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Madlib - WLIB AM: King of the Wigflip
WLIB AM:King of the Wigflip marks the end of an era. "As Dirty Harry
said, 'a man has to realize his limitations'" is how Barely Breaking
Even (BBE) co-founder and current label head Peter Adarkwah explains
the successful Beat Generation series coming to a close. "Evolution is
[the] key to all survival."
And few artists represent such evolution like Madlib The Beat
Konducta. The Oxnard, California native has become what writer Amiri
Baraka (nee Leroi Jones) once referred to jazz immortal John Coltrane
as – "a more fixed traveler…a peace idiom, and time, placement
of himself." Madlib is a fitting piece in the Beat Generation puzzle,
which has run the spectrum of top-flight producers with legends
(Marley Marl, Pete Rock, Jazzy Jeff), young lions (DJ Spinna, King
Britt, Will.I.Am), and the incomparable Jay Dee aka J Dilla, whose
Welcome to Detroit was the first artist album to be commissioned by
BBE.
But Dilla was not the first artist to be considered by the label for
its inaugural Beat Generation release. That distinction would
initially go to Kenny Dope of Masters At Work, then to Jazzy Jeff, yet
both were hesitant at the time. "It was very different, for the first
time in your life, someone giving you the opportunity to basically say
who you are as a producer," Jeff told Wax Poetics magazine in 2006.
"Because a lot of us are under the hypnotism of the industry, I had no
idea what to do. He [Adarkwah] gave me complete freedom, and as much
as I begged for that, I got scared because it's kind of, like, 'What
do you do when somebody gives you complete freedom?'"
Short answer: You become Madlib – maverick, prolific, and tirelessly
uninhibited. WLIB AM: King of the Wigflip plays like the days when AM
radio ruled the airwaves, transmitting a crackling, low-fi mélange of
endless sample fodder, vocal snippets, and sonic intuition, turning
singles into stars and flipping wigs with each twist of the dial.
Starting with the ominous, tribal overtones of "The New Resident," its
spiritual spank followed by the customarily aggressive Guilty Simpson
on the brassy, stabbing "Blow the Horns On 'Em,"WLIB AM: King of the
Wigflip finds Madlib venturing away from the deconstruction of world
rhythms on recent projects and returning to his Western hemisphere
roots in hip-hop and R&B.
And in getting back to basics, lyricism is in full effect, courtesy
of Cali cohorts such as Defari on the driving, speed-limit bass funk
of "Gamble On Ya Boy,"MED and Poke's ode to home stance with the fury
of "The Ox (805)," and Murs doing what Murs do in addressing the
"can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em" state of male-female
relations over the electro-pulse minimalism of "Ratrace." Beat
Konducta The Younger, Oh No, teams up with big brother Madlib as The
Professionals on "I Want It Back," while the maestro himself steps
away from his helm at the beat machine and drops into the vocal booth
on the audacious "Heat."
World Famous Beat Junkie J.Rocc heralds the return of the DJ with
cuts on "Blindfold Test #10 (He Don't Play)," before the proceedings
venturing eastward with Detroit's party hearty Frank N' Dank riding
the humming, percussive "Drinks Up!" like Motor City madmen. Another
Motown-born MC, former Common and Kanye West sideman, Karriem Riggins,
provides a glimpse into the Madlib-Riggins Supreme Team pairing on the
melancholy "Life," while veteran Prince Po provides a standout cameo
with the vibrant buoyancy of "The Thang-Thang."
Talib Kweli, Georgia Anne Muldrow, Roc C, and the songbird styling of
Frezna ("Yo-Yo Affair, parts 1 & 2) and Stacy Epps round out WLIB AM:
King of the Wigflip, which is woven together by dusted interludes and
instrumentals like few but The Beat Konducta can. "Madlib was not
consciously meant to be last in the series," says BBE's Adarkwah, but
when considering the producer to which he is most often associated –
the late J Dilla – it is without question the proper closure.
"Blacktronica should be the future," Adarkwah declares, and he should
know best, for it is Blacktronica that has already helped define his
storied label's past and present.
1. The New Resident - The Beat Konducta
2. Blow The Horns On 'Em - Guilty Simpson
3. The Plan Pt. 1 - Georgia Anne Muldrow
4. Tension - The Beat Konducta
5. Gamble On Ya Boy - Defari
6. The Ox (805) - MED feat. Poke
7. All Virtue - The Beat Konducta
8. Blinfold Test #10 (He Don't Play) - J-Rocc
9. The Thang-Thang - Prince Po
10. Heat - Madlib
11. Smoke Break - The Beat Konducta
12. The Plan (Reprise) - The Beat Konducta
13. Life - Karriem Riggins
14. Parklight - The Beat Konducta
15. Yo Yo Affair Pt. 1 & 2 - Frezna
16. I Want It Back - The Professionals (Oh No & Madlib)
17. Disco Dance - The Beat Konducta
18. What It Do – Liberation (Talib Kweli & Madlib)
19. Take That Money - Roc C feat. Oh No
20. Drinks Up! - Frank N Dank
21. The Way That I Live - Stacy Epps
22. Ratrace - Murs
23. Go! - Guilty Simpson
24. Stop - The Beat Konducta
For More Info, Check Out:
www.kingofthewigflip.com.
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