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Quasimoto | |
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Background information | |
Origin | Oxnard, California, U.S. |
Genres | Alternative hip hop, psychedelic rap, trip hop, instrumental hip hop |
Years active | 1999–2005 |
Labels | Stones Throw Records |
Members | Lord Quas Madlib |
Quasimoto is a side project of hip hop producer Madlib, from Oxnard, California. Quasimoto is composed of Madlib and his animated alter ego Lord Quas. Lord Quas is known for his high-pitched voice, which often interacts with Madlib's regular voice. Quasimoto was conceived of one day in the studio, when Madlib decided to rap to his own beats. Madlib did not like the sound of his voice [1] (his friends in Oxnard call him "Barry White" in reference to his deep voice), so he decided to slow his recorder down, rap slowly, then speed the recording back up to produce Lord Quas' distinctive high-pitched sound. Quasimoto's lyrics frequently address themes such as violence and drug use in a comedic fashion, and the character of Lord Quas has been interpreted as a satirical take on gangsta-rap. [2]
Peanut Butter Wolf, DJ and owner of Stones Throw Records, heard Quas' demo tapes and encouraged Madlib to release more tracks under this alias. Quasimoto was featured on Wolf's My Vinyl Weighs a Ton album in 1998, on the song "Styles Crews Flows Beats". Later, Madlib put out Quasimoto's debut album, The Unseen , in 2000. This album received much praise from underground fans and from mainstream media, making it onto Spin Magazine's top albums of the year list.
Madlib's original idea for his character was to make him an "unknown person or entity", hence the title of Quasimoto's debut album, The Unseen. While the character was depicted as a humanoid white figure on The Unseen's album cover, the appearance of the character was changed after fans started identifying him as a creature holding a brick in the artwork for The Unseen (2000) by Jeff Jank. [3] The illustrated character was first used on the cover of single Microphone Mathematics (1999) credited to Keith Beats.
After the release of The Unseen, Madlib spent the next few years working on different projects such as Yesterdays New Quintet and his album Shades of Blue . Quas re-emerged in 2003, making a few guest appearances, notably on Jaylib's Champion Sound and Madvillain's Madvillainy (Madlib and MF DOOM). Quasimoto officially returned with the vinyl-only Bus Ride EP in 2005, continuing his distinctive style of high pitched rhymes and unorthodox samples.
In 2005, Quasimoto dropped The Further Adventures of Lord Quas which featured M.E.D. and MF DOOM. The album cover features a reference to Frank Zappa's debut album, Freak Out! , a picture of super-producer J Dilla, and a picture of Wild Man Fischer, who is also referenced in one of the songs. The voice of Melvin Van Peebles is sampled on several tracks from both albums.
In June 2013, the compilation album Yessir Whatever was released. It was said to be "a collection of 12 tracks made over a roughly 12-year period," however there were no new Quasimoto recordings made after the year 2005. Some tracks were released on rare and out-of-print vinyls while others were previously unreleased, being mixed and mastered for the first time specifically for the compilation. [4]
In an interview, Madlib said that the atmosphere and sound on the Quasimoto albums owe much to the work of Alain Goraguer on the soundtrack of La Planète sauvage .[ citation needed ] An early Quasimoto video features excerpts from the film, and the song "Come on Feet" contains a sample from its soundtrack.
Madvillainy is the only studio album by American hip hop duo Madvillain, consisting of British-American rapper MF Doom and American record producer Madlib. It was released on March 23, 2004, on Stones Throw Records.
Madvillain was an American hip hop supergroup formed in 2002, consisting of rapper MF Doom and producer Madlib. Their only album, Madvillainy (2004), earned critical acclaim and cult popularity, widely regarded as one of the greatest rap albums of all time and a benchmark record for alternative hip hop. Their intricate rhymes and lyrics, short song structures and use of obscure, stylistically diverse samples made for a sound that was generally unfriendly to commercial radio but was lauded for its influence on underground rap. A follow-up album to Madvillainy was rumored to be in production at various times since the late 2000s, but no further original material has surfaced from the duo since 2010, and MF DOOM's death in 2020 has left the future of the project uncertain.
Otis Lee Jackson, Jr., known professionally as Madlib, is an American record producer, DJ, multi-instrumentalist, and rapper. Critically acclaimed for his eclectic and sample-heavy production style, he is regarded as one of the most influential producers in modern hip hop and alternative hip hop. His frequent collaborators include MF DOOM, J Dilla, Freddie Gibbs, Talib Kweli, and Erykah Badu.
Stones Throw Records is an American independent record label based in Los Angeles, California. Under the direction of founder Peanut Butter Wolf, Stones Throw has released music ranging from hip hop to experimental psychedelic rock. LA Weekly deemed the label an "eternally evolving experiment" in celebration of its 20th anniversary.
Mm..Food is the fifth studio album by British-American rapper and producer MF Doom, released through Rhymesayers on 16 November, 2004. The album peaked at number 17 on Billboard's Independent Albums chart, and number 9 on Heatseekers Albums chart. The title Mm..Food is an anagram of "MF Doom".
Michael Woodrow Jackson, known professionally as Oh No, is an American rapper and record producer who has released several albums on Stones Throw Records. He is half of the hip hop duo Gangrene along with The Alchemist. He is also half of the hip-hop duo The Professionals with his brother Madlib.
The Further Adventures of Lord Quas is the second studio album by Quasimoto, a hip hop duo composed of Madlib and his animated alter ego, Lord Quas. It was released via Stones Throw Records on May 3, 2005.
Champion Sound is a collaborative album by the duo Jaylib, consisting of producers J Dilla and Madlib. The album was released in 2003 and is considered a classic in the underground hip-hop scene. The title track, "Champion Sound", features a sample from the 1978 film The Deer Hunter and showcases the duo's signature blend of soulful beats and intricate rhymes. The album also features guest appearances from Talib Kweli and Percee P.
The Boss Dr. Sample SP-303 is a discontinued digital sampler from Boss, successor of the Boss SP-202 Dr. Sample. The SP-303 was revamped and redesigned in 2005, and released as the SP-404, by Roland Corporation.
The Unseen is the debut studio album by Quasimoto, a hip-hop duo composed of Madlib and his animated alter ego Lord Quas. It was released under Stones Throw Records on June 13, 2000. It was re-released in 2005 as a deluxe edition with a bonus CD containing the instrumental version of the album.
The following is a list of Madlib releases under that name or Yesterdays New Quintet, a fictional jazz group created by Madlib.
"Microphone Mathematics" is the second single by Quasimoto, the rapping alter ego of Madlib. These tracks later appeared on his debut album The Unseen. On the album, however, "Discipline 99" was split into 2 tracks. Part 0 featured "Mr. Herb," while part 1 featured Wildchild of the Lootpack.
Jack Brown, better known by his stage name Wildchild, is an American rapper from Oxnard, California. He is a member of Lootpack.
In Search of Stoney Jackson is the second studio album by California based hip hop group Strong Arm Steady, released on January 26, 2010 under Stones Throw Records. The album's title is a reference to actor Stoney Jackson. The album, entirely produced by Madlib, features guest appearances from Talib Kweli, Phonte, Fashawn, Evidence, Oh No, Roscoe, Guilty Simpson and a host of underground Los Angeles rappers, as well as former Strong Arm Steady members Planet Asia and Chace Infinite. The rap vocals are mainly performed by Phil Da Agony and Krondon, as Mitchy Slick appears on only two tracks. The album is considered a collaborative album, between Madlib and the L.A. hip hop collective, who chose the beats from 200 potential compositions.
Madlib Medicine Show was a 13-album series by Madlib originally scheduled to be released monthly on his own imprint, Madlib Invazion throughout 2010 and into 2011. Odd months present releases featuring Madlib's production work while even months showcase DJ work and mixing skills.
Mind Fusion is a 5-volume series of albums produced by Madlib.
Yessir Whatever is a compilation album by American hip-hop duo Quasimoto, which is composed of Madlib and his animated alter ego Lord Quas. The album was released on June 18, 2013, by Stones Throw Records. The album features a compilation of songs released on rare & out-of-print vinyl and a few others that were previously unreleased.
Nick Rodriguez, better known by his stage name M.E.D., is an American rapper from Oxnard, California. He was formerly known as Medaphoar. He has been signed to Stones Throw Records.
Freddie Gibbs & Madlib, sometimes known as MadGibbs, is an American hip hop duo formed in San Francisco, California, in 2011. The duo is composed of Gary, Indiana-based Freddie Gibbs rapping and Oxnard, California native Madlib producing. The duo has released two studio albums, Piñata in 2014 and Bandana in 2019. They have also released five extended plays (EPs) together.
"One Beer" is a song recorded by American hip hop duo Madvillain, originally intended for inclusion on their debut studio album Madvillainy. The song instead ended up being used on MF Doom's 2004 album Mm..Food, credited to MF DOOM instead of Madvillain. "One Beer" was released as a limited-press 7" single in 2004, given away by select online retailers with copies of Madvillainy. An animated music video was released on 16 November 2018, 14 years after Mm..Food's release.