Notes, photographs and archival rarities from DJ Shadow’s MPC era.

THE HIDDEN TRANSMISSIONS TIME CAPSULE

DJ Shadow

It’s important to revisit where you’ve been, so that you can determine where to go.

About DJ ShadowDJ Shadow (Josh Davis) is an American music producer, DJ and songwriter, and an influential force for change in music. He helped pioneer the development of instrumental hip hop, and paved the way for the current electronic music scene.

He grew up making and breaking beats. He founded his own label, Solesides, in college. He began releasing the Hip-Hop Reconstruction mix tapes in 1991.

And with the critically-acclaimed Endtroducing... he showed the world what was possible with sound, releasing the first album constructed entirely from samples. Since then, he’s toured the world, released countless albums and worked on countless collaborative projects with artists from Blackalicious and Q-Tip to Cut Chemist and Thom Yorke.

About Total Breakdown: Hidden Transmissions from the MPC Era, 1992-1996In 1992, there were records, real DJs and real hip hop. There was no Auto-Tune. There was one man and an Akai MPC. Hidden Transmissions is an archival project documenting DJ Shadow’s early production days. It’s an insider’s guide to unreleased collaborations. Included on the project are instrumental tracks from an aborted 1994 EP planned with The Gift of Gab (Blackalicious), featuring the original demo of what would eventually become “Six Days.” Find out how it all began. Total Breakdown: Hidden Transmissions From The MPC Era, 1992-1996 is now available on CD, double-vinyl, and download formats on djshadow.com.

Studio Environment, October 1993

Sampling in itself, to me, is a discipline and a language that is endless.

Studio Environment, March 1996

It was sorta my mission statement or manifesto which was just: hip-hop reconstruction from the ground up.

DJ Shadow at work, March 1996

In the lab, Asia Born (later Lyrics Born), DJ Shadow, and Chief XCel from Blackalicious, circa 1993

DJ Shadow in the home studio, circa 1993

Studio environment, circa 1995

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