DJ Shadow

DJ Shadow is an unlikely hip-hop hero. As befitting his name, he dodges the spotlight, preferring to let his meticulously crafted symphonies speak for him. Shadow's music has the ability to shape-shift as different colors and textures make themselves known after repeated listens. Such timelessness has given his best-known early moments — "Building Steam With A Grain of Salt", "Midnight In A Perfect World" — classic status. But at heart, he's a hip-hop fan, ensuring that his collaborations with Q-Tip and Mos Def bump. Shadow makes the jump into hyphy space, in Next Steps.

In the early '90s, one of Shadow's first mixes caught the ear of Dave "Funken" Klein, a journalist and A&R exec for Hollywood/Basic Records. With Klein's encouragement, Shadow remixed a Zimbabwe Legit track that impressed James Lavelle of the Mo' Wax label and launched the DJ's career — after following up 1996's Endtroducing . . . with The Private Press (2002) he delivered sea-change album The Outsider and truly raised the turntablist bar with hyphy highlights like "3 Freaks", featuring Keak Da Sneak and Turf Talk.

It's been a long, strange trip for the Campbell, CA-born kid who was discovered making demo tapes while a student at UC Davis, and, soon enough went from bedroom DJ to performing in front of thousands of people. He keeps things unpredictable — remixing a tender Keane track, or collaborating with the Bay Area's finest hyphy cats. It's this independent spirit that's carried Shadow throughout his career. Meanwhile, he's respectful of the recording artists he's sampled, going to great lengths to see that their contributions are noted. Though the styles of music and methods of production change, Shadow evolves along with the times, staying contemporary as well as futuristic. Follow his constant elevation and expansion from headphone guru to car-system wrecker.