Madlib Sampler

I have mentioned before that Madlib is one of the most daunting blog posts i could think of, with his crazy amount of amazing work to explain, and i was quite unsure how to approach such a lengthy endeavor. So at this point in time, i have decided to drop a Sampler Post of a few songs from his various works. Madlib is the definition of prolific. I dont think the man spends a waking moment thinking of anything besides music. He is smart, silly, creative and unstoppable, and he does all the heavy lifting alone.



First, The Return of the Loop Digga from his Quasimoto album, The Unseen. Quasimoto is a studio invention of his, an alternate persona that talks about all the stereotypical things in a hip hop song. Throughout the Unseen, madlib and quasimoto rhyme and converse with each other, the ultimate example of one producer taking on the voices of both the producer and audience he is writing for. In Loop Digga, quasimoto emplores madlib to rhyme about his experiences as a music lover who wants to produce his own sound. It turns into a skit with Quasimoto playing the role of an employee at a record shop where madlib is looking for some albums to pick up. Its a hilarious scene, especially when madlib questionably replies to quasimotos recommendation, "simon herris breaks?". In the third section, madlib goes on the offensive, talking about the very music he was currently creating.



Next, from his Madvilliany collaboration with MF Doom, Fancy Clown. This is another classic album, just madlib working with a great MC and sampling all kinds of great beats and melodies. The vocals that start the song, and then accent the verses and chorus, are so nicely rooted in awesome oldschool R&B. This track showcases his consistent ability to include his classic jazz and oldies influences with his current abilities in the hip hop world.



Next, from his album Shades of Blue, Slims Return. This shit straight qualifies for the Sick/Funky Drummer Challenge, for sure. Blue Note Records decided it would be a good idea to give madlib exclusive access to their entire library. Blue Note Records is a company that was a landmark in jazz production through the 50s and 70s. They wanted him to make a hip hop album for jazz cats, and a jazz album for hip hop lovers. For madlib, this was no big deal. With a professional jazz trumpeter for a father, his knowledge stretched far within and beyond Blue Note, and having access to more of
their master tapes just enabled him to assemble a cleaner sound.



And finally, i wanted to end with another song from the Lord Quas album The Unseen. madlib was putting out some incredibly creative songs on the Unseen, tracks with many different sections and narrators, but in Astro Black he kept it straight to the point; catchy ass chill jam action.