Album Review: Madvillainy
Written by Grady Fiorio Original Publishing Date: October 31st, 2022 Rating: 5/5
Livin' off borrowed time the clock tick faster...
Madvillainy
Artist Madvillian Genre Hip-Hop Label Stone Throws Production Madlib, MF DOOM Release Date 2004
"...that'd be the hour they knock the slick blaster." Two years ago... Two years ago today, music lost one of its greatest minds and wordsmiths. The Illest Villain, Metal Fingers, Viktor Vaughn, King Geedorah, the Rhinestone Cowboy, your favorite rapper's favorite rapper, a man of many names but most commonly known to the world as MF DOOM. Two years later and it still doesn't feel real. Very rarely do celebrity deaths "get to me", but when DOOM's death was announced I felt a sharp pain in my gut. Even though DOOM was a musician and I'm a filmmaker, the style and confidence that DOOM brought to every project heavily inspired my own work. He let me know that it's okay to march to the beat of my own drum. Contrary to what you might learn in school, creativity doesn't exist in a structure or box, it's what inspires you to keep creating, even when what you're creating is weird and different from everybody else. His pure commitment to the craft of creating smart, well-written, rhymes and beats was the fuel that inspired generations of creators and artists.
For the uninitiated, you're probably wondering "Who is this villainous MF DOOM?". Born Daniel Dumile, MF DOOM was the king of underground hip-hop. He would begin his career as Zev Love X, a member of 90's hip-hop group KMD. KMD was a fun lighthearted hip-hop ground, similar in tone to other popular 90's hip-hop acts, such as De La Soul and A Tribe Called Quest. However, when the group followed up their debut with the much darker and politically charged album Black Bastards, the album was refused release, they were dropped from their record label, and Dumile's brother Subroc (another member of KMD) would die in a car crash shortly thereafter. Dumile would then go into hiding, reappearing three years later. Dawning an iron mask and a new persona, Dumilee was dead, reborn again as the villainous rapper, MF DOOM. Modeled after comic book villain Dr. Doom, MF DOOM would only be seen wearing a slightly rusted iron gladiator mask, his true face never to be seen. He would take on the role of hip-hop's supervillain, destroying all those who lay in his path. DOOM committed to the character so much that on occasion he wouldn't even show up to some of his own concerts. Instead, he sent what fans would call "DOOM Clones", lookalike rappers that would dawn the mask and lipsynch to prerecorded songs. It got DOOM in hot water plenty of times and resulted in more than a few lawsuits, but his commitment to the character was unwavering. It was all part of the show. DOOM was a cartoon villain and in his own words "you know it like a poet". DOOM had a style like no other. Like if Shakspeare was a drunken rapper, hiding behind a villainous mask. His vocabulary and wordplay are completely unmatched, even compared to other acclaimed wordsmiths such as Ghostface Killah, and the Pulitzer Prize winning Kendrick Lamar.
Sadly, all stories must come to an end. On December 31st, 2020, it was announced that the villain was no more. DOOM had passed away two months prior on October 31st. One last kick in the nuts from 2020. DOOM very much kept his own private life separate from his public, and almost nothing is known regarding his death, let alone a cause. Unknowingly DOOM foreshadowed his own death in many of his lyrics. Years later, lines like Accordion's "A gunfight and they come to cut the mixmaster/ I-C-E cold, nice to be old/ Y2G steed twice to threefold." and Doomsday's "On Doomsday/ Ever since the womb 'til I'm back where my brother went/ That's what my tomb will say/ Right above my government, Dumille/ Either unmarked or engraved, hey, who's to say?" are haunting in their foreshadowing, but poetic in their sincerity, especially in regards to his brother and "unmarked grave". While DOOM may no longer rap among the earth, he left behind a legendary discography that most artists could only dream of having. From collaborations such as The Mouse and the Mask, and superb solo work like Operation: Doomsday, DOOM's discography is impressive, but his standout hip-hop classic will always be Madvillainy, the 2004 collaboration with the equally talented producer, Madlib. While the album was released in 2004, it began recording in 2002, the majority of which took place in a repurposed bomb shelter in Los Angeles. In just a matter of weeks, Madlib had produced hundreds of beats for the album, most of which were produced on a portable turntable, 303 sampler, and tape deck, leading to the album's unique sound. DOOM and Madlib would often work intermittently on the album, opting to take long breaks to work on other projects, but always coming back to Madvillainy.
In all honesty, I can't even begin to explain how much I love this album. Admittedly, it did take a few listens for it to settle in. To say this album is dense would be an understatement. Even though some of these songs barely hit the two-minute mark, each record is jam-packed with extremely well-crafted rhymes, double-entendres, stories, jokes, and seemingly effortless rhythm. I've listened to this thing front to back at least 15 times, and every time that I do, I find new hidden meanings in the lyrics and production. Not only has DOOM crafted some of his best lyrical work, but the production from Madlib gives new meaning to the effectiveness of sampling. The way that DOOM can tell a story of heartbreak through rhyme on a track like Fancy Clown, or make a brag rap over the beat of an off-kilter accordion sound like pure poetry, is just a small testament to the power he held with the words he spoke. He mastered the offbeat sound. With the deepest cuts of the dictionary, his words were like swords slicing through your speakers and piercing your brain. On every track he does victory laps, letting you know how good he is, and he isn't afraid to show it off. While Madvillainy is filled with songs boasting about skill, DOOM is able to prove his versatility on tracks like Strange Ways. In these excerpts from the first and second verses, DOOM juxtaposes the over-policing of minority communities to the U.S. invasion of the Middle East, comparing two societal underdogs trying to survive under impossible circumstances, where living a full life is only a dream.
Verse 1
"Sleek and lavish people speaking leaking to the maverick/ He see it as just another felony drug arrest/ Any day could be the one he pick the wrong thug to test/ Slug through the vest... Shot in the street/ For pulling heat on a father whose baby's gotta eat/ And when they get hungry, it ain't shit funny/ Paid to interfere with how a brother get his money."
Verse 2
"They pray four times a day, they pray five/ Who ways is strange when it's time to survive/ Some will go of they own free will to die/ Others take them with you when they blow sky high/ What's the difference? All you get is lost children/ While the bosses sit up behind the desks/ It cost billions to blast humans in half, into calves and arms/ Only one side is allowed to have bombs"
As talented as DOOM may be, to sell Madvillainy as just the work of MF DOOM would be to do a great injustice to this seminal hip-hop masterwork. Madvillain's second half, Madlib, is one of hip hop's most talented and legendary producers. He's collaborated with some of hip-hop's greatest, including but not limited to J-Dilla, Talib Kweli, and Mos Def. The production sound of Madlib is both grated and melodic, like a smooth slab of ice sliding across rusted metal. Madlib is able to find the beauty in the obscure, and the poetry in between the words. Samples such as Daedelus’ now famous "Experience", and ZZ Hill’s “That Ain’t the Way You Make Love”, demonstrate how Madlib not only remixes music but also how to let it breathe. Sometimes the perfect production is just a few smart samples and a couple of well-placed chops. While the works of producer J-Dilla clearly inspire Madlib’s production style, Madlib is able to create his own unique style by focusing more on the sample instead of the chop.
While the style and success of Madvillainy has never been replicated, its influence has gone on to inspire many other albums, such as Earl Sweatshirt's Some Rap Songs, and Madvillainy's own spiritual successors Piñata and Bandana, a set of collaborations between Madlib and Freddie Gibbs. Both have been worthy successors to the original work of Madvillain. Gibbs is able to embody the same impactful storytelling and braggadocious rap styles that DOOM harnessed for Madvillainy, while Madlib continues to bring top-notch production to every line and bar. One of my favorite tracks Deeper, very much embodies Madvillainy's Fancy Clown, while still having its own unique style. It's good to know that the legacy of Madvillain is in good hands. It is worth stating that there is a Madvillainy 2, but it only contains remixes of the original songs and no new lyrical material from DOOM.
With top-notch production and enough rhymes to spread throughout the boundless universes, Madvillainy proves itself as one of hip-hop's crowning achievements and a notable contributor to the heritage of music. While hip-hop may have lost one of its greatest legends, his legacy remains. Inspiring more than just musicians, but all artists alike, the illest villain will never die but be born again with every new work he inspires. Just remember, ALL CAPS when you spell the man's name...
If you want to commemorate DOOM, this remastered Adult Swim live performance really demonstrates DOOM's ability as both a poet and an MC. So go on and check it out, or better yet listen to Madvillany! Also, just a heads up, all underlined words contain links to their song/album. Let the beat blast!
"It's made of fine chrome alloy/Find him on the grind/He's the rhinestone cowboy"
- MF DOOM 1971-2020
