Reacting to 'Madvillainy' by MF DOOM

I’m definitely a bit late but MM..Food is a must. IMO it’s Doom’s best in terms of rhyme schemes and his overall solo production. Might be my fav hip hop record ever.

Gavin Camp

Yeah, the constant Jungian shit is really the shit that turns me on though

Max Biddick

'3.214' it's called

Max Biddick

By the way if you haven't, check out the Madlib remix of Great Day (called '3.14' (incredible))... also the Four Tet remix deserves an honourable mention

Max Biddick

"Spot hot traccks like spot a pair of fat asses" "Show them what they know not through flows of hot molasses" Basically these two lines confirm to me that doom and madlib and co were people who are particularly well-acquantited with what it means to be 1) dope, and 2) woke Dope in the sense of style/cool...flow etc.... woke in the sense of knowing what's up... understanding your context.. not this quasi-psuedo-woke that exists through techno-feudal / neo-liberal culture today

Max Biddick

their use of juxtapisition between the words & the beats is nothing short of satirical ingenuity. It's like reading the private eye (classic UK political satire) x old-school marvel

Max Biddick

takes*

Max Biddick

For me the kind of space that they take in my head are these ideas that i come back to... depending on what i come to learn in my life... they're ideas that as i learn more, they just seem to ring more true, they just seem to relate more to the world that i come to learn

Max Biddick

Madlib and Doom had a really astute sense of what power means and who in this world, authority is... their takes are deep and creative... take a little thinking about, but it's perfect because they're doing so perfectly that they force you to think about them. You can't help but mull over lines that catch you in your head over & over after.

Max Biddick

The way this album was shunned is like how a shitty rumour is spread about somebody who's actually quite decent (or more complicated / nuanced than presented)... one-by-one people realise for themselves, oh hey , they're not as bad as i heard they were etc.... this album developed a rep in very quick time and it never ever failed to hold up because wisdom is the game in an album like this, and this kind of wisdom presented in this manner... timeless, immediately

Max Biddick

The story is definitely in the sample work though. The lessons are in his verses

Max Biddick

I think Doom was astutely aware of the influence music & poetry... stories, have on people, and he was somebody who became astutely, perhaps sometimes excruciatingly, self-aware, of his craft, of himself, and of his context... what it takes to get around, and what it's taken to get through the bullshit etc... I think knowledge of that stuff leaves a lot of colour in your conditioning, and ultimately, if you do good, it makes you a better teacher... Doom to me is the Golden Teacher... sometimes you have to let go, and sometimes you just have to clock the mood and let the words that resonate, resonate, but the man is constantly operating on multiple levels - and it amazes me every single time I listen

Max Biddick

The weird sci-fi strange documentary feeling I think is the effect that his word choice X the mood has... a lot of the ideas he litters about the place are I think either very philosophical (and made very understandable... see "jj doom - bookfiend" (i prefer the clams casino version) - "answer to the riddle, more hidde than a crook.. only way to find it, if he spit it in a hook"...

Max Biddick

This is an incredibly good lyrical breakdown of "Accordion". You can see that they aren't as disjointed as they're perceived. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZ_EdMdhrMo&ab_channel=TheLyricologist

Jayde Stone

Really enjoyed this listen, the madvillain bistro bed and breakfast bar and grill cafe lounge on the water never fails to make me smile. Hate giving suggestions because I know you get so many, but for my mama and anyone who look like her by mckinley dixon is one of my favorites. Dude plays with a live band takes a lot of influence from Kendrick. What makes me suggest him is his views on religion which I think you would connect with. Thanks for reacting to madvillainy was awesome

Fun fact: Thom Yorkes favorite rapper of all time is MF DOOM, he also has two remixes of his songs and they were planning to collaborate on a whole album

Anonymous

The sampling for All Caps is straight up genius https://youtu.be/Wmsg6bMf9Do?t=660

Jacob Svensson

Great video Bob, I have a lot of short notes to add and there's too many comments to know if I'm repeating a comment already made so if I am, I apologize. Firstly, here's all the music videos for this album: Accordion: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpaonSDPw7Y Strange Ways: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSxlZQUqVPY Fancy Clown: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYpXwlGT7XE OR https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IeqpRI5p5dI (this song has two official MV's) All Caps: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSJeHDlhYls Rhinestone Cowboy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4iR668Ki3I You mentioned hearing an accent, and he is in fact from NYC, though he was actually born in London, which probably further influences him to have a unique voice. I know you sometimes have trouble finding a certain line you heard that you're trying to go back to, in the future, a simple keyboard trick is you can hold "ctrl + f" in that order, and you'll be able to search the page for a line and easily find it While on the subject of lyrics, you mentioned that you might struggle with understanding references, and this is actually the one place I think genius annotations shine, they tend to struggle with lines that have a deeper meaning, but if you're simply confused by a reference or sample, genius annotations almost always help clear up that confusion, just something to consider MF DOOM has numerous alter egos (Viktor Vaughn is one of them and he actually rapped on Fancy Clown) and he has released full albums under that pseudonym, as well as the name "King Geedorah" both with their own distinct sound If you want to continue doing MF Doom in the future, I suggest Operation: Doomsday, from 1999, and MM... FOOD, from 2004, beyond that, you could honestly just go chronologically from there. Finally, you've been really enjoying unique samples, and it makes me think you might enjoy The Avalanches, particularly their 2000 album "Since I Left You", the album is considered "plunderphonics" which is a genre pretty much entirely composed of sampling, and it's incredible what they manage to achieve purely taking sounds from other sources. It's not hip-hop, so if you want to keep a strict hip-hop only theme for the channel I understand, but definitely consider checking this album out regardless, I think you'd really like it. Anyway, I just made a way-too-long comment haha, glad you enjoyed the album

Lil Mac

great video, I feel like since you enjoyed this so much you’d also dig The Unseen by Quasimoto, on Madvillainy Madlib did most of his work on the beats but he has an alter ego named quasimoto (the high pitched voice in shadows of tomorrow) and the unseen is basically madlib producing an album for his alter ego, really just laid back listen, similar to Madvillainy

Jose Aguilar

This is up there for my favorite album of all time. Just the way this album flows is perfect. And as others have noted it's DOOM's rhyme schemes that are so damn impressive. But yeah also wanted to shine some more light on Madlib as his sound is on alot of this project. If you really liked the music in this album then you might like some other stuff he's worked on. Others have mentioned projects with Freddie Gibbs but there's also solo instrumental albums like Shades of Blue which is more jazzy and the Beat Konducta volumes. Vol 3-4: In India is great. It's similar to Madvillany but in just imagine in India. It has a vintage lofi hiphop feel with a bunch of random Indian tv clips coming in and out. But anyways just wanted to put the recommendation out there if anyone would be interested

He's doing Lauren Hill next. He will be doing Outkast and Wu-Tang for sure. So I'm looking forward to that. I highly recommend Clipse. Especially Lord Willin, Hell Hath No Fury, and Pusha T's solo album, Daytona (produced by Kanye West) - a truly flawless album. Innovative production (by Pharrell Williams and then Kanye) and intricate coke rap flows. I've also been recommending Scarface and UGK as well. A lot of people have mentioned The Infamous. I'm sure he will get around to a lot of this stuff. There's just so much.

Dylan Woods

100%

eich

I think this is probably my most listened to album I love this one, good reaction!! You said this album feels almost like a documentary and that's definitely fitting, it feels like stories out of the life of the Madvillain character.

daredevil777

If ur gonna check out more DOOM, I'd definitely recommend Mm..Food.

Rio Imasaki

and to put it out there, doom's an incredible lyricist. yeah it's scattered, but if you can follow his schemes theyre actually complex. you have to understand the language and why theyre impressive. his word play is crazy...also he mentioned in an interview that mf doesn't stand for anything specific. its up to the listener to interpret.

Henry

Hey, here are some Hip Hop Releases I enjoy, that I think you might also enjoy: -Southern Hip Hop: Outkast - ATLiens, Aquemini and Stankonia UGK - Ridin Dirty Three 6 Mafia - Mystic Stylez (Horrorcore style rap out of Memphis they go hard af, the whole memphis underground scene from the 90s is amazing) Scarface - The Diary -East Coast: A Tribe Called Quest - The Low End Theory, Midnight Marauders, We got it from Here… Thank You 4 Your service (their last Album from 2016) Digable Planets - Blowout Comb De La Soul - 3 Feet High and Rising, De La Soul Is Dead Mobb Deep - The Infamous Gang Starr - Moment of Truth Clipse - Hell Hath No Fury (from 2006, beats by Pharell Williams, very underrated album) Cannibal Ox - The Cold Vein (experimental Hip Hop) MF DOOM - Operation: Doomsday, MM..FOOD, Born Like This Viktor Vaughn - Vaudeville Villain (MF DOOM alter ego album very underrated one of his best) Ka - Descendants of Cain (its from 2020. poetic, abstract hip hop) Lauryn Hill - The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill Mos Def - Black on Both Sides GZA - Liquid Swords (Wutang Member) Ghostface Killah - Supreme Clientele (Wutang Member) -West Coast: Dr Dre - The Chronic (west coast) Deltron 3030 - Deltron 3030 (a concept album set in the year 3030) -Other: Common - Be (primarily produced by Kanye West) Kid Cudi - MOTM 1-3 Danny Brown - XXX, Atrocity Exhibition Lil Ugly Mane - Mista Thug Isolation (southern, throwback to 90s memphis style horrorcore music,released in 2012) Freddie Gibbs & Madlib - Piñata, Bandana Shabazz Palaces - Black Up (Hip Hop duo led by two members of the above mentioned group Digable Planets, 2011) Young Thug - Jeffery (since you tapped into some more modern trap/mumble rap with carti already) Also my favorite album: J Dilla - Donuts. Its an instrumental hip hop album. It was released on the day of his 32nd birthday, three days before his death. I know thats a lot but I thought maybe if you ever run out of album ideas these can help. I consider most of these an essential listen in the genre.

daredevil777

As others have said before, DEFINITELY watch the rhymes highlighted on youtube for Meat Grinder and Figaro. Really shows how impressive DOOM was. Also, a ton of his lyrics have deeper meaning and double and triple entendres that are worth reading on genius.

Hell yes

im glad you like the production on this. part of why this album was so anticipated was because of the specific collaboration between madlib and doom. madlib is one of the most respected hip hop producers. its almost all done by sampling vinyl to make that classic jazzy sound. if you didnt already realize, quasimoto is his rapper alter ego. he doesn't like his voice so he raps over the beats, speeds it up to give it a higher pitch, key locks it and then drops the speed back down to mix it into the beat

Henry

It still hasn't clicked with me how much work a producer does in rap. I'm so used to not paying attention to it that I still overlook it without realizing

Bob_the_Poppop

Not yet. I keep meaning to throw on Die Lit, but I haven't quite had the chance

Bob_the_Poppop

It's an amazing album. I look forward to spending more time with it and letting it soak in more

Bob_the_Poppop

It's been pretty wild learning about the guy today. I honestly feel a little badly for my MF joke at the beginning of the video now. I know it was just a joke and no big deal, but that guy went through a lot

Bob_the_Poppop

Imma sit down and listen to dis real quick. It's interesting to see you basically go through some of our fav albums one by one. But idk what that means about my music taste that everyone else requests like the same albums I would lol

I know it’s not hip hop but I would pay to see you react to Frank Zappa. Apostrophe or Joe’s Garage are both amazing albums with phenomenal story telling. Since you like albums that serve as a listening experience with a story, I think you would love Zappa’s stuff.

lucas misclevitz

Great video! Love this album and your reaction. This is a great video that helped me understand the sheer talent and influence of MF DOOM. https://youtu.be/QWveXdj6oZU

lucas misclevitz

Loved your reaction Bob, it’s funny I LOVE this album but get so caught up in DOOM’s rhyming ability I almost have the inverse appreciation that you have in relation to the music. I think a cool thing to do is check out the orchestra version of Madvillany. It’s really fucking good. It’s on YouTube and it’s actually on Spotify. For you additional thoughts I challenge you to get lost in the flows and rhyme schemes. They are masterful, funny and fun

Kelsey Giddings

A couple of recommendations to jump off from MF Doom. The first is Dr. Octagonecologyst by Kool Keith. Like MF Doom he is an eccentric character and it is an essential listen for 90s underground. The second is Pinata by Freddie Gibbs and Madlib. Like Madvillainy, the full album is produced by Madlib, but on this project the rapper is Indiana native Freddie Gibbs. Gibbs is a gangsta rapper in the style of 90s groups such as NWA, or Scarface, his biggest influence (on that note, listen to The Diary by Scarface). You'll be able to follow the lyrics more easily on this one but still get the Madlib production style.

Dylan Woods

Viktor Vaughn, King Geedorah = DOOM alter egos. Madvillain = Madlib (Producer) and DOOM together as a group. Quasimoto is Madlib's RAPPING alter ego.

killian baron

I'd love to see your reaction to Danny Brown's Atrocity Exhibition, I think it'd fit right in your lane! It was a really big experimental/progressive hip hop album released by Fool's Gold Records in late 2016. Production and bars are real aggressive.

jofo48

It should be noted even though it looked like you thoroughly enjoyed it on your first listen, going back to this album is always rewarding. I’ll admit when I first listened to it I thought it was a very mediocre album but something compelled me to keep listening and every re listen made me fall more and more in love with it. It quickly became a top 3 hip-hop album for me

I once saw Sweeney do 50 slow handstand push-ups

Great reaction Bob. Highly recommend spending more time with the lyrics as you prepare for the additional thoughts. The Genius annotations can probably enlighten you to some of the references and themes, and there's a lot of cool "rhymes highlighted" videos on youtube that will show you just how layered his verses are.

Will Pease

Good to note he basically nailed it on what he imagined DOOM was trying to convey he looked like on the song Rainbows. A dude on the streets in a trench coat being villainous. Just forgot the Metal Face lol

I once saw Sweeney do 50 slow handstand push-ups

https://youtu.be/s4iR668Ki3I here is the video to rhinestone cowboy… it doesn’t add too much to the album but it’s just cool to see DOOM in the streets of New York

I once saw Sweeney do 50 slow handstand push-ups

Definitely watch the rhyme highlighted videos of Figaro and meat grinder. It gives u a better appreciation of his bars with rhymes intertwined with every word and line.

Charlie

Masterpiece

RINGER 13

Less is more with DOOM, he can fit a ton of meaning into a verse. Yes, you don't have to pay attention to the lyrics, but they do have meaning, a lot of the times multiple meanings. Also this album is by the Madvillian character, or the combination of MF DOOM and Madlib. Madlib is great! Loved the reaction video! Hope you can do this full time soon!

In my personal opinion this album has a great story of the struggles of a black man trying to make it big but the story is sprinkled in piece by piece not even in order compiled in a overarching album. If you enjoyed this album I would HIGHLY recommend enter the wutang by wutang clan which is one of my personal 90s rap album which spawned multiple other amazing album, the one big problem that wutang has is a language barrier not so much tied to black american culture but what is know as “shaolin” and for you as a listerner to understand what shaolin is might take some time!

giorgio santelli

rest in peace DOOM definitely check out DOOM's and Madlib's (producer) solo albums and different projects. DOOM has alter egos like Victor Vaughn, King Geedorah - he has created the whole universe. Madlib's alter ego is Quasimoto. DOOM also has instrumental albums under Metal Fingers name.

Louie Henry

Okay, love the reaction Bob, i think its key to note that the reason this project exist is because it is a collaboration with the great producer Madlib (hence madvilliany) and with Madlib on the beats it explains why you say "hes having fun" madlib goes off the cuff with a drum machine sometimes and so thats the "freestyle" feel youre getting from the whole project, i think the clash of two titans making a one of a kind project is what makes this stand out so far in the underground and mainstream. Although very impactful (DOOM often called "your favorite rappers favorite rapper") its still maintained a very lowkey impact in hip hop, glad you loved the instrumentals i wish you were aware to give your praises to madlib though

rxresodx

Tyler is a massive fan of doom. https://youtu.be/4kSBTAT9lI4

Landin

You seem to be getting more out of the music with headphones on. Have you went back to any previous albums (or songs) with headphones? Has it changed your experience/opinion? Perhaps some songs that didn't click do now; or maybe songs you loved before are even better.

Dylan Woods

Bob, I get the feeling you didn't notice that this is an album made by a duo- DOOM and Madlib Also watch the rhymes highlighted videos for Figaro and Meat Grinder to get a better sense of just how impressive DOOM's bars are

Alex VonBerg

Highly recommend this music video for All Caps: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSJeHDlhYls It was made in 2004 after the album released, by an artist called James Reitano. He completely hand drew the animation, and it's in that 60s comic book style - just fits the music so well. RIP DOOM

James

Doom was born in the UK, and moved to New York, so that would explain the “flavor” he has in his voice.

Ryan Severson

Classic!

Litty Again

and it stands for Metal Face when he's rapping

Zach Gupta

At first listen I thought it was great but after many listens and watching several videos explaining Madvilliany I understand why its regarded as one of Hip-Hop's greatest projects. A legendary producer and a legendary emcee joined forces to create a masterpiece.

Zach Gupta

with the description of how the sound of "rainbows" looking like a street and the cone of the light from the moisture in the air, I feel you would be a really good dungeon master in DND

Dominic Chan

MF stands for metal fingers on his producer records fun fact

Cole

he should watch that for 808s and heartbreaks tho

Dominic Chan

I dont ALWAYS think a person's backstory is relevant to their music, in fact in some cases it can seem like a detriment. To me though, the story of the man born Daniel Dumile (pronounced DOOM-uh-lay...seriously) is very very relevant to his music. In the early 90s he and his brother were in a rap group called KMD. It gained some traction but sadly right as they were coming into their own, his brother SubRoc was hit and killed by a car. KMD's record deal was canceled, Daniel (then known as Zev Love X) fell into a deep depression and disappeared from hip-hop for years, according to him wandering the streets and living damn near homeless before finding his passion in the idea that the record companies were to blame for the state of hip-hop (which at the time was going through the infamous jiggy/shiny suit phase, very commercialized) and that the only way to avenge his brother was to literally come back as a supervillain against modern hip hop. He literally started going to open mics incognito in a mask doing rhymes and flowing without revealing himself, and thus the character of MF Doom was born. If that's not metal (faced) as fuck, I don't know what is. The man was an enigma, more concerned with the technical ability of rhyme schemes than anything else and he found ways to intricately rhyme in ways no one before and no one since ever has. When you're done you can look at the rhyme pattern analysis videos to see just how utterly insane what you just heard is. It's mind-boggling.

Xavvi

yay I was the one who suggested you to look the Pinocchio Story live at Hollywood Ball, so glad you took that idea and developed it, we still need you to watch that one lol, you post those only for the Patrons as an exclusive😂

jimmyvinyl

Oh my fucking God yes

Isaac Abraham

got here as soon as i got the notification, im excited.

Zach Gupta

Been really excited for this one

CooLuis

Fantastic. I am waiting to watch it until I have time. !

Landin

oh hell yes

2nd greatest hip hop album ever made. now we just need the atrocity exhibition reaction bob

Vervanta

Bob is gonna love this one I can already feel it

TomiTom2021

WOOOOOO

Diego Bernal

Let's goo

Henry

LET’S GO

Vervanta