Three decades after Endtroducing….. forever changed the possibilities of instrumental hip-hop and sample-based music, and a decade after The Mountain Will Fall reintroduced him to a new generation, DJ Shadow is taking a look backward—and forward—at the same time.
The pioneering producer has unveiled “Nobody Speak Part 2,” a revamped take on one of the defining tracks from 2016’s The Mountain Will Fall. The new version retains the combustible chemistry of the original collaboration with Run the Jewels while adding freshly recorded verses from Denzel Curry and TiaCorine, both of whom also appear in Shadow’s expanding creative universe via his multimedia project The Scythe.
The release arrives as Shadow prepares a 10th anniversary reissue of The Mountain Will Fall, due later this year via Mass Appeal, alongside celebrations for the 30th anniversary of Endtroducing….., the 1996 landmark that remains one of the most influential electronic and hip-hop albums ever made.
When The Mountain Will Fall arrived in 2016, it marked another evolution for the California artist, moving further away from the densely layered sample collages that defined his early work and toward a greater emphasis on original composition. That trajectory continued through 2019’s sprawling Our Pathetic Age and 2023’s Action Adventure, which Shadow told SPIN reflected his desire to create music that felt more immediate and instinctive rather than beholden to expectations surrounding his legacy.
The original “Nobody Speak” became one of the biggest tracks of Shadow’s career. Featuring Run the Jewels’ El-P and Killer Mike at peak swagger, the single earned RIAA gold certification, racked up more than 120 million Spotify streams and became virtually unavoidable across film trailers, television, commercials and video games. Its satirical video, depicting politicians descending into an all-out fistfight, proved especially prescient during the fevered atmosphere of the 2016 election cycle. At the time, Shadow joked that the team had intended to create a “positive, life-affirming video that captures politicians at their election-year best. We got this instead.”
The anniversary celebrations won’t stop with new music. Shadow recently announced the Endtroducing….. 30th Anniversary Tour, a 20-date North American run that will find him performing material from the album in a dedicated live presentation for the first time. The trek launches Sept. 20 in San Diego and wraps Nov. 1 after stops in Los Angeles, New York and beyond.
The festivities will culminate Dec. 18 at London’s Barbican, where Shadow will perform Endtroducing….. front-to-back alongside the BBC Symphony Orchestra. The one-night-only event sold out less than two hours after tickets went on sale.
