Mo’ Wax — Where Are They Now: DJ Shadow (1993)
Mo’ Wax was a record label started by James Lavelle in 1992, which closed about ten years later. Initially they released 12" singles and licensed a compilation from Japan of Japanese Hip Hop, until 1994 when they began releasing albums of their artists original work. While some of these artists such as DJ Shadow, DJ Krush, and Money Mark continued releasing music after Mo’ Wax closed, others have seemingly disappeared from the music scene. In this series I will look at each artist on Mo’ Wax and try to find out where are they now…
DJ Shadow, aka Josh Davis, is arguable Mo’ Wax’s most famous artist. His first release on Mo’Wax defined the labels future sound, with each new release from Shadow during this period sounding better as he progressed as an artist.
Shadow first started releasing mixtapes in the 1990’s, while he was living at home in Davis, California. Shadow would give these out to people, which led to him being signed to Hollywood BASIC, a Hip Hop label owned by Disney. While working with Hollywood BASIC he created a series of megamixes for the label from 1991 which included Lesson 4, a homage to the Lesson series from Double Dee & Steinski. One of his mixes was Doin’ Damage In My Native Language (Shadow’s Legitimate Mix), a remix of Zimbabwe Legit’s Doin’ Damage In My Native Language. This wasn’t really a remix but an original Shadow instrumental made from samples, but which contains nothing of the original. James Lavelle of Mo’ Wax became a fan of the remix and in 1992 he asked Shadow to create something for his label. This became In/Flux / Hindsight, which released on Mo’ Wax in 1993.
Shadow next released the EP What Does Your Soul Look Like on Mo’ Wax in 1994, and two split releases with fellow Mo’ Wax artist DJ Krush in 1994 and 1995. After a quick detour making demos for an abandoned UNKLE album in 1995, in September 1996 Shadow released his debut album on Mo’ Wax, Endtroducing….., an album which would define his legacy for better or worse.
Following his solo debut album, Shadow produced the debut album for James Lavelle’s UNKLE project, Psyence Fiction released in 1998, and in 1999 released the Brainfreeze mix with Cut Chemist which was followed by their Product Placement tour and mix in 2001.
In 2002 Shadow released his second solo album, The Private Press, which received favourable reviews at the time. This was Shadow’s final release on Mo’ Wax because the label shut down around this point in time. In fact Shadow technically wasn’t even signed to Mo’ Wax at this point as, due to some background issues between Mo’ Wax and their parent label A&M, Shadow had found himself signed to Island Records at the end of 1998. James Lavelle is still credited as A&R on The Private Press and the Mo’ Wax logo appears on the album, but by this point Mo’ Wax was over and it could be seen as more of a nod to Shadow’s fans who associated him with Mo’ Wax.
Shadow’s next solo album, The Outsider, wouldn’t be released until 2006, but in the meantime he released the live album Live! In Tune And On Time, collaborated with Rage Against The Machine’s Zack de La Rocha, contributed to a song with the Teriyaki Boys featuring BAPE’s Nigo, and continued to work with the members of his Quannum crew.
Prior to the release of The Outsider, Shadow warned fans it was a “risky” album. On May 16 2006 Shadow posted on his website that the album was done and that he would soon be handing it in to the record label. He wrote:
There’s been a lot of speculation as to the vibe of the new album. Some have predicted that the whole album is in the hyphy vein like 3 Freaks. To those people I say: RELAX YOUR BACK, YOU’VE ONLY HEARD ONE SONG. The album is very diverse, and reflects the fact that I don’t fit comfortably in any one genre. My critics see that as a problem, but I don’t…it’s simply the way things are. I’ve never really fit into any one clique. That’s why the album is called The Outsider.
In some ways it’s a risky record. It’s going to turn some people off. And I think I’ll lose some fans. On the other hand, I know I’ll gain some new ones. That’s a fair trade in my mind. Besides I can’t see playing it safe at this point in my life.
There’s songs with samples and songs with no samples. There’s very dark stuff and very light stuff. Fast and slow. Simple and complicated. And there’s songs on this album that I think blow away almost anything else I’ve ever done, so…we’ll see. I think song for song it’s the best album I’ve ever made.
Using Metacritic, Shadow’s 2006 solo album The Oustider is seen as the least favourite of fans, and critics were also left with mixed feelings. Resident Advisor described The Oustider as a “tough listen at times” and in their review they noted many fans they had spoken to weren’t going to buy the album after hearing its lead single 3 Freaks. Spin gave it 3/5 stars, noting long time fans would likely not be impressed. Pitchfork also took Shadow to task over his suggestion the album would “make it very difficult for people to imitate my sound”, as they felt the album was inconsistent and incoherent in sound, claiming “This album should alienate virtually everyone who’s ever been a Shadow fan.”
One major issue fans and reviewers had with the album was the new sound Shadow had incorporated, named hyphy. While hyphy was apparently big in California, it hadn’t spread to the rest of the world and Shadow’s embracing of the genre turned many people off. That isn’t to say The Oustider wasn’t praised, with even the bad reviews noting there were highlights, but as the Metro Times pointed out, anyone who had been hoping for a continuation of Shadow’s previous sound would be disappointed.
Following The Oustider, Shadow released another mix with Cut Chemist, The Hard Sell, and released a series of old live shows and performances on his Handmade imprint. Then in 2009 Shadow announced he was working on his next album and noted on his webiste,
Probably the only thing I can promise is that as always, it will sound different from the last one…oh, and that everyone will undoubtedly hate it until two years after the fact. (Let the backlash to the backlash of the backlash BEGIN!!! haha, err…ha)
The Less You Know, The Better was released in 2011 and All Music noted it sounded closer to Endtroducing than The Outsider, making the suggestion Shadow had listened to his critics. Overall critical reviews for The Less You Know, The Better tied with those for The Outsider, though fans rate this one considerably higher according to Metacritic. This was Shadow’s final album as part of the Mo’ Wax/A&M/Island contract, which was concluded with a Best Of release in 2012, and Shadow was now free from a major label commitment.
Since 2014 Shadow has released his music on his own label, Liquid Amber, and from 2016, with the release of his next solo album The Mountain Will Fall, on Mass Appeal as well. In 2019 Shadow released his sixth solo album, Our Pathetic Age, a double album, with the first half made up of instrumentals, and the other featuring vocal contributions from artists such as De La Soul, Nas, and Run The Jewels. The album was followed by plans for a 2020 tour but this had to be cut short due to the corona virus.
Shadow has had a long career, beginning with his early mixtapes in 1991, his remix work for Hollywood BASIC, the Mo’ Wax period, his DJ mixes with Cut Chemist, and not to mention his remix and production work for other artists, from his Solesides/Quannum friends to new artists such as Run The Jewels etc. While not everyone is a fan of his post-Mo’ Wax releases, Shadow’s albums continue to chart around the world, and his live shows continue to be popular, with recordings eagerly circulating among fans online.
