This month, the most impressive display of skills was not on the mic but on the turntables and behind the boards. Shadow, the 18 year-old from Davis, California sent us 90 minutes of slammin' hip-hop. His tapes consist of carefully constructed, intricate mixes, remixes, and original tracks of his own produced in a continues sequence, without a sampler. His loops were done on a Yamaha MT-100 4-track. His best remix was his version of Rakim's "Let the Rhythm Hit 'Em" which he renamed "Let the Remix Hit 'Em," with wild beats jumping in and out of the track and a catchy Cool Chip quote, "The Rhythm is the Master".
The true testament of Shadow's production skills is one of his own tracks which he created by blending a piece of "Purple Haze" (by Jimi Hendrix) with "Assembly Line" (by The Commodores). In just a few measures that he let it go, you can hear definite potential for a hit track. All in all, Shadow's got beats, fat drum fills, swift cuts, and the skills to synthesize his sound nicely. Check him out for production, or if you seek a new flavor for a remix.
Lyrics provided by LRCLIB
