Madlib (2002)
Armed with several identities, the self-acclaimed workaholic MC/DJ/producer Otis Jackson Jr., AKA Madlib, creates the finest crate-dug beats, self-produced vintage jazz and astrotravelling rap. His father was an accomplished R&B session musician who played with the likes of David Axelrod and H.B. Barnum. His uncle is Jon Faddis, a legendary trumpeter who played with Dizzy Gillespie, Charles Mingus, and Bob James. Following in the footsteps of his family, Madlib is in the studio for up to ten hours a day, creating albums that have a unique sound.
In his 2002 Red Bull Music Academy lecture, Madlib revealed the secrets of his favorite studio equipment, the story behind his Quasimoto alias, his work as Yesterday’s New Quintet, and more.
Hosted by Egon We got, all the way from Los Angeles, California, Otis Jackson, aka Madlib, Quasimoto, Yesterdays New Quintet [laughs]. Madlib [hiding behind the turntables] What’s up, y’all? Egon Give it up. Madlib [stands up] Just playing. Peace! Egon Where were you born, Mr. Madlib? Madlib Saturn. Egon Like Sun Ra? Madlib That’s my pops, basically. Egon Sun Ra? Madlib Sun RZA. Egon Your musical father? Madlib Sun RZA. Egon First music you fell in love with? Madlib Jazz. I was listening to jazz when I was six and seven. My uncle is Jon
Faddis, he played with Dizzy Gillespie and Roy Ayers and all them
cats. And I basically got up in his record collection, stole all his joints, that’s how I started making beats. Egon What year? Madlib I started making beats in like ’87, got serious in ’96. Egon ’96, but you were making beats for people before that, like Alkaholiks and all that. Madlib I got serious with the business in ’96 with my stuff. Egon But the first productions you did were actually released in the early ’90s, Tha Alkaholiks, right? Madlib Hmm, yeah. Let’s forget that one. ’Liks. Let’s get on my thang, you know? Egon [laughs] Lootpack, independent hip-hop group from Oxnard, Santa Barbara, California. Madlib Oxnard area. Egon Tell ’em about the Lootpack, Otis. Madlib Lootpack’s like the first group that I grew up with. We started breakdancing in the ’80s. You know, we went to school, fourth, fifth grade, sixth grade, we’ve been hanging ever since and been recording since the late ’80s. Egon Put out your first record in ’95 or ’96? Madlib Yeah, my pops put out my first single on Crate Diggaz Palace Records in ’96. That
consisted of Lootpack, which is me, Romes and BlackJack. Egon Psyche Move EP. Your father was a musician too. He knew a little bit about the independent game, right? Madlib Yeah my pops had a few records out, independent records arranged by H.B.
Barnum, David Axelrod’s homeboy. He’s still doing his thing, you know how it goes. Egon Very notable soul vocalist from California, his father, Otis Jackson Sr. So Peanut Butter Wolf, the guy who owns Stones Throw, heard the Psyche Move, signed you to a deal and you put out an album, right? Madlib Yeah, I got mad albums. Egon But the first one was Lootpack Soundpieces, same people you just told us about. Madlib Yeah. I'll make an album in a day. Egon Was it like that back then? Madlib It was worse back then, you know what I’m saying? Egon And they were all on cassette tapes. Madlib Just like I’m doing it at the hotel, making a beat tape on cassette. Egon And spending his time in Brazil making music saving them onto cassette and
then destroying all the original files. Madlib [crazy gesture] Yippie! Egon So then, tell us about Quasimoto. Madlib Quasimoto came after Lootpack. Basically, I was in the studio on some mushrooms by myself and I didn’t have no MCs around, and when I rap I don’t like my voice anyways, so I wanted to try something different. Just locked myself in the studio, just bugged out, just tried to speed my voice up and people liked that more than my first album. Egon But you made that all on an 8-track cassette. Madlib Oh, for sure. It don’t matter what you record on, or what you use. Basically, it’s what you do. Egon So an entire album, the whole Quasimoto The Unseen, do we have a CD
here? The TASCAM Portastudio and it was in Spin magazine top 20 of the year in 2000, was it? How much did it cost to record that? Madlib Well, just for the ’shrooms. That’s it. Egon [laughs] Fifty bucks. Madlib Had to buy the ’shrooms. Egon This is a song from it. (music: Quasimoto – “Come On Feet”) Madlib Y’all know. Egon So that’s you, both voices? Madlib Yeah. Egon Two characters? Production, scratching, all you? Madlib Yeah, luckily. Thanks to Jah. Egon Were you a DJ before you were an MC? Madlib I’m a DJ, I’m not no MC. Egon What happened after Quasimoto? What did you decide to do next? Madlib I bought some instruments ’cause I listen to all them records with Fender Rhodes and vibraphones and upright bass and stuff, so I wanted to see if I can get all that stuff and try to learn it and do my own thing, you know? Try to do what they did but in my own way. Egon So, first you had, what, a Fender Rhodes? Madlib Yeah, I bought a Fender Rhodes and two weeks later I had my first album. Egon How did you make it? What did you do? What was the process involved in making this jazz music? Madlib Studying the records that I like and just sit there and do it. Make yourself do it. Egon What year jazz music? Are you talking about ’50s jazz, ’40s jazz, hard bop? Madlib Like ’60s and ’70s, but with a future twist to it. Egon So what records were you trying to play over when you were trying to do your first covers? Madlib Like Lonnie Liston Smith, Elvin Jones, all that Black Jazz stuff, Strata East, whatever. Egon [to audience] How many of you know the name Weldon Irvine? Famous composer,
arranger, jazz pianist, passed away just a little while ago. We played him
some of the early Yesterdays New Quintet stuff including a cover of one of
Weldon’s songs, a famous song called “Deja Vu.” Do you have any examples of
any of that stuff? Madlib Yup. Actually, this is a song for him when he passed. I did a whole album for that cat. (music: Monk Hughes & The Outer Realm – “Time”) Egon What’s that one called? Madlib “Time.” Egon Those were all samples, the drums and all that stuff? Madlib Actually, there’s a bass loop under that and I played upright to it. Everything else is live. Egon So you played the drums... Madlib One mic. Egon ...and upright bass and all those keyboards and everything. How did you record this stuff, the Yesterdays New Quintet, that’s what you call the group, right? Madlib First, I get the drums, you got to get the drums first. After that, it’s whatever. I just sit down, you know me, fifteen minutes and I’m done. Egon What machine do you use? I mean, you have to record it somehow. Madlib Just a little 8-track board. Egon Digital or are you still doing cassettes? Madlib Both. Egon Cassettes for some stuff. Madlib I ain’t abandoning the analogue. [music continues] Egon When you do sample stuff, what kind of sampler do you use nowadays? Madlib My homie [shows Boss SP-303 Dr. Sample]. Egon What exactly is that? Madlib You could do any type of music on this. Egon What? You made all of that on this? Madlib [nods] All my hip-hop stuff. Egon Is that a Boss Dr. Sample or is that a 303? Madlib 303, like whatever, cheap, cheap. Egon [shows to participants] Dr. Sample SP-303. Madlib Anybody could do a beat, you just got to use your brain. Egon Do you use the SP-1200? Madlib SP, MP, but mainly that [points to Dr. Sample]. Egon You haven’t given up hip-hop completely though? You’re still producing hip-hop tracks, doing remixes? Madlib Basically, when I go to the next style I do, I still have the stuff that I did back then. It’s always going to be the same, but I always progress too. Egon So you’re working on some new hip-hop stuff now? Madlib I’m working on new hip-hop, new jazz, reggae, soul, soundtracks, trying to do some scores. Egon Jay Dee and MF Doom, two people you’re working with right now. [to audience] Y’all know the name Jay Dee? Slum Village and all that? MF Doom, used to be known as Zev Love X of KMD? Got anything new that we can hear? Maybe something with MF Doom? Madlib Kind of raw. Egon You recorded all this with the 303 and a smaller digital board? Madlib True. (music: Madvillian – “America’s Most Blunted”) Madlib Weird shit. Egon MF Doom. Anything else on that you want to play? Madlib Some live shit. (music: Madvillain – “Great Day”) Egon [comments over music] This is you playing all the instruments? Madlib Just a bass loop. Egon Very nice. [to audience] You like what you’re hearing? [applause] Madlib Thank you. Egon And you recorded all that with one microphone for basically, what? A dollar, a dollar fifty maybe, what ever it costs to buy discs? Madlib For sure. Egon And that’s going to be released on a major label, as major as we can get it. Probably going to sell 30-40,000 copies and the recording costs are zero. So anybody out there who thinks you have to go to a studio, I mean, you’re doing all that at the house with minimal equipment. Madlib I do it at home, where I’m peaceful, relaxed and cool. Egon How about some of this Jay Dee stuff? Do you have anything there you’re rapping on or anything? (music: Jaylib – “Raw Addict” / applause) Madlib Thank you, wow. Five claps, count the claps. (music: Jaylib – “Survival Test”) Madlib One more cut. (music: Jaylib – unknown / applause) Egon Very nice. Madlib Thank you. Egon Now, you got to explain something ’cause weren’t those vocals and all those cuts recorded on an 8-track cassette? Madlib It’s not the final recording, it’s the rough draft, but basically... Egon Sounded pretty good to me. Anything else you’ve been wroking on? Madlib Ah, got some weird shit. Some Azymuth. (music: Yesterdays New Quintet – unknown Azymuth tribute track) Egon You said that’s Azymuth, ’A-Zee-Moochie’? Madlib Who knows Azymuth, ’A-Zee-Moochie’? Man, y’all better get hip. I ain’t from here, but that’s dope music from here. Egon So how many pseudonyms do you have ’cause you’re doing all these projects
under different names? Madlib I don’t know, there’s going to be more. I don’t know, something like 20 or
more. Egon Are you nervous that people might not catch on that it’s you doing all this stuff? Madlib It’s good, that’s what I want. I want them to think that it’s somebody else. Egon Questions? I guess, we should open it up right now. Audience Member On the Azymuth track, were you playing drums live? Was everything live on that? Madlib Yeah, everything was live. Slapping the bass like I’m from the ’80s. Audience Member Do you play the drums on something and then sample them or do you just play the whole thing live? Madlib Yes. Audience Member You play the whole thing live all the way through and then you layer everything on top of that. Madlib Yes. Audience Member So your foundation track is the drums? Madlib Yes, sir. Egon Anyone else? Anymore questions before we get out of here? Audience Member You were saying your studio costs nothing, but it’s necessary to have a good studio as well, I mean, in the end, isn’t it? Egon Not for us. We’ve been doing just fine. We don’t really pay much. I mean, we might pay $50 an hour for someone mastering it with ProTools. Pretty much everything is recorded at the house. The M.F. Doom project is going to be recorded at the house, the Jay Dee stuff is recorded at the house. Everything you heard with the exception of the Lootpack album has been recorded for free. Madlib Bedroom style. Egon Cheap boards. And we try to do our best to make it presentable. You've heard our music, you can play it in clubs. I mean, I heard my man Primo [the Brazilian DJ], playing “Whenimondamic” and it sounded pretty good to me. Audience Member But having a proper mix on a quite big table [mixing desk], you don't think it would bring more to the music? Madlib Probably, but I’m not even on that tip. I’m just trying to do it and then go on to the next. That’s just something I did that day and then I'm going on to the next thing. I don’t have time to run into a big studio. Just do that real quick and put it on DAT, and it's cool. Egon That’s a good point that you made. Ultimately – I can answer this because I’m there trying to mix all of this stuff – if he records something in a day, chances are by that evening it’s all been erased. He makes one CD. If we’re lucky enough to know that he’s made it, we’ll make dubs for ourselves. Sometimes hundreds of songs are lost because the discs get thrown around. He just makes the music, mixes it to his specifications, and moves on. It’s up to us to pick what sounds good enough, master that, and put it out. In the case of some, we mix it down, but for the most part none of it is mixed down. It’s mixed down, but it’s mixed down at the house. Madlib My mix. Audience Member What are your influences? What are you listening to? Madlib Music. King Tubby, John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman, Iron Butterfly. Egon How about hip-hop guys? Madlib Marcos Valle. Hip-hop-wise, Ultramagnetic MCs, Rakim, that’s about it. I mean, there’s a gang of influences, but it’s too many that’s why my music always changes. I always get influenced. Audience Member Have you listened to some electronic experimental stuff, like Warp, Squarepusher, Aphex Twin? Madlib Yeah, I could do that, too. [laughter] Audience Member You rock, man. Madlib Just try to do every type of music, so you can connect with everybody. Audience Member Madlib, besides the Dr. Sample, are you using drum machines or anything like that? Madlib That is a drum machine. Audience Member But besides that one, no? Madlib I use a SP-1200 and an MPC sometimes. Audience Member Anything acoustic? Madlib I have an acoustic upright bass, electric basses, vibraphone, Fender Rhodes, ARPs, drums, guitars, whatever. Percussion, bought some percussion today. Audience Member What kind of effects do you use? Madlib [looks at the Dr. Sample display] Phaser, tremolo, fuzz, wah, octave, equalizer, slicer, ring mod, tape echo, chorus, flanger, reverb. [laughter]
Mainly the wah wah. Audience Member How would you define ’keeping it real’? Madlib I don’t define it, I just do what I do. That word is so played out, so many definitions. Just keep it real myself, I guess, I don’t know. Audience Member When you are recording the drums first do you use any kind of metronome or something like that? Madlib In my head, yeah. That’s why some of that stuff is off-beat but that’s how I like my stuff. Audience Member Do you use sequencers or just the pads on the sampler? Madlib Sometimes I do it live, sometimes I sequence, but I usually like to do 'human time': record the drums, go to the next track and record the bass. I don’t use computers. I’m a caveman [laughter]. Audience Member I find it incredible that you picked up almost all of the instruments that you play in no time, has that anything to do with your father? Madlib Probably, yeah. But I didn’t know any of that before I stepped to it. Like anybody else, I just had to do what I had to do, doing it 20 hours a day. Discipline. Audience Member What’s your singing voice like? Madlib You want me to do it? No, I’m playing, it’s not good. It’s not good. Audience Member Mad, you said that you don’t use computers, how do you take your music from your home studio to the mastering [studio]? Egon I do all that. Or Peanut Butter Wolf. Audience Member And what’s impossible to do in the Dr. Sample, like technically? Like, long samples... Madlib Oh, it has like 10-15 minutes on it, a gang of effects. It’s just small, so people are like 'urgh.' Audience Member You can link it with the SP? Madlib Yeah. Audience Member Have you done a live act as Quasimoto or Yesterdays New Quintet? Madlib Yeah I try to... Audience Member What would you do if you did a proper live [show] of every project? Madlib For the Yesterdays, I haven’t put a band together yet. I need a band to do that, that can play how I want it to sound, and that hasn’t happened yet, but it’s in the works. As far as Quasimoto, I try to do that and the sound man was using effects, so the effects don’t always work properly, so. When I recorded the album, I didn’t use effects, I just sped up the tape. So, I went out there and did my first Quasimodo show and my voice was regular in a crazy suit like a space... you know how Quas looks, that’s the suit I came out in. And it was just crazy, most embarrassing time of my life, you know what I’m sayin.