Otis Jackson Jr.,, known professionally as Madlib, is an American DJ, multi-instrumentalist,
rapper, and music producer. Known under many pseudonyms, he is one of the most prolific
and critically acclaimed hip hop producers of the 2000s and has collaborated with different
hip hop artists, including MF DOOM, and the late J Dilla. Madlib has described himself
as a "DJ first, producer second, and MC last," and he has done several projects as a DJ,
mixer, or remixer.
Early life Madlib was born in Oxnard, California to musician
parents Otis Jackson, Sr. and Dora Sinesca Jackson. His younger brother is the producer
and rapper Michael 'Oh No' Jackson. He was raised in Oxnard, where he began his music
career. Music career
1993–1998: Career beginnings In the early 90s Madlib began producing hip-hop
music with friends that formed a loose-knit collective that came to be known as CDP - rappers
that worked with Madlib in his Oxnard-based "Crate Diggas Palace" studio. His first commercially
released music was production for the rap group Tha Alkaholiks in 1993. The first commercially
released music of his own was with the group Lootpack with the 12-inch EP "Ill Psyche Move,"
released by Madlib's father in 1995 on a label he called Crate Diggas Palace. This record
caught the attention of Peanut Butter Wolf, founder of the Stones Throw Records label,
who signed the group in 1998. 1999–2009: Stones Throw, Quasimoto, Yesterdays
New Quintet, Mind Fusion and Beat Konducta The Lootpack's 1999 debut album Soundpieces:
Da Antidote ushered in a string of releases on Stones Throw centering around Madlib's
production work which would continue for a decade. His first solo work, under the guise
of Quasimoto, The Unseen, came in 2000. The album was met with critical acclaim, named
by Spin Magazine as one of the top 20 albums of the year.
In 2001, Madlib took a turn away from hip-hop music, beginning a series of releases from
Yesterdays New Quintet, a Jazz-based, hip-hop and electronic-influenced quintet made up
of alter egos or fictional musicians played by Madlib. Over the next several years, through
several record releases on Stones Throw and other labels, the growing number of pseudonyms
and fictional players came to be known as Yesterday's Universe. Invited to remix tracks
from the Blue Note Records archive in 2003, Madlib released Shades of Blue which included
a combination of remixes and newly recorded interpretations of Blue Note originals, many
of which were credited to members of Yesterdays New Quintet. Beginning with the 2007 album
The Funky Side of Life by YNQ-spinoff group Sound Directions, the Yesterdays Universe
also began incorporating additional session musicians who were not pseudonyms of Madlib.
Returning to hip-hop music in 2003, Madlib announced two collaborative projects. Working
with the late hip hop producer J Dilla, the duo known as Jaylib released Champion Sound.
The other was Madlib's collaboration with rapper MF DOOM, known together as Madvillain.
Their 2004 Madvillainy album was highly anticipated and well-received, topping many critics' year-end
lists. The 2005 Quasimoto album, The Further Adventures
of Lord Quas was accepted well and continued the Quasimoto tradition of using vocal samples
from Melvin Van Peebles, who is credited on the album liner notes as a collaborator.
Through the rest of the decade Madlib continued to release jazz material simultaneously with
his hip hop work: Perseverance with Percee P, Liberation with Talib Kweli, Sujinho with
Ivan Conti of Azymuth, his own instrumental hip-hop series "Beat Konducta", "In Search
of Stoney Jackson" with Strong Arm Steady, "OJ Simpson" with Guilty Simpson, and production
work for several artists such as Erykah Badu and De La Soul.
2010–present: Madlib Invazion, Madlib Medicine Show and Piñata
In 2010, Madlib announced his own imprint called Madlib Invazion, formed to release
a music series called Madlib Medicine Show. The series would ultimately take over two
years to complete, culminating with 13 album releases and several vinyl-only EPs, spanning
hip-hop, jazz, remixes, and multi-genre DJ mix tapes. The label has continued to release
records outside of the original series. Freddie Gibbs and Madlib announced plans for
a collaboration album late in 2011 with the release of an EP titled Thuggin’. A second
EP titled Shame followed on June 22, 2012. A third EP titled Deeper was released on September
24, 2013. The duo’s collaboration album Piñata was later released to critical acclaim
on March 18, 2014. Partial discography
1999: Soundpieces: Da Antidote 2000: The Unseen
2003: Champion Sound 2003: Shades of Blue
2004: Madvillainy 2004: Theme for a Broken Soul
2005: The Further Adventures of Lord Quas 2007: Liberation
2008: Sujinho 2008: Madvillainy 2: The Madlib Remix
2008: WLIB AM: King of the Wigflip 2013: Yessir Whatever
2014: Piñata Notes
"Madlib – Official Discography". Stones Throw Records. Retrieved 2010-05-06.
Blanning, Lisa. "The crate mass experiment". The Wire: 33. ISSN 0952-0686. Retrieved 2010-05-09.
Madlib, Talib Kweli. BET Rap City Interview With Madlib. Black Entertainment Television.
Retrieved 2010-05-09. Aziri, Jon. "Tight Lipped". Wax Poetics. ISSN 1537-8241.
Retrieved 2010-05-09. DiGenti, Brian. "Blunted on Beats". Wax Poetics.
ISSN 1537-8241. Retrieved 2010-05-09. Madlib, Eothen Alapatt. Madlib - King Of The
Beats. São Paulo: Red Bull Music Academy. Retrieved 2010-05-09.
External links Madlib – official site
Madlib discography at Discogs Madlib at Stones Throw Records
Madlib lecture at Red Bull Music Academy ^ "Madlib bio". Facebook.