Wiki
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Release Date
1 January 1996
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Length
16 tracks
Endtroducing….. is the debut studio album by American music producer DJ Shadow, released on September 16, 1996, by Mo' Wax. It is an instrumental hip hop work composed almost entirely of samples from vinyl records. DJ Shadow produced Endtroducing over two years, using an Akai MPC60 sampler and little other equipment. He edited and layered samples to create new tracks of varying moods and tempos.
In the United Kingdom, where DJ Shadow had already established himself as a rising act, Endtroducing received praise from music journalists at the time of its release, and reached the top 20 of the UK Albums Chart. It was certified gold by the British Phonographic Industry. Mo' Wax issued four singles from the album, including the chart hits "Midnight in a Perfect World" and "Stem". It took considerably longer for Endtroducing to find success in the United States. After promoting the album and returning to his hometown of Davis, California, DJ Shadow devoted his time to creating new music. During this period, interest in Endtroducing began to build among the American music press, and it peaked at number 37 on the US Billboard Heatseekers Albums chart.
Endtroducing was ranked highly on various lists of the best albums of 1996, and has been acclaimed by critics as one of the greatest albums of the 1990s. It is considered a landmark recording in instrumental hip hop, with DJ Shadow's sampling techniques and arrangements leaving a lasting influence. In 2020, Rolling Stone magazine ranked Endtroducing 329th on its list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
DJ Shadow began production on Endtroducing in 1994 in his California apartment, before moving to the Glue Factory, the San Francisco home studio of his colleague Dan the Automator. Shadow strove to create an entirely sample-based album. His setup was minimal, with only three main pieces of equipment: an Akai MPC60 sampler, a Technics SL-1200 turntable and an Alesis ADAT tape recorder. He used the MPC60 for almost all composition. DJ Shadow bought it in 1992 at the suggestion of DJ Stretch Armstrong, who recommended it as a more advanced alternative to the "industry standard" sampler at the time, the E-mu SP-1200; according to DJ Shadow, the SP-1200 "had been around for like four years, the sound was well established, and it had some real audio limitations in terms of the bit rate and stuff".
DJ Shadow sampled vinyl albums and singles accumulated from his trips to Rare Records, a record shop in his native Sacramento, where he spent several hours each day searching for music. His routine is depicted in the 2001 documentary film Scratch. The Endtroducing album cover is a photograph taken at Rare Records by B Plus, showing producer Chief Xcel and rapper Lyrics Born (the latter wearing a wig), who like DJ Shadow were members of the SoleSides collective. ABB Records founder Beni B (wearing a baseball cap) is also seen in the full version of the photograph, which appears in the album's liner notes.
Endtroducing samples music of various genres, including jazz, funk, and psychedelia, as well as films and interviews. DJ Shadow programmed, chopped, and layered samples to create tracks. He opted to sample more obscure selections, making it a rule to avoid sampling popular material. Though he also used samples of prominent artists such as Björk and Metallica, DJ Shadow said that "if I use something obvious, it's usually only to break my own rules." Minor vocal contributions were provided by Lyrics Born and another SoleSides member, rapper Gift of Gab, as well as DJ Shadow's then-girlfriend Lisa Haugen. He finished recording Endtroducing in early 1996.
Samples:
"Best Foot Forward"
* "It's My Turn" by Stezo
* "Real Deal" by Lifer's Group
* "He's My DJ" by Sparky Dee featuring DJ Red Alert
* "Poison" by Kool G. Rap and DJ Polo
* "Dynamite" by Masters of Ceremony
* "Cold Chillin' in the Spot" by Jazzy Jay featuring Russell Simmons
* "Do or Die Bed-Stuy" by Divine Sounds
* "Party's Gettin' Rough" by Beastie Boys
* "You Can't Stop the Prophet" by Jeru the Damaja
* "Concerto for Jazz/Rock Orchestra, Part 2" by Stanley Clarke
"Building Steam with a Grain of Salt"
* "I Worship You" by Lexia
* "I Need You" by H.P. Riot
* "I Feel a New Shadow" by Jeremy Storch
* "Soul Food" by Frankie Seay and the Soul Riders
* "Planetary Motivations (Cancer)" by Mort Garson
* "George Marsh on Drums: Interviewed by Terry McGovern" from the LP Music Makers Percussion,
released by the Chevron/Standard Oil Company of California
o Audio sample
"The Number Song"
* "Orion" by Metallica
* "Breakdown" by T La Rock
* "AJ Scratch" by Kurtis Blow
* "Quit Jive'in" by Pearly Queen
* "Baby Don't Cry" by The Third Guitar
* "Sexy Coffee Pot" by Tony Alvon and the Belairs
* "Back to the Hip-Hop" by The Troubleneck Brothers
* "Bad Luck" by Don Covay and the Lemon Blues Band
* "Can I Kick It? (Spirit Mix)" by A Tribe Called Quest
* "Who Got the Number" by Pigmeat Markham and the B.Y.
* "Fantastic Freaks at the Dixie" by DJ Grand Wizard Theodore and the Fantastic Five
* "Corruption is the Thing" by Creations Unlimited
* "Flash It to the Beat" by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five
* "Freelance" by Grandmaster Flash
* "Get Ready" by He 6
* "Been Had" by Sapo
* "8 Counts for Rita" by Jimmy Smith
"Changeling"
* "Soft Shell" by Motherlode
* "Klondyke Netti" by Embryo
* "Invisible Limits" by Tangerine Dream
* "Imagination Flight" by The Chaffey College Jazz Ensemble
* "Touching Souls" and "Inner Mood I" by Kay Gardner
* "The Man Who Couldn't Cry" by Loudon Wainwright III
* "Here Comes the Meterman" by The Meters
"Transmission 1"
* "The Dream Message" from the film Prince of Darkness
"What Does Your Soul Look Like, Pt. 4"
* "The Vision and the Voice, Part 1 - The Vision" by Flying Island
* "Monica" by The People's People
* "Numbers" by Kraftwerk
Untitled (Track 6)
* "Grey Boy" by Human Race
"Stem/Long Stem"
* "Love Suite" by Nirvana
* "Tears" by Giorgio Moroder
* "Linde Manor" by Dennis Linde
* "Freedom" by Murray Roman
* "Variazione III" by Osanna
* "Blues So Bad" by The Mystic Number National Bank
* "Oleo Strut" by Mother Mallard's Portable Masterpiece Company
* "Moshitup" by Just-Ice featuring KRS-One
* "Dolmen Music" by Meredith Monk
* Background synthesizers from the film Blade Runner (soundtrack by Vangelis)
"Transmission 2"
* "The Human Abstract" by David Axelrod
* "The Madness Subsides" by Pekka Pohjola
* "The Dream Message" from Prince of Darkness
"Mutual Slump"
* "Possibly Maybe" by Björk
* "Love, Love, Love" by Pugh Rogefeldt
* "More Than Seven Dwarfs in Penis-Land" by Roger Waters and Ron Geesin
* Dialogue from an unknown interview concerning the film Xanadu
"Organ Donor"
* "Tears" by Giorgio Moroder
* "PM or Later (Instrumental)" by The New Breed
* "There's a DJ in Your Town" by Samson and Delilah
* "Someone" by Bill & Tim
"Why Hip Hop Sucks in '96"
* "There's a DJ in Your Town" by Samson and Delilah
* "Snap" by Cleo McNett
"Midnight in a Perfect World"
* "Outta State" by Akinyele
* "Sower of Seeds" by Baraka
* "California Soul" by Marlena Shaw
* "The Human Abstract" by David Axelrod
* "The Madness Subsides" by Pekka Pohjola
* "Dolmen Music" by Meredith Monk
* "Releasing Hypnotical Gases" by Organized Konfusion
* "Life Could" by Rotary Connection
"Napalm Brain/Scatter Brain"
* "'Pon a Hill" by T. Rex
* "Walk on By" from Jo Ann Garrett
* Dialogue from the film The Aurora Encounter
* "Moment of Truth/Ghetto Shakedown" by Charles Bernstein
* "A Funky Kind of Thing" by Billy Cobham
* "Let the Homicides Begin" by Top Priority featuring Percy P
* "Space Odyssey - 2001" by The Daly-Wilson Big Band
* "Soul Brother's Testify" by Chester Randle's Original Soul Senders
* "Fun and Funk (Part II)" by The Fantastic Epics
"What Does Your Soul Look Like, Pt. 1: Blue Sky Revisit"
* "All Our Love" by Shawn Phillips
* "Joe Splivingates" by David Young
* "Nucleus" by The Alan Parsons Project
* "The Dream Message" from Prince of Darkness
* "Voice of the Saxophone" by The Heath Brothers
* Voice of the character The Giant from the episode "Lonely Souls" of the TV series Twin Peaks
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