Book Club Week 1: Madvillainy by Madvillain

I'm at work at the moment, I'll edit this with a more in depth write-up later. Short version, MF DOOM and Madlib are amazing in their own right, but it is always crazy to me how well they come together to manage to be greater than the sum of their parts. I guess that is kind of what Madlib does though. My personal favorite tracks include All Caps (duh) and Meat Grinder. I've always sort of mentally put this in 4th or 5th on my MF DOOM album tier list, but after listening to it a few times last week to be ready for this thread, I am probably moving it up to number 2 personally.

EDIT: I won't repeat myself from above, so I'll be short and say I love this album.

Best Tracks (ordered by track)

Meat Grinder is a top 2 track for me on this album. The horns at the start, cutting in to the grimy-ass beat of the rest of the song absolutely does it for me. DOOM's flow is always great and their is no exception here, but the dark beat does it for me. Also, the very very end kind of reminds me of Spongebob. That doesn't make me like the song more or less, but it is true.

Sickfit is an amazing interlude. No lyrics on this so it is all Madlib and it is smooth as butter.

Figaro is the DOOM show. Madlib's production is good but pretty low key here and he let's DOOM's flow and lyrics carry the track. DOOM is always up to the challenge of course. This track, starting from "On some ol' thank ya ma'am", all the way to "Not supposed to overdose, No-dose pills" is a clinic on how DOOM flows.

All Caps speaks for itself. I am pretty sure this is widely regarded as a top 3 DOOM song and for my doofy ass to sing its praises would be doing it a disservice.

Worst Tracks (ordered by track)

I use the word Worst loosely here, as I honestly don't think this album has a bad track.

America's Most Blunted is a great song. I love this song. I also have an edgy ass 15 year old who keeps this song on their regular rotation just because of the end where it is like "it is a known fact that grass increases creativity". I'm not even anti-weed, but my (legit amazing) kid being an edgelord goober who loves making 420 jokes and talking about weed, but doesn't smoke or do anything of the sort, really makes me have a hard time taking it seriously.

Hardcore Hustle just doesn't do it for me. I can't pin it to anything in particular but here we are. Maybe it is the moaning at the end, idk.

Overall

I really love this album and it is a top 2 MF DOOM album for me at this point. I only wish that more of the tracks fit nicely in to a playlist. Most of the tracks on this album are best within the context of the album. That isn't a knock against it, but it does mean that unless I have 45 minutes straight to kill, I basically only ever hear All Caps and Figaro.

I also think their is something to be said about the accessibility of an album. This is an album that the casual listener I think will very much just bounce off of. Not a bad thing and for people who really love Hip Hop and everything an album can provide, it is amazing. I do think this album does exemplify why MF DOOM stayed an underground legend, instead of becoming a household name.

10/10 album for me. Production is flawless and DOOM’s writing is top tier. America’s Most Blunted, Curls, and All Caps are my favorites but every song on here is so good. This album will forever live on as one of the greatest.

One of my favorite Madlib beats is the Supervillain Theme so I will always rate this album highly. Between this and Jaylib he was on top of the producer game at the time.

I totally forgot this thread was happening today... I got nothing really to add at the moment that hasn't already been said here, other than "Raid" needing a proper shout out in the thread. But I'll jam on the album again in the morning and maybe make an edit.

It is funny tho, I was thinking about DOOM earlier this morning when this amazing track with Aesop Rock came on my playlist. These dudes are both my favorite wordsmiths in hip hop, and I was feeling really sad that they only ever got up on a few tracks together... Tell me it wouldn't be the dopest shit if they had done a whole collab album together!? And, to keep it a little in theme with this thread, tell me a collab of Aesop and Madlib vs. DOOM and Blockhead wouldnt also be fucking dope!?

I never really sat down to listen to this album start to finish, only random songs before... but having done so now I truly get a sense of why other rappers have taken inspiration, cues or straight up referenced his style in their own productions.

Personally, when the lyrics cause the listener to reflect on themselves or the world around them it takes the song to another level. I don't mean in a deep philosophical way but even if it makes you go "yea something about that clicks with me", it's like having a conversation with the music yknow?

And this album does that for me, real pleasurable experience.

Sorry I'm a few days late to this thread. I don't really consider myself a hiphophead. I'm more hip hop-curious but this album is one of the best hip hop albums I've heard.

For me the stand out track is Meat Grinder. His rhyme schemes throughout that song are just insane to me. So many references probably go over my head yet it still gives me chills. I can understand why some call him your favorite rapper's favorite rapper.