Madvillainy - Madvillain (REVIEW)

Madvillain is a hip-hop duo comprised of late supervillain rapper MF Doom and long-time producer Madlib. Their only record ever released, Madvillainy, is considered to be a classic by critics and fans, and for good reason. Doom gives us some of his best flows and rapping abilities we’ve ever seen from the masked menace, and Madlib accompanies this with the most elaborate production I’ve ever heard.

To me, Madvillainy is THE hip-hop album. Anything that came after this album stemmed from MF Doom and Madlib’s beautiful representation of the genre. It’s the blueprint for hip-hop music and has been since 2004.

There are so many things to talk about when it comes to this album, most notably the wacky rhyme schemes and flows we hear from Doom. However, my favorite thing about this album is how perfectly crafted the instrumentals are. Production is the most important thing in how you want people to perceive your album and Madlib proves that entirely, his clever use of samples puts you into this noir setting that feels authentic to the listener. This accompanied by Doom’s supervillain cadence makes for a dastardly duo. Madlib and MF Doom went for the 1950s crime cartoon aesthetic and nailed it perfectly

Forever a classic. 10/10.