State Champ Radio Madlib
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Madlib has been a part of several projects as both a rapper and producer that Hip-Hop aficionados praise heavily but few have reached the critical heights of Madvillainy. On the 20th anniversary of the collaborative project featuring Madlib and the late MF DOOM, the Beat Konducta gave a strong salute to the masked supervillain.
Taking to Instagram, Madlib shared a clip of a video for Madvillainy standout cut “All Caps” and captioned the post with, “20 years. RIP to the Villain.”
It was remarkable considering the Oxnard, Calif. native isn’t on social media much at all. As it stands, Madvillainy is considered a modern-era classic and influenced several rappers such as many members of the Pro Era collective (Joey BadA$$, Chuck Strangers, Kirk Knight, etc.) and Yasiin Bey among others.
Peanut Butter Wolf, the founder of Stones Throw Records which put out the album, also chimed in on Complex Music’s post about Madvillainy and shared that it is the only album on the label to achieve gold status.
From IG:
Here’s some more facts. This was an album where Madlib chose to record the beats in my basement that we called The Bomb Shelter (it was a literally a concrete bomb shelter). DOOM recorded his vocals in my bedroom down the hall where we also had @ecoleye do a photo shoot that became the album cover. The LA release party was at The Fonda (a modest sized venue) and we stacked the bill w/ me, J Rocc, Madlib, Dilla, and Common, besides (the headliner) DOOM because we were afraid it wouldn’t sell out. We did a few more shows that month with the same lineup in a few major markets to small but very excited crowds. That was it in terms of promotion, besides doing 3 LOW BUDGET music videos (2 in the same day) that I convinced DOOM into reluctantly doing. It’s the first (and only) album on my 28 year old label to go gold.
The dense poetics of Madvillainy have never been replicated as MF DOOM had a style so unique to his vocal tone that it wouldn’t sound right coming from another artist. Adding to the lore, the production from The Bad Kid was performed on what some might consider simple equipment.
The bulk of the beats were made on a Boss Dr. Sample Sp-303 sampler, a tape deck, and a portable turntable with records discovered in Brazil and other travels. The mixing and mastering were overseen by Dave Cooley, who previously worked on records with J Dilla, Adrian Younge, and remastering projects from the late Isaac Hayes and more.
Check out Madvillainy below along with Madlib’s tribute to DOOM.
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Photo: Getty
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Madlib is one of the best producers in Hip-Hop and his deft touch behind the boards extends far beyond the genre most associate him with. The Oxnard, Calif. native joined his brother Talib Kweli on Shade 45’s Sway In The Morning, revealing that he’s got albums with the late Mac Miller, Planet Asia, and Erykah Badu in the tuck.
Madlib, who doesn’t do a ton of media appearances, spoke briefly on the aforementioned projects, and considering he has a history with the trio of artists, fans should expect more of that Beat Konducta magic.
“Right now, I’m finishing up the Mac Miller album, Planet Asia album, Erykah Badu album, different stuff,” Madlib said, with Sway Calloway following up to ask if the estate is in support of Madlib working on the Miller project, to which he confirmed they’ve given their blessing. Sway noted that Miller appears on Liberation 2, the joint project featuring the producer and Kweli.
Fans of Planet Asia are well aware of the track Madlib remixed titled “Definition Of Ill,” which stamped the Fresno, Calif. rapper as one of the best lyricists just ahead of the turn of the century in 1999. The Gold Chain Music honcho has remained busy over the past two decades with a number of high-quality projects and this upcoming body of work will add to that.
The Bad Kid also worked in the past with Badu on the albums New Amerykah Part One (4th World War) and New Amerykah Part Two (Return of the Ankh), released in 2008 and 2010 respectively.
Check out Talib Kweli and Madlib on Sway In The Morning below.
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Photo: Getty
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Source: The Coca-Cola Company / The Coca-Cola Company
The art of sampling is taking something previously recorded and rendering it anew by chopping, looping, and other techniques that are the hallmarks of Hip-Hop production. Producers Madlib and Mark Ronson joined forces with The Coca-Cola Company for an innovative EP cleverly titled Recycled Records.
Source: The Coca-Cola Company / The Coca-Cola Company
The Recycled Records campaign launched back in December, putting Oxnard, Calif. native Madlib (Lootpack, Madvilliany, Freddie Gibbs) and London’s Mark Ronson (Amy Winehouse, Wale, Lady Gaga) in charge of sampling a bevy of sounds from a number of recycling centers that are turning used clear plastic bottles into new containers for a bevy of Coca-Cola products.
For years, Sprite, Fresca, and Seagram’s used a distinctive green plastic for their products, and as we learn in a short film narrated by the legendary MC Lyte, those bottles can largely only be used once. With Coca-Cola transitioning to clear bottles, recycling is now easier than ever thus creating less impact on the environment and giving the bottles new life.
The campaign produced the unique seven-track EP full of original tracks from Madlib and Mark Ronson, all of which are sonically different than the other and show off an amazing range of sounds between the pair. Fans can also try their hand at sampling the sounds and producing their own beats using the same library of sounds the Loopdigga (Madlib) and Ronson employed on their respective outings.
Source: The Coca-Cola Company / The Coca-Cola Company
“Sampling is an artform which is constantly regenerating. The tiniest sound, whether from an old record or from the world around us, can inspire an entire piece of music. I learnt from my heroes, DJ Premier and Q-Tip, who all made incredible albums from sampling, and it’s stayed an integral part of my work up until today,” Ronson added in a statement.
Madlib adds, “A great sample doesn’t have to come from other music, it just has to make you move. The thud of a plastic bottle going through a recycling facility is, in its own way, a piece of art, it has the ability to transform. Being able to take sounds from the recycling process that are so different from what I’ve used in the past, and flipping it into a whole new format, is a great example of the versatility of sound. Now any cat has the opportunity to make some dope sounds of their own.”
As the short film highlights, the most random sounds were used to create the samples, including the fizz of a bottle opening, the whirr of a forklift in motion, and the steady hiss of a factory conveyer belt. These music masters used all of their skills to flip these sounds into serious head-nodding bangers.
The campaign is part of Coca-Cola’s wider efforts in waste management under its World Without Waste operation.
To learn more, please visit this link to get more information on Recycled Records and to create your own original soundscape. Kudos to The Coca-Cola Company for its effort in protecting the planet by reducing waste on a global scale.
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Photo: Coca-Cola Company
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