Madvillainy
Label: Stones Throw Records
Media: CD
Format: Album
WorkNameSort: Madvillainy
After a year-long delay due to Internet leaks, the highly anticipated collaboration between two of underground hip-hop’s greatest heroes (villains?) — MF Doom and Madlib — has finally dropped. “Madvillainy” intertwines two of the most eclectic and extreme styles found in the musical genre with a deceptive effortlessness. With maniacal genius, the diabolical duo has created a chaotic and enthralling landscape rife with “buttery flow” battle rhymes and deep comic-inspired beats. As testament to Madlib’s legendary diversity and prodigious production skills, he uses an array of samples, many of which are steeped in jazz and blues; he even throws in an accordion. Doom is impressive in his ability to adapt his verbal style to the seamless breaks and changes thrown up by his co-conspirator and, with an odd sense of schizophrenic clarity, their respective personalities slice through the haze-shrouded beats. It’s an abstract yet fluid harmony that lives up to expectations.
This article appears in Apr 14-20, 2004.