Shadow was born to hippie parents in a "financially challenged" neighborhood in North Minneapolis, Minnesota.
After the 1960s when much of the white flight occurred, the black population largely settled in North Minneapolis.
The Parkway, in addition to serving as a living memorial, has become a center of affluence and culture in North Minneapolis.
His father, a furrier, settled the family in Near North, Minneapolis.
But in North Minneapolis, a relatively comfortable black neighborhood where property is well-tended, the anger is palpable.
People in North Minneapolis say the anger is not just about being poor.
But people in North Minneapolis say racism is a part of everyday life.
Racial tensions boil over in North Minneapolis as whites continue to leave the decaying core of the inner city bound for the suburbs.
In 2007, the college sponsored a new charter high school in North Minneapolis, Dunwoody Academy.
Having grown up in North Minneapolis, they began participating in talent shows and freestyle battles in 1983.