Credits:DJ ShadowDescription:AsasuburbanCaliforniakid,DJShadowtendedtotreathip-hopasamusicalinnovation,notasanexplicitsocialprotest,whichgoesalongwaytowardexplainingwhyhisdebutalbum,Endtroducing.....,soundedlikenothingelseatthetimeofitsrelease.Usinghip-hop,notonlyitsrhythmsbutitscut-and-pastetechniques,asafoundation,Shadowcreatedadeep,endlesslyintriguingworldonEndtroducing.....,onewheretherearenomusicalgenres,onlyshiftingsonictexturesandstyles.Shadowcreatedtheentirealbumfromsamples,almostallpulledfromobscure,forgottenvinyl,andtheeffectisthatofahazy,half-familiardream--partsoftherecordsoundfamiliar,yetit'sclearthatitonlysuggestsmusicyou'veheardbefore,andthatthemulti-layeredsamplesandgenrescreatesomethingnew.Andthat'soneofthekeystothesuccessofEndtroducing.....:it'sinnovative,butitbuildsonasolidhistoricalfoundation,givingitarich,multifacetedsound.It'snotonlyamajorbreakthroughforhip-hopandelectronica,butforpopmusic.~StephenThomas