“Madvillainy,” released March 23, 2004, is an abstract hip-hop album created by American hip-hop duo Madvillain, including rapper MF DOOM and record producer Madlib. The album features 22 songs over a 46-minute runtime.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of this album, which has grown to be one of the most celebrated and acclaimed hip-hop albums of all time and a benchmark in the genre as a whole.
The album begins with “The Illest Villains,” an instrumental skit introducing MF DOOM and Madlib. It’s a weird and unsettling start to the album that introduces the duo and the music that will follow as supervillains.
“Accordion” is the first proper song of the album, and it presents two aspects that make this album so special: Madlib’s sampling and MF DOOM’s rhyming.
MF DOOM’s lyrical ability is the best in the business, with buttery smooth flow and rhyming that is amazing to hear. The amount of dense wordplay he presents in this album makes every song feel full, even with their short runtimes.
On top of this, Madlib’s sampling and production are masterful. The main instrumental of this song comes from a portion of “Experience” by Daedelus, an accordion instrumental. It is a bizarre choice for a hip-hop song, but it works so well, especially with additions of a bass beat and high hats.
This continues on to the next song, “Meat Grinder,” which samples “Hula Rock” by Lew Howard & the All-Stars, a 1970s rock song. Madlib’s ability to mix different genres is a sight to behold and continues to push the boundaries of what hip-hop can be.
“Bistro” is the next song, and it properly introduces all the characters on the album, which are MF DOOM, Madlib and a bunch of characters based on each artist. It’s a short but funky song that does wonders to set up the rest of the album.
“Raid” is another song with out-of-this-world sampling, with “América Latina” by Osmar Milito & Quarteto Forma as the main beat. It’s another case of using a weird, obscure song that would not fit as a hip-hop song, and once again, it fits so well with MF DOOM’s lyricism.
“America’s Most Blunted” is one of the only songs on “Madvilliany” with a typical song structure, being a nearly four-minute song and having a proper hook. This song features Quasimoto, which is one of Madlib’s alter egos. The song is fun and a great one to bob your head to as the goofy lyrics about cannabis are shouted again and again.
The song seamlessly transitions into “Sickfit,” a short instrumental. There’s not much to say here besides it is a great palette cleanser that doesn’t outstay its welcome.
“Rainbows” is one of the weirder songs on the album, with MF DOOM’s weird vocal delivery over a funky jazz beat. MF DOOM continues his memorable performance on the album as this supervillain. It is a funny and obtuse song that sits nicely within the rest of the album.
“Curls” is a short and sweet song that features some weird and hypnotic sampling from “Airport Love Theme” by Waldir Calmon. It is an amazing vibe of a song made even better by MF DOOM’s performance.
“Do Not Fire!” is another instrumental skit and is the complete opposite vibe of the previous song. It is a loud and bombastic song that is a devious jumpscare to the listener. It’s a reminder to the listener to always expect the unexpected with this album, which adds to the overall uniqueness and humor to it all.
“Money Folder” is a song on the album that is definitely led by MF DOOM’s performance. The way MF DOOM is able to link words that have no correlation to one another and make them rhyme seamlessly while still telling a coherent story is definitely a sight to behold. While this type of flow makes MF DOOM stand out, this album continues to prove that this is his magnum opus in this regard.
“Shadows of Tomorrow” is a weird song with high-pitched vocals and this wild strumming beat behind it. It is another moment of the album continuing to present new and obtuse ideas to the listeners. It’s another left hook of creativity and humor that continues to show up over and over again on this album.
“Operation Lifesaver, aka Mint Test,” is a slower, moodier song that still presents a lot of humor and charm. The wacky lyrics and MF DOOM’s delivery turn a song that starts off serious into one of the funniest songs on the album.
“Figaro” is one of my favorite songs on the album with its sampling. The song samples “In the Beginning” by Lonnie Smith, “Jeannine” by Lonnie Smith and “Pat-a-cake, Pat-a-cake, Baker’s Man” by Traditional Folk. The song starts out as this jazz fusion song, then turns into a heavy and hard hip-hop banger. It is a cool switch-up that continues to hit hard with every listen.
“Hardcore Hustle” is another banger track, this time featuring rapper Wildchild. It’s a hard bop of a song that is short, sweet and welcome alongside the tracklist so far.
“Strange Ways” has some of my favorite lyrics on the album, as it sees MF DOOM rapping about social and political issues relevant to the United States and the world. It’s one of the few songs on the album that puts away the villain aesthetic and humor to tell a heartbreaking, compelling story about a father and his son.
“Fancy Clown” is a song with some of the best beats on the whole album. It starts out as this mellow introduction to Viktor Vaughn, an alter ego of MF DOOM, and then hits the listener with one of the hardest beats on the whole album. It is a banger of a song and never fails to get my head banging every time I listen to it.
“Eye” stands out as a somewhat transitional song on the album with its Stacy Epps feature. It’s this droning, bass-filled song with angelic vocals that come out of nowhere. It’s an uncomfortable yet beautiful song that is another welcome addition to this stacked tracklist.
“Supervillain Theme” is the last instrumental skit of the album. It’s a glitchy, all-over-the-place song that transitions the listener into the last few songs, which are some of the most iconic on the album.
“All Caps” is the most iconic song on the album, and it isn’t hard to see why. Madlib samples the song “Bumpin’ Bus Stop” by Thunder and Lightning and combines it with “Opening Credits — Crime Scene” from Ironside and “Sometimes I Rhyme Slow” by Nice & Smooth. It is an excellent creation by Madlib as it is the perfect backdrop to MF DOOM’s verse throughout the song, which is just buttery smooth and amazing to listen to.
“Great Day” is another excellent example of MF DOOM’s buttery flow, as there are multiple points in this song where he eloquently rhymes his way through multiple ideas to get his point across. He never chooses the easy route with his lyrics, as they expertly complement the music.
The album ends with “Rhinestone Cowboy,” a reflection of MF DOOM as a person and the creation of the album. The song references “Rhinestone Cowboy” by Glen Campbell, and MF DOOM uses it to compare his fame to a cowboy covered in diamonds. Even though he has made it and has all of the money he needs, he ends up where he is the most passionate, on the grind and making music.
Conclusion:
Something else that needs to be said about this album is how weird of a listening experience it is.
Other albums I have reviewed, like Dream Theater’s “Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory” and Pink Floyd’s “The Dark Side of the Moon,” have a very smooth tracklist, where everything molds together into one continuous idea in an obvious way.
“Madvillainy” is unique in the idea that it doesn’t flow together. There are a lot of cuts and rough edges that, to the average listener, would sound jarring and unpleasant. However, on this album, it adds so much personality to a project that is already oozing with creativity and flavorful uniqueness.
“Madvillainy” continues to stand on its own as one of the most unique and finely tuned hip-hop albums ever made. No other album sounds like “Madvillainy,” and no album will ever sound like it because of the excellent collaboration between MF DOOM and Madlib, who not only created an iconic, memorable album but one of the best expressions of hip-hop as an art form.
