30 Years of Endtroducing…..
In 1996, DJ Shadow’s debut album Endtroducing….. was released on Mo’ Wax Records. It arguably became the best-known album Mo’ Wax ever released, and has repeatedly been named as one of the greatest albums of the 1990s. As DJ Shadow begins a new tour celebrating the album's 30th anniversary, we look back at the history of Endtroducing…..
After spending almost a decade crate digging, scratching, and mastering his four-track recorder, Josh Davis bought his first sampler in 1992; the Akai MPC60II. That same year James Lavelle reached out to Shadow after he heard Doin' Damage In My Native Language (Shadow's Legitimate Mix) (Hollywood BASIC, 1991). Lavelle had just started Mo’ Wax Records and was looking for interesting new sounds. DJ Shadow was making them.
The following year, In/Flux (Mo’ Wax, 1993) was released, marking DJ Shadow’s debut for Mo’ Wax. At the same time, he visited Europe for his first international tour and began work on his debut album. However, there were several interruptions. First, Shadow presented four songs to Mo’ Wax to give an indication of how his album was progressing, and the label decided to release them as an EP. What Does Your Soul Look Like (Mo’ Wax, 1994) featured over 30 minutes of music and although two of the four tracks still made it onto his album, Shadow feared at the time that he would have to start over from scratch.
The second interruption came near the end of 1995, when James Lavelle invited Shadow to produce some tracks for his UNKLE project. The infamous “Belmondo” sessions in LA did not result in an album as planned. Instead, Lavelle shelved the whole project, and Shadow’s work was left unreleased. Next, Lavelle took Shadow to Australia for a Mo’ Wax Headz tour over the New Year, and it wasn’t until January 1996 that he could return to his album.
Tracks were composed on his MPC, featuring samples Shadow had discovered during crate digging excursions in record stores such as Ed Hartman’s Records in Sacramento and John Hillyard’s store in Merced. Once complete, the songs were recorded to DAT and taken to Dan the Automator’s studio for further mixing. The album was completed then mixed in May 1996 for release later that year. A title and theme had already been decided, with Shadow explaining to Spine Magazine in early 1995:
“The album's going to be called Endtroducing. Side one's called 'Build' and side two's called 'Destroy'. The last song’s called 'The Phoenix', because it's all about destroying the thing that you've created.”
He further explained to XLR8 in 2012:
“…the reason why it's spelled with an "E-N-D" is because it signified the fourth and final chapter in a series of pieces that I was doing for Mo' Wax with a certain sound, a certain tone, a certain atmosphere. And I feel like my work really changed after that. It was the summary of this sound, and [the album] wrapped up the series.”
Released on 16 September 1996 in the UK, the title was originally Endtroducing....., with five periods. This became four periods when the album was released in Australia on 30 September. Then shortened to three periods when it was released in the US on 19 November. Subsequent releases have alternated between five or three periods and there has never been an explanation for why this is. Notably, there are also copies which misspell the title “Entroducing”, missing the D in End.
Regardless of how it was written, the international press loved this album and DJ Shadow. In the UK, Melody Maker labeled Endtroducing as “bloody essential”, writing it “flips hip hop inside out all over again like a reversible glove, and again, and again, and each time it's sudden and new.” In Germany, Musik Express wrote “This record is everything: a classic opus, a lesson in the use of samples and beats, a previously unheard collection of sounds and structures.” Les Inrockuptibles likewise praised Shadow’s sombre, poetic, and atmospheric sample work as heard on songs ‘Building Steam with a Grain of Salt’ and ‘Midnight in a Perfect World’. They added that “few hip-hop producers have been able to distil their innermost feelings into pure sound in this way.” This praise extended beyond Europe to the US, where Rolling Stone gave it 4/5 stars and Spin 9/10, both impressed with Shadow’s ability to seamlessly combine samples across genres.
Though it was frequently cited as an album made up entirely of samples, Endtroducing includes recordings featuring Gift of Gab (“It’s the money” on ‘Why Hip Hop Sucks In '96’) and Shadow’s girlfriend at the time Lisa Haugen (“Do you feel like Darth Vader?” on ‘Mutual Slump’). Whether or not these are considered samples is up for debate. Guinness World Record awarded Endtroducing as the first album released which was completely made up of samples. However, Shadow himself referred to these bits with Gab and Lisa as “non-samples”.
Endtroducing photoshoot by B+. Note the DJ Shadow records placed within the racks in the centre photo.
Other friends of Shadow appear on the album artwork, with the cover featuring Chief Xcel and Lyrics Born in Ed Hartman’s Records, which we previously covered here. The photos were shot by Brian Cross and also include Beni B and the store cat Neferkitty within the expanded artwork. The cover was then recreated for the ‘Midnight In A Perfect World’ video, also directed by Brian Cross. This would be the first single released from Endtroducing, and preceded the album, releasing 2 September 1996. It was followed by ‘Stem’ on 28 October.
Upon its release in the UK, Endtroducing peaked at #17 in the UK Albums Chart and spent four consecutive weeks within the Top 100. It also spent three weeks in the Scottish Albums Chart peaking at #27. The next year it returned again for another five weeks in the UK Chart peaking at #91, and spent several weeks in the UK’s Independent Albums Chart between 1997 through to the end of 1998, where it peaked at #34. Over in the US, the album didn’t have quite an impact on their charts. It reached #37 on the Billboard Heatseekers, a chart featuring albums close to breaking into the national Billboard 200. While the album did receive considerable airplay in the US on Alternative Radio stations, it turned out that thousands of fans had imported their copies from the UK rather than wait two months for the US release. This led to Endtroducing missing out on appearing in the US charts. However, Shadow would have better luck with future releases.
In Japan, fans had also bought versions imported from overseas as Endtroducing wasn’t released locally until 1 August 1997. It was the first release on the newly opened Mo’ Wax Japan and contained two bonus tracks, ‘Red Bus Needs To Leave’ which also appeared on the ‘Stem’ single, and Shadow’s Mo’ Wax debut ‘In/Flux’. Eventually, later international pressings would also feature bonuses of their own.
Since its first release in 1996, Endtroducing has been repressed and remastered several times. According to Discogs, there are over 80 different versions of the album on formats such as CD, LP, cassette, and digital. For vinyl purists, there are double LP pressings with or without a gatefold, 180gram represses, coloured vinyl, and a half-speed remaster. In 2005, the Excessive Ephemera (Island Records, 2005) collection was released as a bonus disc featuring alternative versions and demos. Then the entire album was remixed by people such as Clams Casino and Hudson Mawhawk for the 2016’s 20th Anniversary Edition. Now, alongside the album's 30th anniversary, Shadow has released The Mo’Wax Singles (Liquid Amber, PIAS Recordings, 2026), a box set featuring never before released additional demos and alternative mixes. Every song on the original album now has an alternative mix and remix available. So there’s several different ways to hear the album beyond how it was originally put out in 1996.
Over 30 years since it was first released, Endtroducing remains a classic. Not just within the discography of DJ Shadow or the Mo’ Wax catalogue, but as one of many people’s favourite albums of all time. While DJ Shadow could have spent the rest of his life making Endtroducing Part 2,3,4,5,6… only to ruin the reputation of the original. He instead kept his promise to reinvent himself with each album, meaning Endtroducing has been able to shine brightly as something unique, never to be repeated.
Whether this is your 30th year with Endtroducing or the first, now is a good time to listen to it one more time in celebration of its anniversary. Or if you’re lucky, go see DJ Shadow performing it live as part of his 30th Anniversary Tour.
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