.com – RJD2 – Deadringer". Hung Medien. Retrieved August 12, 2018.

External links

• Deadringer at Discogs (list of releases)