DJ Shadow facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
DJ Shadow
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Joshua Davis in October 2006
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Joshua Paul Davis |
| Born | June 29, 1972 San Jose, California, U.S. |
| Origin | Davis, California, U.S. |
| Died | Error: Need valid death date (first date): year, month, day |
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| Years active | 1989–present |
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Joshua Paul Davis (born June 29, 1972), known as DJ Shadow, is an American DJ and music producer. He became famous for his unique style of music. His first album, Endtroducing....., came out in 1996.
DJ Shadow creates music by layering many different sounds. He uses small pieces of other songs, called samples. People have said he "revolutionized hip-hop" with his creative approach.
About DJ Shadow's Music Journey
Early Days and New Sounds (1989–1995)
When DJ Shadow was in high school in Davis, California, he started making music. He used a four-track recorder to experiment with sounds. He also worked as a DJ for his college radio station, KDVS.
During this time, he explored a new style of hip-hop. His early songs, like "In/Flux," mixed different types of music. He blended funk, rock, hip hop, ambient, jazz, and soul. He often used sounds from old records he found. A music journalist called his style "trip hop" in 1994. DJ Shadow has said that he likes using samples because words can sometimes limit a song's meaning. His music usually has only short voice clips or no singing at all.
In the early 1990s, DJ Shadow also worked on remixes for other artists. He added his unique scratching and production to songs. In 1993, he helped start an underground hip-hop label called Solesides. He released music there for many years.
Around the same time, a record label in London called Mo' Wax became interested in his music. This led to a good partnership. DJ Shadow's songs "In/Flux" and "Lost and Found" were released through Mo' Wax. He also worked with another DJ named DJ Krush. In 1995, he even added scratches to a song by the group Massive Attack.
Breakthrough Album and Collaborations (1996–2001)
DJ Shadow's first full album, Endtroducing....., was released in late 1996. It received great reviews from critics. This album even made it into the Guinness World Records book in 2001. It was recognized as the "First Completely Sampled Album." This means he made the whole album using only samples from other recordings. He used simple equipment like a sampling drum machine and turntables. In 2006, Time magazine listed it as one of the "All-Time" 100 best albums.
In 1998, DJ Shadow released Preemptive Strike. This was a collection of his earlier songs from 1993 to 1997. Later that year, he produced Psyence Fiction. This was the first album for the group UNKLE. It featured famous guest artists like Thom Yorke from Radiohead and Mike D from Beastie Boys.
Around 2000, he created the music for a documentary film called Dark Days. This movie was about people living in subway tunnels. The film won several awards. DJ Shadow also appeared in the 2001 movie Scratch. This film was about DJs and record collecting.
New Albums and Live Shows (2002–2005)
Six years after his first album, DJ Shadow released his second album, The Private Press, in June 2002. A music video for his song "Six Days" was also released that year. A remixed version of "Six Days" was later featured on the soundtrack for the movie The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift.
In 2003, DJ Shadow worked with Zack de la Rocha on a song called "March of Death." They released it online for free to protest the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
In 2004, DJ Shadow released his first full-length DVD, Live! In Tune and on Time. It showed a live concert in London. He mixed songs and samples from his past albums and his work with other groups. The show also used cool visuals to go with the music.
Exploring New Sounds (2006–2009)
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In 2006, DJ Shadow signed with Universal Records. He released his album The Outsider on September 18. This album included several artists from the San Francisco Bay Area's hyphy hip-hop scene. Some of his fans had mixed feelings about this new direction. DJ Shadow explained that he never wanted to make the same album twice. He said fans should decide if they like his music or just one specific album.
In 2007 and 2008, DJ Shadow toured with another DJ named Cut Chemist. They supported their mixtape called The Hard Sell. They had made other mixtapes together before, like Brainfreeze and Product Placement. These mixtapes blended jazz, funk, and soul music.
Diminishing Returns was a two-hour DJ mix that first aired on BBC Radio 1 in 2003. It was later released on CD in a limited number of copies. In 2009, DJ Shadow re-released the album.
More Music and Art (2010–2013)
In September 2010, DJ Shadow released two new songs, "Def Surrounds Us" and "I've Been Trying." These were a preview of his upcoming album. He went on tour in 2010 and played new songs, but the album wasn't ready yet.
On May 10, 2011, Shadow released an EP (a shorter album) called I Gotta Rokk. It had remixed songs from his new album, The Less You Know, the Better. Another song, "I'm Excited," was released in July 2011 but was later removed due to a copyright issue. This also delayed the album's release.
The artwork for this album and its songs was created by Tony Papesh, an artist from San Francisco.
Starting a Record Label (2014–2015)
On August 12, 2014, DJ Shadow started his own record label called Liquid Amber. He released an EP called The Liquid Amber EP for people to listen to online. Other artists also signed with his new label.
In 2015, a group called Nite School Klik released a song on Liquid Amber. DJ Shadow later shared that Nite School Klik was actually him working with a trap music producer named G Jones. Their first EP came out in June 2015.
Recent Albums and Collaborations (2016–Present)
In April 2016, Shadow announced a new album called The Mountain Will Fall. It was released on June 24. A music video for the main song, "Nobody Speak", which featured the rap group Run the Jewels, came out in August 2016.
From 2016 to 2019, DJ Shadow held an annual "DJ Shadow Storage Sale." He sold duplicate records from his huge collection and special limited editions of his music.
In April 2017, a new song called "Systematic" by DJ Shadow and Nas was released. It was part of the soundtrack for the TV show Silicon Valley. Later that year, in June, Shadow released an EP called The Mountain Has Fallen. It included "Systematic" and a new song called "Horror Show" with Danny Brown. In 2018, he released a live album recorded during his tour.
In November 2019, he released a double album called Our Pathetic Age. This album had two parts: one with instrumental songs and another with songs featuring singers. It included artists like Run the Jewels, Nas, Ghostface Killah, and De La Soul.
DJ Shadow also worked with the band Deftones for their White Pony 20th anniversary remix project. He remixed their song "Digital Bath." In January 2022, he remixed a song for the band King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard.
His seventh studio album, Action Adventure, was announced in January 2023 and released in October 2023. This album was different because it didn't have any collaborations with other artists. Critics generally liked the album.
How DJ Shadow Makes Music
His Studio and Equipment
DJ Shadow's home studio is called "Reconstruction." It's located in a quiet area of San Francisco. He reportedly moved there to be close to a local record store. He has a huge personal collection of over 60,000 records! He keeps only a small number of them at home, with the rest in storage.
As of 2005, he used two Akai MPC 3000s and a Korg Triton for his music. His famous album Endtroducing was made using an AKAI MPC60 and an ADAT.
The Art of Sampling
DJ Shadow is known for how he uses samples in his music. He takes rare and less-known pieces of music and changes them into new parts for his songs. Many of his tracks have dozens of samples from different styles. These include rock, soul, funk, experimental, electronic, and jazz.
For example, in his song "Duality," he sampled a piece of music by American composer David Axelrod. The piano sound in his song "Midnight in a Perfect World" came from a song by Pekka Pohjola. Even though he uses fewer samples now than in his earlier albums, his 2006 album The Outsider still features many.
DJ Shadow's Albums
Studio Albums
- Endtroducing.....(1996)
- The Private Press (2002)
- The Outsider (2006)
- The Less You Know, the Better (2011)
- The Mountain Will Fall (2016)
- Our Pathetic Age (2019)
- Action Adventure (2023)
See also
In Spanish: DJ Shadow para niños
