DJ Shadow – The Outsider
Universal Motown (released Sept. 19, 2006)
Electronic/hip-hop
I discovered DJ Shadow when I was 17 years old. I was just coming off of an alt/nü-metal kick and I needed something that was not just refreshing, but also intelligent and a lot less angry. I bought Preemptive Strike because I liked the artwork (I would later get two of these “tikis” tattooed on my arm not only as an homage to DJ Shadow, but because I found them to be aesthetically pleasing). I loved it, so I bought Endtroducing. I loved that, so I bought every other DJ Shadow thing I could find. The Private Press was excellent, but I still don’t like it as much as the other two. So along comes the The Outsider, and it breaks my heart…
The “Outsider Intro” is a 2-plus-minute (waaay too long for a monologue intro) that leads into “This Time (I’m Gonna Try It My Way)”, a track which has a decidedly throwback Motown sound, and is pretty damn good, but it wasn’t the dark, dramatic payoff that I was expecting (see, e.g., “Dark Days”). First, let’s go through what I liked. “Triplicate/Something Happened That Day” is dark, haunting gem in the middle of the Hyphy Bay which is vintage Shadow. “Broken Levee Blues” is another awesome composition that again has bluesy, throwback Motown feel to it. Although the instrumental “Artifact” is a solid track, I’m still convinced that it’s a cover of “March of the Pigs”, and that kind of takes away from it. “Erase You” and the three songs after it are all tracks that could have come right off of the UNKLE Psyence Fiction album, and are enjoyable, although they’re a bit too snooze-inducing for this platform. The rest of the album was dispensable, and unless you like the bass-heavy, gritty hyphy style (which I can’t and don’t get), you’ll be as chagrined as I was. “3 Freaks”, with Keak Da Sneak and Turf Talk, was not only the first single, but also the worst song on the album. To make matters worse, they thought it would be good to feature another remix of this song at the end of the album. Pssh.
The David Banner track isn’t hyphy, but I’ve still clumped it in with the rap songs that I don’t like off of this album. Also included in that group is the supposed second single off of the album, “Enuff”, with Q-Tip and Lateef The Truth Speaker, which is a forgettable pop track that makes me wonder if Davis is actually making a very conscious to pander to the hoi polloi.
DJ Shadow has alienated me, and he’s alienated you. He’s made like the White Sox and disappointed me despite the potential that’s there, and left me to bask in past accolades. I heard the rumors that this album would be a messy deviation and an attempt by Davis to “reinvent” himself, but I gave him the benefit of the doubt. I was scared when I turned the album case over and saw all of the guest spots, but I still believed. When all the fat’s in the fire, this album is way too erratic in styles to hold anyone’s attention. Ergo, The Outsider will more than likely have the same effect on most Shadow fans as it did on me, leaving me feeling like just that.
Sure, I’m disappointed, but is it a good album? I think it’s better than a lot of other material in the hip-hop genre, but as far as I’m concerned, it’s not a DJ Shadow album. It’s basically a hyphy project with some other small glimpses of what this should have been (as evidenced on the aforementioned “Triplicate “). It doesn’t really do anything as groundbreaking as the other two, and although it’s good for what it is, it’s not great, excellent, fantastic, or exceptional.
Rating: 
