The second Madvillain album. The third Quasimoto album. The
Supreme Team and Professionals albums. Rock
Konducta. Dozens of jazz projects. Cocaine
Pinatas with Freddie Gibbs. I could keep listing announced Madlib projects
that have not as of yet seen the light of day, but a longer list would just
make me sadder. Since the release of the thirteenth installment in Madlib’s mostly
underrated Medicine Show series a few
years ago, things have been mostly quiet from his camp. He’s been holed up in
his four-room studio space for the last few years, working on new stuff that he
doesn’t particularly care to release.
Now, in a rare interview with the Bad Kid, the fans are
getting a whole bunch more upcoming albums that can make us sad when they never
come out. According to Lib, every few years he goes through a year-long period
where he just listens to jazz records and plays a bunch of instruments. He just
finished up one of those years, so a ton of new Yesterdays Universe records are
on the way. He’s also producing a lot of songs on the new Mos Def record and
working on some other hip-hop projects that he doesn’t name. He’s almost done
with the third Quas album, finally. On the Madlib getting weird tip, he said
that he’s got some “early Kraftwerk-type stuff,” and that he listens to
Throbbing Gristle and other industrial music. Based on well how his forays into
jazz and broken beat have gone, a Madlib industrial or minimal wave album is an
exciting prospect. Little bits of a new Mos song, a great Busta remix, and what
could be some of that Kraftwerk-type stuff from his recent performances in
London can be heard in the video too. Oh and he mentions an unreleased J Dilla
jazz record and electronic record. He’s probably put a few dozen albums’ worth
of new material to the side over the last few years, and it sounds like a few
of those might actually see release this year. Most won’t.
