"Every week I'll put like a 100 beats out on a tape, get them circulating through my area, it's a good way of getting yourself heard"
I have posed myself many questions in my life, even asked a few of others from time to time. Though the thought of interviewing one of Hiphop's most bizarre characters had me stumped.
Madlib is a man of many beats and personas. Starting out in the legendary West Coast crew The Lootpack he cemented himself as one to watch. Whether blessing the beats with his own unique twist or waxing lyrical he has stood out from the crowd as being an innovator even if slightly strange, which he proved without a doubt on his project The Unseen which brought to life his alter ego Quasimoto.
Using various studio tweaks and in his own words a nice helping of shrooms, he raps alongside himself. He is in the process of releasing the follow up to the very successful Unseen album titled The Further Adventures of Lord Quas again mixing a heady combination of Hiphop and surreal comedy in his own laid back style. Though do not be fooled into thinking this is some one trick pony business. Throughout his lengthy career he has worked alongside the likes of MF Doom, PB-Wolf, Vast Aire and has remixed tracks for just about everyone in the Hiphop realms and beyond. Even finding the time to put out a Trojan Reggae mix CD were he was given the whole of the labels back catalogue to play around with. He confirms this as one of the maddest mixes he has had to do. So as you can imagine there is a lot to ask but where do you start? I opted for a brief chat in a local watering hole in the big smoke and Madlib opted for a pint…nice!!!
“It was my older brother who first got me into Hip-Hop, he used to play me all of the old skool tapes that were floating round the East Coast at the time. People like Too-Short, Sugar Hill Gang you know all that stuff from the early 80’s. I think it was about ‘81 to be sorta specific. So from there I got into Break Dancing with my crew The Loot Pack cuz before we were even rapping together we would go down to the jams back in the day and just get into the whole vibe.
"It was then that I saved up some money to buy my 1st sampler which was a sk1 Casio and I had some drums already so I started making my own beats and music and it just grew from there. I used influences from acts like the 45 king, The Bomb Squad, Marley Marl and on the West Coast catz like DJ Pooh and a whole load of other people, too many to mention. But they were the ones that paved the way for me and also gave me motivation to create beats and rhymes."
“What I now do is make beat tapes. Every week I’ll put like a 100 beats out on a tape, get them circulating through my area, it’s a good way of getting your shit heard and it gets you connected to like minded people. And that’s always the case with the people I work with, they’re all people that I can get on with on a musical level as well as socially. So it’s a vibe thing, you know, plus there is always respect for each other. I respect their rhymes or their style and vice-versa, it’s a good way of working. But the whole alter ego stuff is just another part of me like Quasimoto’s real, just like I’m sitting here talking to you he is just part of my persona.
"I was sitting up in the lab kinda baked off ‘shrooms and I had a whole lot of beats and raps but no Mc’s about so I just started trying to do something different. I started by slowing my voice down and then seeing what it would sound like speeded up. Man I did not know then that what I was doing was going to be my top selling album to date, if it was not for Peanut Butter Wolf hearing it on my walkman I would have never put it out, he was the one who convinced me to do the album The Unseen. And now I’m on my second album. It’s I suppose what you could call psychedelic Hiphop or something like that. I try and do albums like catz did back in the day and come with something conceptual. I want people to listen to the whole album and understand it as one piece. But really it’s just some original music for you to hear which is set aside from all that industry stuff that’s played 24/7. I’m just trying to promote healthy music that’s all.
“Looking towards the future me and Mf Doom have just started working on the new Madvilan album. I just finished doing an album with Living Legends. I’m on the production while they’re on the rhymes. Jaylib albums ready to come out as well as another Quasimoto album along with a hell of a lot of other stuff, not to mention a project with Percee-P who’s an old skool mc from the Bronx. As well as my actual Madlib album along with a couple of instrumental projects as well a load of other shit!..
"It’s just hectic at the moment I have not even had time to think about tours to promote The Further Adventure’s Of Lord Quas yet maybe I’ll try something new by getting a set together and then watching it from the crowd just mad visuals with the music or something like that, but keep checking the press for details because we will be doing shows in the UK at some point”…
Final thoughts? Top 3 places in the world to sample the greenery Lord Quas Style:
“Number 1 has to be Humble County, 2nd to that Amsterdam for real, and 3rd is a place called Christianna I love that place, But yo I ain’t fussy wherever I am you know I’ll be dipping into that brown weed if it’s the only thing about…Peace “
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