Joshua Paul Davis (born June 29, 1972), known professionally as DJ Shadow, is an American DJ and record producer. He first gained attention with his debut studio album "Endtroducing....." (1996), noted for its extensive use of samples and layered production. He was also a member of the band UNKLE from 1996 to 1999. DJ Shadow began experimenting with a four-track recorder while in high school in Davis, California, and started his career as a disc jockey for the University of California, Davis, ca...
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Joshua Paul Davis (born June 29, 1972), known professionally as DJ Shadow, is an American DJ and record producer. He first gained attention with his debut studio album "Endtroducing....." (1996), noted for its extensive use of samples and layered production. He was also a member of the band UNKLE from 1996 to 1999. DJ Shadow began experimenting with a four-track recorder while in high school in Davis, California, and started his career as a disc jockey for the University of California, Davis, campus radio station KDVS. His early singles, including "In/Flux" and "Lost and Found (S.F.L.)", blended elements of funk, rock, hip hop, ambient, jazz, and soul, and were associated with the experimental style of the London-based Mo' Wax label. He has cited Kurtis Mantronik, Steinski, and Prince Paul as influences and often uses short clips of voices rather than full lyrics. During 1991–1992, DJ Shadow released remixes on Hollywood BASIC and contributed scratching and production work to rapper Paris' album "Sleeping with the Enemy". In 1993, he co-founded the Solesides underground hip-hop label alongside Blackalicious and Lyrics Born. The first release was the 12" "Entropy", which included his track "Count and Estimate". He also began working with Mo' Wax, and in 1995 contributed scratches to a mix of Massive Attack's "Karmacoma". "Endtroducing....." was produced using an AKAI MPC60, turntables, and Pro Tools, and later entered the Guinness World Records for "First Completely Sampled Album". In 1998, DJ Shadow released "Preemptive Strike", a compilation of singles, and produced UNKLE's debut album "Psyence Fiction", which featured guest appearances from Thom Yorke, Richard Ashcroft, Mike D, Kool G. Rap, and Jason Newsted. Around 2000, he composed the score for the documentary "Dark Days" and appeared in the 2001 film "Scratch". His second album, "The Private Press" (2002), included the single "Six Days", which was later remixed for "The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift" soundtrack. In 2003, he collaborated with Zack de la Rocha on the track "March of Death". He released the live performance DVD "Live! In Tune and on Time" in 2004. In 2006, DJ Shadow released "The Outsider" through Universal Records, featuring artists from the San Francisco Bay Area hyphy scene. He toured with Cut Chemist in support of their mixtape "The Hard Sell" (2007), which was followed by "The Hard Sell (Encore)". His DJ mix "Diminishing Returns" was first broadcast on BBC Radio 1 in 2003 and reissued in 2009. From 2010 to 2013, DJ Shadow released the EP "I Gotta Rokk" and his album "The Less You Know, the Better". Promotional singles included "Def Surrounds Us", "I've Been Trying", "I'm Excited", and "Warning Call". In 2014, he launched his label Liquid Amber, releasing the "Liquid Amber EP" and signing artists including Bleep Bloop, Noer the Boy, Mophono, and Ruckazoid. "The Mountain Will Fall" (2016) featured the single "Nobody Speak" with Run the Jewels. He released the EP "The Mountain Has Fallen" (2017) and the live album "Live in Manchester: The Mountain Has Fallen" (2018). "Our Pathetic Age" (2019) was a double album with instrumental and vocal sections, including collaborations with Run the Jewels, Nas, Ghostface Killah, De La Soul, and Raekwon. He contributed a remix of "Digital Bath" for Deftones' "Black Stallion" and a reinterpretation of "Black Hot Soup" for King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard's "Butterfly 3001" (2022). His seventh studio album, "Action Adventure" (2023), featured no guest artists and marked a stylistic shift. DJ Shadow’s studio, "Reconstruction", is located in a San Francisco suburb and houses over 60,000 records. His work is characterized by extensive use of samples from a wide range of musical genres. Notable examples include sampling David Axelrod on "Duality", Pekka Pohjola on "Midnight in a Perfect World", and Ron Geesin on "Outsider Intro". He has continued to employ samples in albums such as "The Outsider" (2006) and collaborations like "Seein' Thangs" with David Banner. 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)
