Madlib’s catalog is a monolith. It’s like staring down an Egyptian tomb or standing at the base of Mount Vesuvius. He proves that an artist makes the tools and not the other way around. For one legendary example, Madlib hooked an SP-303 to a portable record player and a tape deck to create most of the beats for the epochal MF DOOM collaboration, Madvillainy.
Musician, Beatmaker, Seeker
The Californian production genius is not only a journeyman. Having added to his vast body of work since the 1990s, he’s also a seeker. There’s no style of music he can’t disassemble and put back together into a blunt image. No genre is safe: African soul, psychedelic jazz, Bollywood and Indian pop, obscure disco. The list goes on.
"When Madlib clips sound from an artist, people don’t just listen; they study, they take notes, they pop quiz their musician peers."
Soundpieces: Da Antidote! by Lootpack (1999)
A second-generation musician, Madlib has said he’s been in studios since he was born. He was already lauded as a prodigy for the beats he made at 19 for his first group, Lootpack. Since junior high school, he’d already been playing around with samplers. The breakbeats, funky samples, and idiosyncrasies Madlib would deepen are all over works like Soundpieces: Da Antidote!
Champion Sound by Jaylib (2002)
Madlib’s sample choices and flights of fancy have generated new fans. These include Brazillian jazz impresario Arthur Verocai and French fusion favorites Cortex. When Madlib clips sound from an artist, people don’t just listen; they study, they take notes, they pop quiz their musician peers.
Indeed, Madlib’s legacy in the realm of master collaborator was already sealed in the early-2000s. This was the era of the much-hyped arrival of 2002’s Champion Sound alongside fellow legend J Dilla.
Piñata (2014) and Bandana (2019) by Freddie Gibbs & Madlib
These days, he’s best known as the producer for the untouchable Freddie Gibbs partnership (which also includes 2014’s Piñata). He claims to have made the backdrop for 2019’s classic collaboration with generational talent Gibbs, Bandana, on an iPad.
Madlib’s also a musician’s musician. Even more recently, he and Detroit producer/drummer Karriem Riggins released the free-jazz Pardon My French, as Jahari Massamba Unit.
"Madlib paid tribute to his fallen friend the only way he could. He did so as a spiritually aligned musician, artfully chopping expressive R&B music."
Madvillainy by Madvillain (2004)
Madlib bested other successes only with his ace turn as producer for Madvillainy, his titanic joint album with MF DOOM. There, Madlib provided beats for DOOM to unfurl his uber-complex rhyme schemes over. The trunk-rattling potency of the former made way for the utter genius of the latter.
Listen to Dilla rhyming over the too-loud strings of “The Mission” and thumping bass of “Heavy.” DOOM creates an eternal screed of non-sequiturs and weaves wordplay accompanied by accordions (the aptly titled “Accordion”) and crisp, warm jazz (“Great Day”). The masterful “All Caps” sounds like getting chased down a staircase.
Beat Konducta: Volumes 5-6 by Madlib (2009)
After Dilla’s passing, Madlib released the most heartfelt installments of his Beat Konducta series: Volumes 5-6. Mostly consisting of wailing soul samples and instrumentation, Madlib paid tribute to his fallen friend the only way he could. He did so as a spiritually aligned musician, artfully chopping expressive R&B music. The records are full of unexpected turns and non-traditional bar phrasing.
Floating Souls on a Golden Timeline
Upon the announcement of DOOM’s passing, Madlib referred to himself, DOOM, and Dilla as part of a holy trinity of hip-hop producers. Then he ruefully acknowledged he’s the only one left. Who knows what the universe has in store for us? Perhaps Madlib will live to be 80 and record 100 more albums like the luckiest of the jazz greats he admires. For all our sakes, this sounds like the most golden timeline.
