Devotion #5

“Just to give you a heads up, Audiversity will be posting slightly less regularly over the next couple of weeks.”

“I fucking love Madlib.”

Each of these quotations is courtesy of my colleague, the venerable Michael Ardaiolo. Let me first address the first – or, rather, the condition of knowing first or knowing last. I don’t know which I like better. In this case, I think I’m better off being the last to know, because I probably wouldn’t be posting had I been the first. Michael and I are both in the same boat with our respective schedules and without a vacation (Dave) or a new home in a great city (Patrick) to look forward to. (NOTE: Damn you, Dave and Patrick!) But like I said, had I been the first to know about the upcoming reduction in postings, I probably opt out today. That, however, wouldn’t have been fair to anyone involved, so I wanted to make sure I carved out a bit of time to share a little something. Next week, don’t be surprised to see my dwarf helper, Milo, posting in my place.

As for Madlib, there are a lot of people who fucking love that dude, and rightfully so. He is a worker bee to the highest degree, and someone who refreshingly creates for the sole purpose of...ummm...well, creativity. In the past, Madlib has diagnosed himself as being a little schizophrenic, but that’s hardly accurate – he is a beatsmith, after all, and not a licensed therapist. Actually, I’m not quite sure what Madlib is. I don’t even think Madlib knows. So let’s just call him a genius and leave it at that.

People often speak of music in religious terms, but Madlib, John Coltrane, and Carlos Santana are among the few who truly embody the spirituality of such artistic expression. Each of these men are gods to me, but I don’t “fucking love Madlib” in the sense that Michael and many fans do. In a sense, I’m kind of over him, and I mean that as no disrespect, but he’s a producer I’ve admired for close to a decade now. I'm simply used to having him around. He’s family, like that weird uncle that your parents always speak in hushed tones about, yet seems the absolute coolest to you.

I'm looking past Madlib, and I suggest that you do the same. Keep supporting his music and mission, of course, but remember that he has paved the way for thousands of producers all across the globe, and set the bar extremely high for more eclecticism and independence in hip-hop. For that, I don't love him as much as I give thanks.

Here are a select few to check for that operate along those same lines – a visionary in Flying Lotus, unbridled creativity in Waajeed, and a little insanity from Madlib's high school collaborator and fellow Oxnard, California native, Kankick.

Flying Lotus – "Orbit Brazil" demo – 1983 (Plug Research 2006)

Waajeed – "Dusk" – The War LP (Bling 47 2007)

Kankick – "Africa: World's #1 Superpower" – Serious Business This! (Ramp 2006)

And before anyone goes ratting me out to the ACLU, I was joking about the dwarf.