Album: Madvillainy
Artist: Madvillain
Born: The Bomb Shelter, Los Angeles
Released: March 2004
Genre: Hip Hop
Madlib (aka Otis Jackson Jr) is first and foremost a crate digger and DJ, and this deep appreciation of hip hop's past is obvious in his music. On Madvillainy, there's the sinister atmosphere and cartoon villainy found on Wu-Tang records and the inventive, madcap production pioneered by the likes of Dr Octagon. Madlib built his reputation as an underground hip hop producer and DJ on the sounds that emanated from his studio in Mount Washington, Los Angeles, known as the Bomb Shelter. Madlib was very much a product of his times and the growing subgenre of underground hip hop was something the internet helped to unleash in the noughties. He gained critical acclaim for his first solo work, The Unseen (released in 2000 under his Quasimoto alias) and also put out a compilation of classic ska and reggae in 2002, entitled Blunted In The Bomb Shelter. Around the same time, the news leaked that Madlib had teamed up with another rising star of underground hip hop, MF DOOM (aka Daniel Dumile), and from 2002 to 2004 they would collaborate intensely to create their masterpiece, Madvillainy. Overseeing the album's recording and release was label Stone's Throw, who put together this photo blog about the making of the record. The blog details how the beats for Rhinestone Cowboy and other tracks were created by Madlib using very basic equipment: a portable record player, an SP 303 digital sampler and a borrowed cassette deck. The production is one of my favourite elements of Madvilliany, the off-kilter beats, audio snippets and jazz and soul samples all creating a hypnotic atmosphere.
Madlib (aka Otis Jackson Jr) is first and foremost a crate digger and DJ, and this deep appreciation of hip hop's past is obvious in his music. On Madvillainy, there's the sinister atmosphere and cartoon villainy found on Wu-Tang records and the inventive, madcap production pioneered by the likes of Dr Octagon. Madlib built his reputation as an underground hip hop producer and DJ on the sounds that emanated from his studio in Mount Washington, Los Angeles, known as the Bomb Shelter. Madlib was very much a product of his times and the growing subgenre of underground hip hop was something the internet helped to unleash in the noughties. He gained critical acclaim for his first solo work, The Unseen (released in 2000 under his Quasimoto alias) and also put out a compilation of classic ska and reggae in 2002, entitled Blunted In The Bomb Shelter. Around the same time, the news leaked that Madlib had teamed up with another rising star of underground hip hop, MF DOOM (aka Daniel Dumile), and from 2002 to 2004 they would collaborate intensely to create their masterpiece, Madvillainy. Overseeing the album's recording and release was label Stone's Throw, who put together this photo blog about the making of the record. The blog details how the beats for Rhinestone Cowboy and other tracks were created by Madlib using very basic equipment: a portable record player, an SP 303 digital sampler and a borrowed cassette deck. The production is one of my favourite elements of Madvilliany, the off-kilter beats, audio snippets and jazz and soul samples all creating a hypnotic atmosphere.
Another original feature of Madvillainy is MF DOOM's unique flow, which is definitely an acquired taste. On Rhinestone Cowboy, he refers to himself as the "grimy limey slimy", and says "try me blimey / simply smashing in a fashion that's timely". The British slang reveals Dumile's upbringing in London, while the non-stop flow is characteristic of his approach throughout the record. None of the tracks contain a chorus and this helps to create Madvillainy's hypnotic feel, with MF DOOM's oddball lyrics and words slipping over the beats. Fantastic Four super-villain Dr Doom is the inspiration for Dumile's mask, but his most unique characteristic is his lyricism, often rapping from the perspective of a cartoon villain, whether that's freestyling on Accordion (on top of the incredible synth bassline) or contemplating street violence on Strange Ways ("Any day could be the one, you pick / the wrong thug to test / slug through the vest / shot in the street for pulling heat"). Various instrumentals throughout the LP give the 22 tracks a sense of structure and also add to its abstract feel. Shadows Of Tomorrow, which samples jazz poet Sun Ra and sees Madlib rapping as his alter ego Quasimoto (or Lord Quas) on the first half, over a quickly picked guitar groove, is one of the more philosophical moments. As well as Shadows Of Tomorrow, Accordion, Strange Ways and Rhinestone Cowboy, other highlights for me are Meat Grinder, detailing a strange encounter with a prostitute with a lisp over a sinister bassline, Raid and All Caps. America's Most Blunted is also quite a funny stoner's song, about as subtle as Afroman's Because I Get High. Although hip hop has started to lose its way over the past decade, I do like how this record inspired the genre to get weirder, resulting in great records from Edan (Beauty & Beat, 2005) to Flying Lotus (Cosmogramma, 2010).
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