The new underground rap project by Madvillain starts with a
disorienting mass of swelling keyboards that lead to vocal samples
from assorted 1940s crime dramas. These samples are peppered with
different crisp, percussive elements and a steady, understated bass
rhythm. The samples paint a melodramatic perspective of
Madvillain’s two hip-hop moguls by labeling them as villains. When
the introductory segment abruptly stops, the listener is carried
into a seedy underground musical world that’s equally
evocative of the sample-inspired funk of DJ Shadow and the
electronic glitch beats of Prefuse 73. And holding this vast array
of loops together is the lazy, free-flowing vocal styling of MF
Doom.

Overall, the elements that compose this album come together like
the hazy recollection of a dream. Certain parts of
Madvillainy may sound familiar enough to stimulate some
associations, but as a whole, the album offers an adventurous foray
into its own unique sound.

Rap fans shouldn’t expect anything less, as this is one of
the most anticipated releases in underground rap history. Madlib,
the musical engineer of the duo, has been considered to have great
potential only subdued by sloppiness and lack of focus. However, in
2002, Madlib compiled a mix with MF Doom that was leaked to the
public, quickly creating some serious buzz. The question was
whether Doom could help Madlib harness his creative energy into a
cohesive musical statement. Nothing besides the final version of
Madvillainy can answer that question, because the project
went under major attitudinal revisions before the final version was
released March 23, 2004.

MF Doom decided to scrap his energetic delivery for a slower
paced, detached presentation. Doom’s lazy, scratchy drawl
ranges from telling a cohesive story to a more pervasive free
association rhyming where images only have a loose connection but
are strung together remarkably. For example, in the song
“Curls,” Doom raps: “Villain get the money like
curls / They just trying to get a nut like squirrels in his mad
world / Land of milk and honey with the swirls / Where reckless
naked girls / Get necklaces of pearls.” The rap floats over
lightly snowing static, funky, staccato guitar flicks and wobbling
piano. The song evokes a feeling of an urban, spaghetti western,
jazz bar and the lyrics make sense in phrases without conveying any
concrete message. This results in an album with no consistent
lyrical focus. Doom and his guests broach many topics such as
relationship infidelity, marijuana use and the perceptions created
by the passage of time.

Madlib’s low-key music production mostly consists of loops
that emerge and submerge within the great sprawl of noise. Almost
any instrument is fair game, including accordions and lots of
screaming, vibrato-soaked jazz brass, and the music has a
predominately retro feel. The more modern-sounding instrumentation
is shaped within the bass and drum work, the two of which melt
together into one single presence. This is accomplished by tricky
rhythmic coordination and a soft texture to the bass that lets it
sink into its surroundings. The music is varied enough so that no
two songs even sound remotely the same, but the album still has an
undeniable cohesiveness.

Madvillainy’s cohesiveness is due to the
cooperation between Madlib and MF Doom. Doom’s voice adds
some consistency to an otherwise completely varied album, while
Madlib’s beats help organize the vocals into phrases by
highlighting natural swells and breaks. Madlib times the
music’s dynamic shifts, loop introductions and resolutions in
perfect coordination with Doom’s vocals. The result of their
cooperation is the feeling that the album was created by one mind
instead of two.

Additionally, the consistent tone of the vocal samples mix with
some inspired song transitions to enhance the album’s
cohesiveness and give it a melodramatic atmosphere. It evokes a
world of outrageous superheroes and villains. And although the two
artists that made Madvillainy happen to be on the side of
evil, they are not threatening, and their genius cannot be
denied.

Grade: A