Quasimoto (Madlib): The Unseen (2LP) [STONES THROW]

Why you'll love it

This Stones Throw 2LP set spreads the album across four sides, pressed in the Czech Republic with the classic Jeff Jank cover. The Unseen is a cornerstone of underground hip hop, and AllMusic called it one of the most imaginative albums of the new West Coast underground.

This edition

• 2LP set
• Pressed in the Czech Republic
• Matte jacket

About the album

Madlib never much liked the sound of his own rapping voice; he thought it came out too dark. So he invented someone else to do it. Lord Quas, a high-pitched, mischievous character, began as a private project Madlib made for his own amusement, until Stones Throw boss Peanut Butter Wolf heard it and talked him into putting it out.

Madlib built the beats on an E-mu SP-1200, cramming them with jazz breaks, dub echoes, film dialogue and stray bits of vinyl crackle, and Kut Masta Kurt and Peanut Butter Wolf helped mix it. "Microphone Mathematics" and "Come on Feet" are the bounciest cuts, "Low Class Conspiracy" and "Return of the Loop Digga" dig deep into the crates, and "Astro Black" drifts off somewhere near Saturn. Jeff Jank drew Quas as a white, ghostly silhouette on the cover, though he'd always pictured him as a yellow furry creature.

The A.V. Club compared Madlib's sample wizardry to Prince Paul, and the record has been passed hand to hand by beatmakers ever since. Creating an entire second rapper to avoid hearing your own voice is, we'd argue, the most elaborate solution to a voicemail greeting ever devised.

Also at Kops: more Quasimoto on vinyl · browse Hip Hop / R&B

Tracklist

Listen

On Stones Throw (cat# STH2025), a reissue of the 2000 album.