Madvillainy

Madvillainy
Studio album by Madvillain
Released	March 24, 2004
Recorded	circa 2002-2004
Genre	Hip hop
Length	46:50
Label	Stones Throw Records
Producer	Madlib MF DOOM
Professional reviews
All Music Guide 2004 Robert Christgau (A-) 2004 HipHopDX.com 2004 Pitchfork Media (9.4/10) 2004 PopMatters (favorable) 2004 RapReviews.com (9/10) 2004 Rolling Stone 2004 Stylus Magazine (A-) 2004 Tiny Mix Tapes 2004 URB April 2004 (p. 86)
Madvillain chronology
Madvillainy (2004) Madvillainy Instrumentals (2004)
Madlib chronology
Champion Sound (2003) Madvillainy (2004) MF Doom chronology Vaudeville Villain (2003) Madvillainy (2004) Venomous Villain (2004)

Madvillainy is the debut album by American hip hop duo Madvillain, a group consisting of MF DOOM (MC) and Madlib (producer). It was released on March 24, 2004 on Stones Throw Records to overwhelmingly positive reviews.^[1]

Album information

Madvillainy was praised for its unique and innovative approach to hip hop: short songs, recondite lyrics, few choruses and a sound which was generally unfriendly to commercial radio. The album nevertheless achieved moderate commercial success, peaking at #179 on the U.S. Billboard 200 and attracted much attention from media outlets not usually covering hip hop music, including The New Yorker. It is widely considered to be the best independent hip hop record of the 2000s.^[1] Three videos were made for the album: "All Caps", "Rhinestone Cowboy" and "Accordion". "All Caps" and "Rhinestone Cowboy" appear on the DVD "Stones Throw 101" along with a fan-made video for "Shadows Of Tomorrow" as a hidden feature. A video for "Accordion" was filmed in 2004 but not released until 2008's In Living the True Gods DVD. At least two tracks on Madvillainy ("Rhinestone Cowboy", "Strange Ways") were produced using a portable turntable and a Boss SP303 sampler^[2] by Madlib in Brazil. The first music to be publicly debuted from Madvillainy was the song "America's Most Blunted" which was played by Madlib at the Red Bull Music Academy in Brazil, November 2002. An instrumental version of the album was released only in vinyl format and Digitally through various online stores, with the tracks "The Illest Villains", "Bistro", "Sickfit", "Do Not Fire!", and "Supervillain Theme" being omitted. Two remix EPs of Madvillainy were released on Stones Throw. The remixes were done by Four Tet and Koushik. The album's cover, designed by Jeff Jank, is an homage to Madonna's first album.^[3]

Track listing

1. "The Illest Villains" – 1:55
2. "Accordion" – 1:58
3. "Meat Grinder" – 2:11
4. "Bistro" – 1:07
5. "Raid" – 2:30
   • Featuring M.E.D. a.k.a. Medaphoar
6. "America's Most Blunted" – 3:54
   • Featuring Quasimoto
7. "Sickfit" (Instrumental) – 1:21
8. "Rainbows" – 2:51
9. "Curls" – 1:35
10. "Do Not Fire!" (Instrumental) – 0:52
11. "Money Folder" – 3:02
12. "Shadows of Tomorrow" – 2:36
    • Featuring Quasimoto
13. "Operation Lifesaver a.k.a. Mint Test" – 1:30
14. "Figaro" – 2:25
15. "Hardcore Hustle" – 1:21
    • Featuring Wildchild
16. "Strange Ways" – 1:51
17. "Fancy Clown" – 1:55
    • Featuring Viktor Vaughn
18. "Eye" – 1:57
    • Featuring Stacy Epps
19. "Supervillain Theme" (Instrumental) – 0:52
20. "ALL CAPS" – 2:10
21. "Great Day" – 2:16
22. "Rhinestone Cowboy" – 4:01

Credits

• Executive producer: Peanut Butter Wolf
• Project coordinator: Egon
• Project consultant: Miranda Jane
• Mastering: Dave Cooley
• Engineering: Dave Cooley, Madlib, MF Doom
• Mixing: Dave Cooley
• Design: Jeff Jank
• Illustration: James Reitano

Samples used

What follows is an incomplete list of sound recordings sampled on Madvillainy.

• "The Illest Villains" contains a sample of "Beach Trip" by Morton Stevens.
• "Accordion" contains a sample of "Experience" by Daedelus, from the 2002 album Invention. ^[4]
• "Meat Grinder" contains samples of "Sleeping In A Jar" by Frank Zappa as its intro and "Hula Rock" by Lew Howard & The All-Stars.
• "Bistro" contains a sample of "Second To None" by Atlantic Starr.
• "Raid" contains a sample of "Nardis" by Bill Evans as its intro.
• "America's Most Blunted" contains a sample of "Ninety Nine And A Half" by Fever Tree.
• "Rainbows" contains samples of "Kelly" by Marion Elling, William Loose & Stu Phillips and "Psycho Brahmin" by Paul Sawtell & Bert Shefter.
• "Shadows of Tomorrow" contains audio samples from the Sun Ra film "Space Is The Place", as well as an interpretation of Sun Ra's poem "Shadow of Tomorrow".
• "Operation Lifesaver" contains samples of "Prepare Yourself" by George Duke and "PSK (What Does It Mean)" by Schooly D.
• "Figaro" contains a sample of "In The Beginning" by Lonnie Liston Smith.
• "Hardcore Hustle" contains a sample of "Sing A Simple Song" by Sly & The Family Stone.
• "Strange Ways" contains a sample of "Funny Ways" by Gentle Giant.
• "Fancy Clown" contains a sample of "That Ain't The Way You Make Love" by ZZ Hill.
• "Great Day" contains a sample of "How Can You Believe" by Stevie Wonder.

Notes

• "All Caps" can also be found in QuickTime format when the Madvillainy disc is placed in a computer.
• On The Boondocks episode titled Let's Nab Oprah, three songs from Madvillainy are used: "Raid", "All Caps", and "Strange Ways". Also the episode Wingmen features "Fancy Clown".
• At the end of an MTV special for the movie "V for Vendetta", the titular character interrupts the show, ending his message with "and remember, all caps when you spell the man's name."
• Viktor Vaughn's anger in the song "Fancy Clown" is directed not only to his fictional girlfriend but to DOOM himself ("Don't make me have to pound his tin crown face in"}, {"Thats you if you want a dude who wears a mask all day"}, ironically an alter-ego of Vaughn himself (Daniel Dumile).
• The Madvillain track "Raid" is a part of Thom Yorke's Celebrity Playlist on iTunes as well as the Quasimoto track "Closer", which featured DOOM.
• Beats for "Strange Ways" and "Rhinestone Cowboy" were partially produced in a hotel room in Brazil, late 2002.^[5]
• The song "Rainbows" was covered by rapper Mos Def and the Hypnotic Brass Ensenble at least once, during a concert soundcheck which can be seen on Youtube.com[1]
• The album's sequel, tentatively referred to by fans as Madvillainy 2, is among the most highly anticipated albums in all of hip hop. On August 21, 2007, Peanut Butter Wolf confirmed that Doom had finished working on 6 new songs.

Charts

Album - Billboard (North America)

Notes