Celebrating the 21st Anniversary of DJ Shadow's "Endtroducing"

There are those moments you remember, years after the fact, the first time you gazed upon a photograph and it’s immediate impact. I remember seeing the cover of DJ Shadow’s Endtroducing, which dropped on this day on 1996 and feeling so confused.

At a time when Hip Hop was getting entirely too shiny for my taste, Brian “B+” Cross’ photo took it back to basics. It looked like a scene from everyday life, like just what you would expect to find at the record shop. Well, except the fact that I’d never seen anything so casual on an album cover before, and the blurred face unnerved me. Why for?

I wouldn’t know for years to come, not til earlier this month when we collaborated for a story at Dazed and had a chance to talk. It was one of those great conversations, where you already have everything you need for the story, but you keep asking questions because curiosity ..

I love when things come full circle, spinning around again, but with the benefit of time passing, the meaning becomes clear as a bell ..