September 24, 2021

Island

2xLP

DJ Shadow has undergone a small renaissance with younger generations due to his bust-your-shit-open-type-collab with fellow Hip-Hop old guys Run The Jewels, but to many he's remembered fiercely and fondly as the auteur behind Endtroducing, and thus by extension, the man who popularized instrumental Hip Hop. Before it's initial release in 1996, the idea of Hip-Hop without a rapper didn't extend much farther than the beats alone. What Endtroducing.....introduced.....is the idea that the beats themselves can say as much as an MC. Rather than bounce for a traditional 16 or so bars and repeat, DJ Shadow's arrangements ebb and flow with cinematic grandeur, a culmination of orchestral movements and esoteric samples that feels like so much greater than a typical Hip Hop album, because Endtroducing IS so much greater than a typical Hip Hop album.