DJ Shadow

A much-lauded DJ and beatmaker from the San Francisco Bay Area, DJ Shadow recorded several singles in the early '90s but it was his debut LP, 1996's Endtroducing..., that really took the world by storm. Incorporating heavy drums, hyper-obscure samples, and moody atmospherics, his unique soundscapes found praise from a wide variety of listeners and critics. He's chronicled his early work on Preemptive Strike (1998) and has also recorded extensively with his crew Solesides (now known as Quannum) which includes Blackalicious and Latyrx. Shadow also contributed to the U.N.K.L.E. album, and helped put together several compilations, including Guns, Cars, and Sitars and Schoolhouse Funk. In 2000 he provided the score to the homelessness documentary Dark Days and was featured on Solesides Greatest Bumps. Shadow's long-awaited new full-length, The Private Press, dropped in 2002. In 2006, DJ Shadow upset many fans with the eclectic The Outsider, where he experimented with Bay Area hyphy sounds and UK Brit-Pop.