HarveyCanal said:LokoOne said:Been meaning to post in this thread for a bit... my two cents anyways.
I agree with Batmon's post earlier I don't think anyone was doing what Shadow did on Endtroducing (that thoroughly and skillfully) at the time. Me and most of my mates were already well entrenched into hip hop and digging etc. so this album wasn't a gateway but it was an example of how hip hop style production could be taken to another level IMO. Most cats I rolled with were already following Shadows MoWax stuff so this album had some anticipation and expectation (I already had the Whats Your Soul Look Like ep...still one of my fav pieces of vinyl) and I don't think he disappointed. He just nailed it. Edgy, experimental but still solid and rocking.
Maybe for those that checked it out later the timing/context of it is missed and the impact is less... but anyone that was around and into hip hop at that time has to admit what Shadow did on that album was next level shit. I think not having to cater to rappers and trying to fight the 'trip hop' labelling he had gotten influenced a lot of the end product. I guess this was also his first full album so the dude would have had his heart and soul (and years of work) invested in it. I can still play it from start to finish and enjoy it as a whole piece or drop individual tracks and be amazed.
I think (good or bad) this album also opened up alot of non-Hip Hop heads to respect hip hop sample-based music. I was rolling with lots of 'proper' musicians at the time and for many of them hearing Entroducing blew away a lot of their misconceptions that all hip hop beats were big rip offs of other ppls music.
Sidenote: Before the album dropped Shadow toured OZ and I was lucky to sit in on a long, deep and wonderful discussion between Shadow and a few older music collectors who knew their shit. The convo ranged a whole lot of topics but a lot of the stuff that Shadow says in the albums liner notes was expressed by him and he had this wider view of music and its possibilities within the hip hop framework than anyone I had heard at the time. I was young and a lot of the shit he said went over my head till years later but he basically put a lot of those ideas he was discussing into the album, maybe that's why I like it so much. I don't think the aim was to cross over, or make money or even blow up in the hip hop scene. I think this album was more personal than that and it comes across when you hear it.
Lost me at "mates".
I guess next time I should consult with the 'neighbourhood elders' about what the accepted terminology is.... ;-)
I agree with Batmon's post earlier I don't think anyone was doing what Shadow did on Endtroducing (that thoroughly and skillfully) at the time. Me and most of my mates were already well entrenched into hip hop and digging etc. so this album wasn't a gateway but it was an example of how hip hop style production could be taken to another level IMO. Most cats I rolled with were already following Shadows MoWax stuff so this album had some anticipation and expectation (I already had the Whats Your Soul Look Like ep...still one of my fav pieces of vinyl) and I don't think he disappointed. He just nailed it. Edgy, experimental but still solid and rocking.
Maybe for those that checked it out later the timing/context of it is missed and the impact is less... but anyone that was around and into hip hop at that time has to admit what Shadow did on that album was next level shit. I think not having to cater to rappers and trying to fight the 'trip hop' labelling he had gotten influenced a lot of the end product. I guess this was also his first full album so the dude would have had his heart and soul (and years of work) invested in it. I can still play it from start to finish and enjoy it as a whole piece or drop individual tracks and be amazed.
I think (good or bad) this album also opened up alot of non-Hip Hop heads to respect hip hop sample-based music. I was rolling with lots of 'proper' musicians at the time and for many of them hearing Entroducing blew away a lot of their misconceptions that all hip hop beats were big rip offs of other ppls music.
Sidenote: Before the album dropped Shadow toured OZ and I was lucky to sit in on a long, deep and wonderful discussion between Shadow and a few older music collectors who knew their shit. The convo ranged a whole lot of topics but a lot of the stuff that Shadow says in the albums liner notes was expressed by him and he had this wider view of music and its possibilities within the hip hop framework than anyone I had heard at the time. I was young and a lot of the shit he said went over my head till years later but he basically put a lot of those ideas he was discussing into the album, maybe that's why I like it so much. I don't think the aim was to cross over, or make money or even blow up in the hip hop scene. I think this album was more personal than that and it comes across when you hear it.
Lost me at "mates".
I guess next time I should consult with the 'neighbourhood elders' about what the accepted terminology is.... ;-)
