Native Threads Hip-Hop Artist Profile: Shadowyze
Born in San Antonio, Texas and raised in Pensacola, Florida, Shawn Enfinger has been rapping as Shadowyze (pronounced “shadow wise”) since the late 1980s. Drawing from the richness of his Creek Indian, Irish, and Swedish heritage, Shadowyze brings his messages to a diverse audience. He has opened for such national acts as Ice-T, Digital Underground, and Queen Latifah.
In 1998, a trip to Mexico inspired the breakthrough solo CD Murder in Our Backyard about the Mexican Military's brutal killings of Maya Indians in Southern Mexico. The CD gained exposure in publications such as Native Peoples, Word Up! rap magazine and Harvard University's Anthropology journal, Cultural Survival Quarterly. The album was also nominated for the Native American Music Awards in the Best Rap category.
Enfinger holds a B.A. in Anthropology from the University of West Florida and his working on a Master’s degree. He has experienced firsthand the poverty and injustice that indigenous people endure. Shadowyze spent three months in the Yucatan and Chiapas, Mexico, as well as Ecuador and Peru where he witnessed various riots; bloody police beatings in the streets; villages burned by the military; and rampant drug abuse. He continues to volunteer for the Mayan Indian Relief Fund founded by his friend Ricky Long.
In 2000 Shadowyze signed to the Grammy winning Native American owned SOAR Records based in Albuquerque, New Mexico and released his second album, Spirit Warrior. The CD sold thousands of copies and was played on dozens of Native American reservation radio stations across North America. The album's lyrics concentrated on human rights issues and the struggles that very seldom have a voice: genocide; poverty; forced removal; present-day government abuse of reservations and mascots of the indigenous peoples of the Americas. Like its predecessor, this album was nominated for Best Rap Album in the Native American Music Awards. Spirit Warrior received coverage in such national publications as The New York Times, Vibe, XXL, and Russell Simmons One World Hip-Hop Magazine.
Shadowyze venues cut a wide path, including several Indian reservations in the U.S., San Antonio College in Cusco, Peru, human rights rallies, and well-known commercial venues. He performed in the 2001 Montreux Jazz Fest in Switzerland which included such heavyweights as Sting, George Clinton, Jeff Beck, Run DMC, Everlast, and The Black Crowes.
World of Illusions is Shawn's first release on Back Bone Records. This latest album continues to shine a light on important issues that others might choose to ignore: the reasons behind religious wars; materialism; homelessness; corporate pollution and destruction of the environment; freedom; the connection to mythology that is behind it all and often overlooked.
The music is diverse and offers the perfect combination of hard hitting, Dirty South, West Coast gangsta beats, as well as Funk and Techno. Lyrics are politically and culturally sharp enough to leave cut marks while the delivery is chameleon-like, blending with each bed of music like perfect puzzle pieces. The hooks are catchy, some chant-like and repetitive while others feature female R&B vocals that summon even the most timid wallhugger to the dancefloor.
Shadowyze is a tireless warrior for justice and equality for humanity. He believes music is a key component for doing this by bringing people together to have fun and maybe even learn something at the same time.
Visit his website: http://www.shadowyze.com
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