Josh Davis AKA DJ Shadow (born January 1, 1973 in Hayward, CA) is a turntablist musician.
DJ Shadow is commonly considered a significant figure in developing the experimental instrumental hip-hop style associated with the London-based Mo' Wax label. His early singles for the label, including "In/Flux" and "Lost and Found (S.F.L.)," were genre-bending works of art merging rudiments of funk, rock, hip-hop, ambient, jazz, soul, and used-bin incidentalia.
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 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 in America and the UK. Preemptive Strike, a compilation of early singles, followed in early 1998. Later that year, Shadow produced tracks for 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.
