My chosen Postmodern musician is the Hip Hop/Producer artist Madlib who is well known for his music which encompasses a large array of different genre's of music including Hip Hop, Jazz and Soul. A feature of Madlibs work is his 'alter ego' which is known as Quasimoto or 'Lord Quas' which is his own voice edited and sped up to a high pitch tone which offers an interesting contrast when featuring in his songs. The creature which is 'Quasimoto' is depicted as a bright yellow bear type creature with a long snout, originally it was meant to be an unseen feature in Madlibs work however has developed into an artist of its own and he has released several albums under the name Quasimoto including 'Yessir Whatever' and 'The Unseen'.
Homage
Madlibs heavy jazz influence was taken from a large array of artists not least Melvin Van Peebles 'Good Morning Sunshine' in which in Madlibs own version of the song 'Good Morning Sunshine' he raps his own lyrics over the original track. Similarly a track called 'Jazz Cats Pt. 1' was a track released by his alter ego Quasimoto on his album 'The Unseen' where he pays homage to artists such as John Coltrane and Gary Bartz. Finally another way in which Madlib payed homage to the Jazz world was his release of the album 'Stevie' under a band he formed named 'Yesterdays New Quintet' which was a direct tribute to Stevie Wonder of which again he remixed the original tracks.
Brocolage
- The Mad March - A tribute to Zamrock. Madlib pays homage to the 70's Zambian rock scene with the one off show nicknamed 'Zamrock'.
- The Medicine Show - 'His latest project, a monster of ambition in 13 parts, showing that Madlib is as much Midas as he is Leonardo - and a true modern virtuoso' - Link -
http://cratesarchive.ballermannberlin.de/madlibs-medicine-show/
Intertextual References
One major reference in Madlibs work was the reference in 'Beat Konducta Vol. 5-6 A Tribute to...' to his friend J Dilla who he worked with during time spent in LA together.
'Beat Konducta Vol. 5-6 A Tribute to...' is a 42 piece track dedicated to the late J Dilla. Madlib and J.Rocc - arguably Dilla's closest musical compatriots during his time spent in Los Angeles - lovingly remember their friend and reflect on his countless influence'
From an Intertextual point of view the vinyl edition obviously pays reference to Dilla's 'Donuts' visually and like 'Donuts' very aesthetically pleasing.
Simulacrum
Madlib has a large array of acts associated with himself and his alter persona's including: Lootpack, Yesterdays New Quintet, Madvillain, Jaylib etc.
Quasimoto - Madlibs cartoon alter ego. A 'unseen' high pitched character who began to feature on his songs. The voice debuted as a featured artist on early Peanut Butter Wolf and Lootpack records. By the time of Quasimoto’s debut album The Unseen, most had caught on to the fact that Madlib and Quasimoto were one in the same person. 'Quasimoto's never been seen in the same room with anyone - he's the unseen'
Consumption
Madlib to this date has been involved in 50+ physical records/releases, these include:
- Cassette release (Beat Konducta)
- Vinyl (12")
- CD
- MP3
- Online access/download
Creation
'DJ first, Producer second and MC last'
Madlib has a large array of self produced EP's:
- Yessir Whatever
- The Further Adventure of Lord Quas
- Madlib Invazion
- Beat Konducta Vol. 0-6
A key element of Madlibs work is that he often produces the backing track/beat and then gives it to another MC to rap over which is the cause for his influence on so many rappers work.
