DJ Shadow

Active from the early 1990s into the 21st century, DJ Shadow (Californian Josh Davis) has been called the Jimi Hendrix of sampling. His songs shift tempos in a blink, incorporating multiple time signatures, and it's to Shadow's credit that he's as comfortable hinting at Elvin Jones's or Dave Grohl's rhythmic attack as he is at citing old faithfuls like Clyde Stubblefield. Ethereal horns, ambient keyboards, orchestral strings, vocoder vocals, whole film scenes--each is made a part of his sweeping focus, part of a grand postmodern design.

• electronic
• hip hop/rap
• big beat
• trip hop
• 1990s
• 2000s