Madlib Medicine Show No. 5: The History of the Loop Digga

• April 27, 2010

IN THE STORE
MADLIB MEDICINE SHOW #5: THE HISTORY OF THE LOOP DIGGA, 1990-2000
Pre-order for CD and 3LP. Release date: May 25.

CD 34 tracks, 12-page booklet/comic (64:00 mins)
3-LP DELUXE 34 tracks + 10 track bonus disc, limited edition, numbered, with individually screened LP covers (98:00 mins)

Back in the 90s, “beat tapes” were literally that: cassette tapes of beats that a producer made either for himself, friends, or potential collaborators. Madlib made a bunch of them in the days between his early productions for the Alkaholiks (circa ’92) and the release of his Quasimoto album (2000), after which he took a couple of years off of the beats to focus on making jazz music before beginning a new era of hip-hop with Madvillain, Jaylib and Beat Konducta.

This collection of beats showcases the way that Madlib’s early hip-hop demos were filtered out to his crew of friends and associates, providing an opportunity for a unique view into Madlib’s working process. These beats, often freestyled on SP1200 or whatever machine he had at the ready, were picked up by rappers over a period of many years. Trainspotters will find it interesting that beats later destined for the likes of Wildchild and Percee P were made some years before those albums saw release.

This album is punctuated with a series of early solo-raps by Madlib and his Quasimoto alter ego and features the crew known collectively as CDP – those rappers who worked side by side with Madlib during the days of his Oxnard CA-based “Crate Diggas Palace” studios. The Madlib Medicine Show series is a combination of Madlib's new hip-hop productions, remixes, beat tapes and jazz, as well as mixtapes of funk, soul, Brazilian, psych, jazz and other undefined forms of music.

About the CD & vinyl release:

Madlib Medicine Show #5: The History of the Loop Digga will be released on CD, digital and a deluxe 3LP format. The deluxe 3LP set includes 34 minutes of vocal & instrumental material not available on the CD or digital release, and one-of-a-kind individually screened covers by Hit+Run. The artwork is by Benjamin Marra who has created a comic book for the album about the fictional 90s-era Rapper X who goes on a vengeful cop-killing rampage. The comic is included with the CD.

MP3: Madlib - Static Invazion
MP3: Madlib - Episode XVI