White Shadow Interview @whiteshadowofnorway
Check out our exclusive interview with producer White Shadow.
I2G is here with White Shadow, how’s it going?
Hey whatup y’all. Thanks for hittin’ me up. Doing well out here in sunny Norway. Early spring and lots of dope music in the works so I feel great.
Tell me a little bit about your start in music and who are some of your musical influences.
My dad was a musician so music was always played around the house when I was a kid. All kinds but what we liked the most was Funk and Disco. My dad told me about the nightclubs and the DJ’s and we’d tune in to radio in the UK playing the latest Disco cuts and then Rap when Sugarhill Gang came along.
I started DJ’ing school parties and youthclubs when I was 9 back in 1978 and advanced to nightclubs when I was 15. Worked those for a few years then I won the Norwegian DMC battles in ’88 and ’89 becoming Norwegian DJ champion. I was at the world finals in London where I met my future manager from New York so I moved there in 1991 and DJ’d all the top clubs there like The Ritz (Studio 54), S.O.B’s, Giant Step, Danceteria, The Tunnel, Shelter, Sound Factory, The Limelight and many more. I DJ’d with Biz Markie (R.I.P.), Funkmaster Flex, Kid Capri, Clark Kent (R.I.P.) and many others and I had my own DJ gigs too. I also DJ’d parties for Boogie Down Productions so I became a member of BDP posse. The result of that was that I did scratches on BDP member Jamalski’s first album Roughneck Reality on Sony/Columbia on the song Hangin’ Tree that I also helped mix. The instrumental mixes we did were used in the Last Action Hero movie starring Arnold Schwarzenegger.
I lived in New York on and off for a few years then I moved back to Norway and got into making beats. That resulted in producing records. The first I did was Roll Out by D-Stroy of The Arsonists. His first solo single. Then I produced several records for Maylay Sparks including his debut album and then I hooked up with Supastition and did songs with him. Then the Demigodz and AOTP through Celph Titled and Outerspace. I produced Extra Thug Sauce from my debut album Renegades featuring Celph also included on his Gatalog album and Narrow Grave for the AOTP debut album The Torture Papers.
From there I continued working with many artists mostly from the US on various records and released 15 albums of my own featuring Wu Tang Clan members, KRS-ONE, Kool G Rap, Rakim, Big Daddy Kane and 100’s of more dope emcees. Sometimes well known legendary artists and sometimes up and coming unknown artists who were dope. Son Of Saturn was one of them.
My musical influences are first of all Parliament /Funkadelic and the rest of the P-Funk mob though my music sounds nothing like theirs but they’re my favorites. I’m into all kinds of music. At home I mostly listen to Funk and Boogie from the early 80’s cause that’s when I grew up. Electro and early to mid 80’s Hiphop as well and a lot of House music.
DJ’s who inspired me to get into Hiphop DJ’ing were Grandmaster Flash, Grandmixer D.ST, Whiz Kid (R.I.P.), Chuck Chillout, Bambaataa, Afrika Islam, Jazzy Jay, Kool DJ Red Alert, Cutmaster DC, Mixmaster Ice, Jazzy Jeff and many more. As far as producers Quincy Jones (R.I.P.), Trevor Horn, Marley Marl, 45 King (R.I.P.), Pete Rock, DJ Premier.
You just recently dropped your new album, Seppuku. Tell me a little bit about how the project came together for you.
Son Of Saturn and I hadn’t talked in a while. Busy with our own releases. I always wanted to do a full album with him cause he’s one of the best and deepest emcees I know so I figured it’d be a great match for some of my deeper and more spaced out trippy beats. All of a sudden we just hit eachother up on Instagram and started talking about doing a full EP so we figured why wait and started on it right away. From when I sent him beats to the mastered album took under a month. It was just flowing and we got along real well so it was smooth sailing all the way and then we had the EP done and he had the cover artwork and videos done in double quick time too so it was great. The time was just right.
Do you have any other Mixtapes or albums set to drop?
Yes. I’m releasing 2 more EP’s in 2025 under my own name White Shadow. One’s an instrumental EP that will drop soon and then an EP featuring various emcees from the US in November.
Recent releases I produced include two songs on the B-Boys album titled We Get Down. They’re Hiphop pioneers from the early days in The Bronx: Donald D of Rhyme Syndicate etc and Brother B along with various DJ’s like Chuck Chillout. Album was released on Spitslam Records. Chuck D of Public Enemy’s label.
Running Man Records in the UK released Who’s In Town as a vinyl 7″ in February with production and cuts by me. Tricky Tee on the mic. He goes way back to the old school of Hiphop in The BX too and was the first emcee I made songs with in New York in the early 90’s. He has a couple of Hiphop classics on the Sleeping Bag label: Johnny The Fox and I’ve Got It Good / Leave It To The Drums produced by Mantronix and Sam Sever. Who’s In Town was one of those songs we did together in The Bronx in 1991. The master tapes were lost so I had the only copy in the world on a cassette tape. We cleaned that up and Ben Sims of Running Man Records in the UK wanted to release it as the first on his new old school Hiphop label. He’s a well known Techno DJ touring festivals around the world. Had an Essential Mix on BBC with Pete Tong and have released many records in the Techno and also Disco edits genres as have I and he’s an old school Hiphop and Electro collector too. We have more records coming on Running Man.
Do you have any more upcoming videos or singles?
I’ll probably just go straight for my EP releases with no singles but we’ll see.
What are your current thoughts on the music industry?
It’s certainly changed a lot. Had this been the 90’s we would’ve been millionaires off record sales if we had solid record deals. Now there’s no longer much money in music since it’s gone streaming mostly. The good thing about that is that artists no longer have a choice but to make and drop music just for the love of it. The hard part is finding alternative ways to pay the bills and put food on the table in an industry that went from much pay to low pay.
I sell beats, do scratching on songs, engineer work like mixing and mastering, remixes and also sell verses for a lot of legendary Hiphop artists in the US like Wu Tang, KRS, G Rap, Rakim, Jadakiss, Conway and many more, making dope verses by the best emcees affordable and available to most people and I have a regular job too plus I sell Hiphop memorabilia like flyers from the 90’s and vinyl so a lot of hustles to make ends meet but it’s fun too. If interested in any of the above, hit me up on my social medias below.
What is currently playing on your playlist musically?
I tend to go for 80’s stuff I grew up on within the urban dance music genres of that era like Funk, Boogie, Disco, Soul, Futurist, Proto-House, Pop, Metal, Electro and early Rap music. You’d be surprised how little Hiphop I listen to. I used to but I played all the classics to death when they were new in the clubs so it’s not what I listen to when I just chill at home or whatever. But sometimes I do and then it’s the 90’s classics and whatever new Hiphop that’s dope but I tend to like new House music more. In general Hiphop’s seen better days in my opinion but there is some heat droppin’ every year now too. Just gotta dig a little deeper.
Do you have any shows or tour dates?
My gig and touring days are mostly over. I’m 55 now and enjoy chillin’ at the crib and being creative making music or on the turntables but I still do a rare gig. Mostly private parties that are really well paid. Touring and club DJ’ing is a young man’s sport the way I see it.
What is your website information?
https://www.facebook.com/whiteshadowofnorway
https://www.instagram.com/whiteshadowofnorway
https://www.youtube.com/TWSUncut
https://www.discogs.com/artist/215082-The-White-Shadow
Appreciate the interview, any last words or shout outs?
Shouts to all my people worldwide. Too many to mention. Much respect and love to all y’all. Big-up my man Son Of Saturn. We made it bruh! Also big-up his wife Neha Maiya for helping out with the EP and videos. Big thanks to The Snowgoons and ApRock of Goons Promo. Big-ups all the fans, supporters and friends around the world. Enjoy the EP. More to come really soon. Son Of Saturn is on my EP too and lot of other bangers. Thanks I2G for the interview.
