blog post On record: Madvillainy by Madvillain

A continuing series, On Record is an appreciation of significant music that has made a lasting impact on hip-hop and inspired us personally. These are stories about albums or songs, told from unique perspectives. 

Before partnering with masked cult figure MF Doom for 2004’s Madvillainy, Californian beat savant Madlib’s deep catalogue of raw, experimental records earned him hordes of die-hard fans. But more than just a rap nerd’s wet dream turned reality, Madvillainy was seminal for two reasons: it performed better, commercially and critically, than most of Doom and Madlib’s individual work before and after, and it marked the rare instance where reclusive Madlib collaborated in real time with another artist. So it’s impossible not to see Madvillainy’s 22 tracks – more than half less than two minutes in length – as a moment of creative triumph from two of hip-hop’s staunchest weirdos. Notoriously verbose Doom drops a succession of memorable non-sequitors – he’s at his most accessible here – but Madlib’s visceral theatricality is equally as potent. It’s that competing tension – raw drum knocks versus prosaic rapping, ribbony samples backing gruff-voiced menace – that makes Madvillainy essential listening.