His first record, 'Lesson 4,' appeared in 1991 on the Hollywood Basic label, which was a subsidiary of Disney. Shadow was already scratching and mixing by the time he enrolled at University of California-Davis, and in 1989-following the success of the Beastie boys and Public Enemy-at the age of 17, Shadow chose his moniker and began pursuing his own vision of hip- hop. When Bambaata played, he was called 'the peacemaker'.' He told Mills, 'Hip-hop used to represent unity through music. In addition to the beat and sound of hip-hop, Shadow liked the social and philosophical tenants of the music. His earliest influences were Afrika Bambaata, Flash, Steinski, Latin Rascals, Mantronik, and Prince Paul. That song was the most direct form of communication I'd ever heard and it may sound corny, but it changed my life.' He began mixing by the age of 12.Īlthough Shadow was living in the proximity of the college town where independent guitar bands like True West and Thin White Rope had created a legacy, he remained devoted to hip-hop through a steady stream of new record releases. He told Spin's Stephen Stickler, 'You can hear me on the tape going, 'Shh, Shh' (to his parents). He immediately rolled over and pressed 'record' on his tape recorder just as his parents were entering his room to say goodnight. He heard his first hip-hop album, Grandmaster Flash's The Message, at the age of ten when it played over his little clock-radio cube. Of course we do.'ĭJ Shadow, born Josh Davis in 1972, was raised in a middle-class family in the rural suburb of Davis, CA, where he took piano lessons and wanted to study drums. He told Vibe's Andrea Duncan, 'Hip-hop is about eliminating genre barriers in music,' and told Details magazine, 'Hip-hop used to represent everything from Kraftwerk to the Rolling Stones to James Brown. Shadow is adamant about the fact that his music is hip-hop music.

Since DJ Shadow's music is instrumental and comprised solely of hundreds of obscure, unrecognizable musical samples, it poses a dilemma for those who want to label it. Octagon, Tranquility Bass, and DJ Spooky, for creating personal compositions that use the entire history of music as material. Shadow is considered an innovator, along with DJ Krush, the Aphex Twin, Dr. Spin magazine included Endtroducing in its 20 Best Albums of 1996 list, and the release is serving as an example of what the future of pop music may sound like within the realm of mainstream music. Addresses: Record company-c/o Mo' Wax/ffrr at London Records, 825 Eighth Avenue, New York, NY 10019 (212) 333-8000, fax: (212) 333-8030.ĭJ Shadow's debut album, Endtroducing, cemented his standing as one of the foremost instrumental hip-hop, trip-hop, and 'techno' artists of the 1990s.

Born Josh Davis in 1972 raised in middle-class suburb of Davis, CA.

Dj shadow biography