DJ Shadow spent his teenage years in Davis, California and was a DJ at the community radio station KDVS. During his time as a radio disc jockey, DJ Shadow was significant in developing the experimental instrumental hip-hop style associated with the California-based Solesides record label. His early singles for the label, including In/Flux and Lost and Found (S.F.L.), were genre-bending works of art merging elements of funk, rock, hip-hop, ambient, jazz, soul, and used-bin found records. DJ Shadow is often cited as a leading creator of trip-hop, though this is a label he strongly contests.
Although he previously released a couple of original works (during 1991-1992 for Hollywood Records) by the time Mo' Wax's James Lavelle contacted him about releasing In/Flux on the fledgling imprint, it wasn't until his distribution association with Mo' Wax that his sound began to mature and cohere.
Shadow's first full-length work, Endtroducing....., was released in late 1996 to immense critical acclaim. Following the success of this album, he acted as a shadow producer for Rage Against The Machine for their album, Evil Empire. It is said he influenced the solo on their song "Bulls On Parade". Endtroducing... made the Guinness World Records book for "First Completely Sampled Album" in 2001. Preemptive Strike, a compilation of early singles, followed in early 1998. Later that year, Shadow produced tracks for Psyence Fiction, the debut album by U.N.K.L.E., a long-time Mo' Wax production team that gained superstar guests including Thom Yorke (of Radiohead), Richard Ashcroft (of The Verve), Mike D (of the Beastie Boys) and others. His next project came in 1999, with the transformation of Solesides into a new label, Quannum Projects. Nearly six years after his debut production album, his second album, The Private Press, was released in June 2002. In the same year, the movie "Scratch" (2001, Doug Pray) was released to DVD with DJ Shadow appearing several times throughout the movie.
The documentary films "Dark Days" and "Wisconsin Death Trip" feature music of DJ Shadow while "Scratch" features an interview and more music.
DJ Shadow has also collaborated with fellow artist Cut Chemist. Together they have made two CDs entitled Brainfreeze and Product Placement. These albums fuse jazz, funk, and soul in the framework of a cohesive concept. The second of these (Product Placement) followed a very similar pattern to the first, but using remixes/other versions of the songs in roughly the same order.
In the year 2004, Shadow released his feature length DVD, In Tune and On Time. The DVD features a live performance in London, emphasizing intricate visuals.
In 2005, Shadow released a Deluxe Edition of his first album, Endtroducing.... and a new album, titled "The Outsider" in 2006.
While Shadow's earlier works, especially 'Endtroducing.....', are known for their innovation in genres such as hip-hop, ambient, and trip-hop, his fourth full length album, The Outsider, had several tracks dedicated to Hyphy. This decision has been controversial, leaving many fans feeling alienated. DJ Shadow addressed this point in an August, 2006 interview, in which stated, "Repeat Endtroducing over and over again? That was never, ever in the game plan. Fuck that. So I think it's time for certain fans to decide if they are fans of the album, or the artist."
Also in 2005, Brian Udelhofen began work on the Shadow Percussion Project, an attempt to adapt some of the tracks from Endtroducing... for a live performance group. The result was largely successful and well-received by DJ Shadow himself.
In 2007 DJ Shadow was contacted by the Hollywood Bowl to do a show featuring Freeze with Cut Chemist. However, not wanting to repeat old material DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist came up with a whole new routine entitled The Hard Sell. In 2007 and 2008 they went on The Hard Sell tour and were accompanied on stage by two large video screens with visuals created for the tour.
Discography
Solo Albums
* 1996 - Endtroducing.....
* 1998 - Preemptive Strike
* 2000 - Dark Days
* 2002 - The Private Press
* 2003 - The Private Repress (Japanese Remix Album)
* 2004 - In Tune and On Time
* 2005 - Endtroducing... (2xCD Deluxe Edition)
* 2006 - The Outsider
* 2007 - The 4-Track Era Vol.1 Best of the KMEL Mixes
* 2007 - The 4-Track Era Vol.2 Best of the Remixes and Megamixes (1990-1992)
* 2011 - The Less You Know, the Better
with Q Bert
* 1997 - Camel Bobsled Race (Q-Bert Mega Mix) CD-EP
with UNKLE
* 1998 - Psyence Fiction
with Cut Chemist
* 1999 - Brainfreeze
* 2001 - Product Placement
* 2004 - Product Placement on Tour
* 2005 - Freeze
* 2008 - The Hard Sell
with Dan The Automator
* 1998 - Bombay the Hard Way: Guns, Cars and Sitars
What Does Your Soul Look Like Pt. 1: Blue Sky Revisit
DJ Shadow Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Cold...
Our road was paved to the edge of time...
Steel... Sparks...
Come with me now to the edge of time...
Does anyone remember who I am?
In a few moments you will have an experience which will seem completely real...
You have 5 seconds to terminate this tape...
5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
Has everybody got a place to hide?
...is everybody inside?
Has everybody got a place to hide?
...is everybody inside?
There's a game out there, and the stakes are high.
And the guy who runs it figures the averages all day long, and all night...
Once in a while he let's you steal a pot,
But if you stay in the game long enough, you've got to lose,
And once you've lost, there's no way back...
No way at all...
The time has come
Darkness!
Darkness! darkness! darkness!
Da-da-da-da-darkness!
The time has come
The time has come
Can you feel this?
What is that buzzing?
Are you now, or have you ever, moved slowly?
The lyrics of DJ Shadow's "What Does Your Soul Look Like" paint a vivid picture of a journey to the edge of time, where the singer stands with his audience, reflecting on their lives and identities. The opening lines express a sense of coldness and hardness in the world, as if the road they have travelled has been paved with steel and sparks. The singer then asks a poignant question, "Does anyone remember who I am?" which can be interpreted in several ways. Perhaps he is questioning whether his identity has been lost or blurred by the harshness of life, or whether any of his listeners can truly see and understand him.
The next section of the song introduces a sense of unease and fear, as if the singer is warning his listeners of an impending danger. The spoken words suggest that they are about to experience something that will "seem completely real," but is actually the product of their subconscious fears becoming conscious. The countdown to "terminate this tape" adds to this feeling of danger and immediacy.
The third section of the song brings in the idea of a high-stakes game, where the odds are always against the player. The singer warns that if you stay in the game long enough, you will inevitably lose, and there is no way back from that defeat. The line "the guy who runs it figures the averages all day long, and all night" suggests that this game is rigged, and that the players are being manipulated by an unseen force.
The song ends with a sense of urgency and darkness, as the singer asks whether his listeners can feel the buzzing and whether they have ever moved slowly. These lines are cryptic but suggest a sense of unease and confusion, as if the world is spinning out of control and the singer is desperately seeking an anchor point.
Overall, "What Does Your Soul Look Like" is a thought-provoking and somewhat ominous song that explores themes of identity, fear, and powerlessness in the face of larger forces.
Line by Line Meaning
We are standing here at the edge of time...
We are currently present at a significant moment in history that will shape the future.
Our road was paved to the edge of time...
Our journey up to this point has been difficult but purposeful, leading us to where we are now.
Come with me now to the edge of time...
Join me in seizing the opportunity to be part of something grand and historic.
Does anyone remember who I am?
Amidst all of this, I question whether I will be remembered as part of this momentous occasion.
In a few moments you will have an experience which will seem completely real...
You are about to encounter something so intensely real that you will believe it to be true - a manifestation of your deepest inner fears brought to the surface.
It will be the result of your subconscious fears, transformed to your conscious awareness...
This experience will be a manifestation of your subconscious that has been brought to your conscious awareness.
You have 5 seconds to terminate this tape...
You have a limited time to stop this experience from taking over your waking reality.
Has everybody got a place to hide?...
Do we all have a way to cope with the intense experience that we are about to encounter?
...is everybody inside?
Is everyone present and ready for what is about to happen?
There's a game out there, and the stakes are high...
Life is a game with high stakes, where every action has a consequence.
And the guy who runs it figures the averages all day long, and all night...
The forces of life and fate determine the probability of success or failure for each individual player.
Once in a while he let's you steal a pot...
Success is achievable through perseverance and a bit of luck.
But, if you stay in the game long enough, you've got to lose...
Failure is inevitable and an essential part of the game of life.
And once you've lost, there's no way back...
Once you have failed, there is no way to undo it or go back to the way things were.
No way at all...
The only way is to move forward and learn from your mistakes.
Darkness! Darkness! Darkness!
The intense emotions and fears that we feel can cause us to feel lost in darkness and confusion.
The time has come...
This is the moment that we have been waiting for, to face our fears and move forward.
Can you feel this?...
Are you present and feeling the intensity of this moment?
What is that buzzing?...
Can you sense the power and energy of the moment, like an electric buzzing sensation?
Are you now, or have you ever, moved slowly?
Can you muster the courage and strength to move forward in spite of the fears and doubts that may be holding you back?
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Josh Paul Davis, Ray Smith
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind