Madvillain
by Eothen Alapatt, intro by Brian DiGenti
Photo by B+
Originally published in Wax Poetics, Issue 8 (Spring 2004), this article provides an intimate glimpse into this dynamic duo’s working relationship. Although Madlib and MF DOOM have both been the subject of their own individual Wax Poetics features (Issues 29 and 31, respectively), this interview, conducted by Stones Throw GM Eothen Alapatt, gets in good with these two often-ellusive luminaries.
In a moment of clarity, Jay-Z might wanna rhyme like Common Sense, but nobody, even with generous charity, can rhyme quite like wordplayer MF DOOM, né Zev Love X. Like Nas and “Live at the BBQ,” every great MC has a celebrated debut, and Zev Love represents on 3rd Bass’s “The Gas Face,” 1989. Let’s zip to ’93, blunted in infinity, for posterity, when Madlib of the Lootpack made his major production debut on wax, with Tha Alkaholiks, on “Mary Jane.” Let’s back up, and switch up, to a positive Kause in a Much Damaged society and get our gasface refilled. Zev Love and partner Subroc, aka KMD, follow up their 1990 classic 12-inch “Peachfuzz” with the 1991 full-length classic Mr. Hood, which is followed by a pair of Yo! MTV Raps trading cards. Fast-forward future, several ’Liks later, Madlib makes moves with Otis Sr.’s funds, releasing the now-classic and now-rare EP Psyche Move in 1996 on his own Crate Digga’s Palace Records. Heads bobbed and ears perked, including those of Chris Manak, aka Peanut Butter Wolf, who offered the Lootpack crew a deal on his Stones Throw label. But let’s backtrack to when deals get lost. KMD’s second long-player, Black Bastards, wouldn’t see the light of day if the industry had its way. We all know the story of Kev Love X subsequently dropping out of sight to reinvent himself and reintroduce himself to the audiences of New York freestyle battles, trading his X cap for a chrome alloy mask. Bobbito Garcia, ever the humanitarian, made 1998 the year of the comeback, releasing KMD sides, including the EP Black Bastards Ruffs + Rares on his Fondle ’Em Records. Same year, different coast, the Lootpack drop The Anthem EP, following it up with their long-player the next year. Back East with DOOM, we made room for his metal face debut, Operation: Doomsday.
And there lies the foundation. Just the beginning. A new day dawning. Not to pull cards (“celebrity” figures must be deconstructed, as a code of conduct followed by us critics), but Daniel Dumile and Otis Jackson Jr. reside behind masks and monikers—not to hide a smile or a smirk, but indeed to throw a monkey wrench to work one’s clockwork. From Quasimoto to Viktor Vaughn, Yesterday’s New Quintet to King Geedorah, the two have been amassing a stable of solid work since the turn of the new century. Madlib and DOOM are in league with powerful forces of the underground, the former with producer Jay Dee and colleagues Declaime and Wild Child; and the latter, the mad hatter, with producers Prince Paul, Prefuse 73, and the Herbaliser. DOOM continues to release his self-produced beats via the instrumental series Special Herbs. And Madlib won’t rest, continuing to provide us with up-to-the-minute sounds, from his sublime Blue Note release to the brand new Free Design remix on Light in the Attic Records.
There was a loud bang about a year ago. Such a sonic boom could only mean the merging of forces of Madlib and DOOM. Like atoms in a superconductor traveling the speed of light until they finally hit head-on and explode, Madvillain was born out of many sparks. Whispered rumors of the partnership soon turned into greedy grabbing, as the demo tapes leaked out to the Internet. And soon the project was put on hold. But it gave me time to infiltrate their shadowy network. Both Madilb and DOOM are extremely difficult figures to pin down, as they rarely leave their dark studios, peaking out occasionally to scoop up supplies of blunts and pens placed by their doors by delivery men. Who better, I thought, to corner them on their own ground, than an insider? A call was placed, and several months of planning and pushing later, I got Stones Throw manager and Wax Poetics contributor Eothen Alapatt to go a few rounds with the duo.
After being burned and bootlegged in this difficult industry, it’s finally time for Madlib and MF DOOM to transcend all barriers and float on. The following interview was written in cold blood with a toothpick.
Let me start off by saying to you both—because you’re largely the reason I feel this way—this is a great time for rap music. Many people won’t agree with me—there are those who argue that rap was at its most creative when it was first birthed. There are those who can’t see beyond the golden age. But I honestly believe that right now we’re at a point in rap music’s lineage that mirrors late 1960s and early 1970s jazz. Rappers aren’t scared to stretch into different bags. Experimentation is rampant. Genres are meshing together. It’s taken a while to get to the point here, but it’s a great time. Do you agree?
DOOM: No! [laughs] I look at it like, any time you try to throw music into one category, it gets kind of mixed up. We do music for the love of it. If it happens to be considered hip-hop, you know, then let it be considered hip-hop. It would be raw regardless. Anytime you put boundaries—like when you say, “This is a certain type [of music]” or you say “Is this music crossing into [this] realm,” [you realize] the line is so translucent. It’s hard to categorize.
Are you saying that hip-hop has no boundaries? I think that while rap music has boundaries, hip-hop is destined to break those boundaries because of its very nature.
DOOM: Yo, back before the early ’90s, before KMD, back when motherfuckers were just spinning two records, [what became hip-hop] might have been considered soul. Until the cat hit the fader to the other side. When did it become hip-hop? Hip-hop, it’s a matter of expression. How you do it. You know what I mean?
Interesting. Hip-hop grows—and grabs—from different musics, true. But I feel that now, hip-hop musicians can go back and put a new, honest spin on older musical forms. Like, for instance, your take on jazz music via Yesterdays New Quintet, O [Otis/ Madlib].
DOOM: Exactly. That shit sounded so ill to me. Who’s to say that ain’t jazz, you know what I mean? It’s a matter of your influence, and, like with Madlib, what he does with his hip-hop aura, you know?
O, do you agree with me? Take a second to consider what you’re doing…you’re creating jazz music with your Yesterdays New Quintet project. But you come from a hip-hop background. And it’s not like you started out creating hip-hop and jazz music side by side—you slowly moved from one stage to the next.
Madlib: But I came from everything. I started from listening to jazz when I was real young. My grandparents were into jazz; my parents showed me that stuff. I’ve always listened to soul. Old rock? My pops used to bump European stuff, or Gentle Giant…All this music was coming around at the same time. I listened to [disco and funk] too. I listened to everything. That’s the point I’m going to make—they make me look like some jazz dude or something, but I’m into all kinds of music. All Black music. Mostly.
