For this his third album, DJ Shadow attempts to shed the “indie rap” tag which sticks so easily to instrumental hip-hop producers. To that end, Shadow collaborates with the likes of Keak Da Sneak, David Banner, and several other rappers. The result is an album which, in places, takes a far more conventionally “rap” direction than previous outings.
Fans may be alienated by some of the more aggressive sounds on The Outsider, and for the most part Shadow’s attempts at Neptunes or Lil Jon-style beats feel a bit like being served a burger in a Chinese restaurant: the sensation that this is not what DJ Shadow is best at is inescapable.
But there are moments when the rap direction works. The highlight of the record is the awesome ‘Seein’ Thangs’, which unleashes the paranoid rage of David Banner over a grim doom-laden synth line. As ever, Banner is exhilarating, furious, and paranoid, as he indicts the Bush administration and the CIA “aka the KKK”, and furiously attacks the US government’s handling of Hurricane Katrina. But in the process Banner also wonders about himself, with the spine tingling line “Having nightmares, screamin’ and bussin’ at my enemy/I put a bullet in that nigga – and I see it’s me.”
However after this halfway point, the album drowns in a sea of eclecticism. From instrumental punk work-out ‘Artifact’ to the bland strumming of ‘Broken Levee Blues’, there’s no coherent direction and it’s unlikely even the return to Shadow’s trademark instrumentalism will placate fans of his earlier work.
The appearance of Kasabian on ‘The Tiger’ only serves to send things in yet another direction. Over 17 tracks and several genres, the album barely gets any momentum going. This is the main problem with The Outsider: In his efforts to avoid being pigeonholed, DJ Shadow has spread himself too thin. The result is an album with little or no direction despite some pleasant sounds and one or two moments of excitement.