DJ Shadow’s Next LP Features Ghostface, Raekwon, Plus A Nas & Pharoahe Monch Collab

In July, veteran producer and mixmaster DJ Shadow released a collaboration with De La Soul. The Davis, California native who was part of the Solesides/Quannum Projects family released “Rocket Fuel” prompting fans to assume that a new album was on the way.

Now, Heads learn that it’s going to be Shadow’s first double album. What’s more, November 15’s Our Pathetic Age boasts a truly incredible guest list for Hip-Hop fans. Shadow, who worked with Paris in the early 1990s, links with Ghostface Killah, Raekwon, Inspectah Deck, Run The Jewels, Wiki, and Tef Poe. Additionally, Shadow involves two legendary Queens, New York MCs, Pharaohe Monch and Nas, together on “Drone Warfare.” Mass Appeal label-mates including Dave East and Stro appear, as do members of Solesides, including Blackalicious’ Gift Of Gab and Latryrx’s Lateef The Truthspeaker.

De La Soul Rock A DJ Shadow Beat Like An ’80s Park Jam (Audio)

The album includes 11 instrumental tracks, including a fully-composed orchestral piece by the revered crate-digger. The second half of the double LP includes vocal guests in several genres. Regarding the works’ title and theme, Shadow explained in a press statement. “More than anything, I try to get a sense of the mood of society as a whole. The subtle signals that humans send each other, the way people behave, their frustrations and ebbs and flows. In my part of the world, people are scared. There’s rampant homelessness, and a real fear of falling into generational poverty. People are addicted to, and addled by distraction; they’re angry and confused, and disaffected by their own governmental institutions. There’s songs that are inspired by this energy and seek to harness it, to make sense of it. In some cases, there’s attempts to salve the wound; in others, the songs merely observe but don’t offer solutions. Despite the title, it’s a hopeful, vibrant album…there is always light in darkness. I want it to reflect the times we live in, a signpost in the ground to mark the era…Our Pathetic Age.”

This marks the first time Nas and Monch have appeared together on a released song. Both artists’ careers are tied to Large Professor, who worked on Illmatic and remixed Organized Konfusion around the same time. In an interview with Premium Pete, Pharoahe recalled nearly being shot at Nas’ “It Ain’t Hard To Tell” video shoot. Notably, each MC has regularly spoken to those issues and themes Shadow suggested for his album, which will release on Nas’ Mass Appeal Records imprint.

Pharoahe Monch’s Song Brings Wordplay Back On A Whole New Level (Lyric Video)

1. Nature Always Wins
2. Slingblade
3. Intersectionality
4. Beauty, Power, Motion, Life, Work, Chaos, Law
5. Juggernaut
6. Firestorm
7. Weightless
8. Rosie
9. If I Died Today
10. My Lonely Room
11. We Are Always Alone
12. Drone Warfare (feat. Nas, Pharoahe Monch)
13. Rain On Snow (feat. Inspectah Deck, Ghostface Killah, Raekwon)
14. Rocket Fuel (feat. De La Soul)
15. C.O.N.F.O.R.M. (feat. Gift of Gab, Lateef The Truth Speaker, Infamous Taz)
16. Small Colleges (Stay With Me) (feat. Wiki, Paul Banks)
17. JoJo’s Words (feat. Stro)
18. Kings & Queens (feat. Run The Jewels)
19. Taxin’ (feat. Dave East)
20. Dark Side of the Heart (feat. Fantastic Negrito, Jumbo is Dr.ama)
21. I Am Not A Robot (Interlude)
22. Urgent, Important, Please Read (feat. Rockwell Knuckles, Tef Poe, Daemon)
23. Our Pathetic Age (feat. Samuel T. Herring)

Shadow last released The Mountain Will Fall in 2016. It also involved Killer Mike and El-P’s Run The Jewels.

Run The Jewels & DJ Shadow Give New Meaning To Political Warfare (Video)

DJ Shadow press photograph (by Derick Daily) provided by Run Music.

#BonusBeat: DJ Shadow released “Rosie” with the tracklisting: