Madvillainy at 20

I was in South Philadelphia visiting a friend when Madvillainy was released on CD and Vinyl. The morning of March 23, 2004, I ducked into a music store and paid $14.99 for the album and spent the rest of the afternoon driving around with the windows down (why, I have no idea - it was March!) listening to the CD on repeat. Sure, we stopped for touristy things, but Madvillainy was a staple in the car.

Keep in mind that 20 years ago, I only had an iPod so there was no way I could digitize the CD and transfer it to my device for the flight back home. I had maybe three full rotations through the album, then had to wait an excruciatingly long time before I could steal another listen. It was torture. 

When I finally returned home from Philadelphia, I quickly ripped the CD in iTunes, made sure the Metadata was correct, and slammed it on my iPod. It quickly became my favorite - and most listened - album of all-time.

So, here I am, 20 years later, reflecting on my perfect album. There are authors, journalists, and music critics who have a way more technical breakdown of this album, the samples, the lore… but this is my take on favorite tracks, mixed in with those expert opinions.

Album Retrospectives & Lore

‘Madvillainy’ Turns 20

A look back at MF Doom and Madlib’s singular masterpiece.

StereogumTom Breihan

Searching for Tomorrow: The Story of Madlib and DOOM’s Madvillainy

Ten years after the release of Madlib and DOOM’s mind meld of an album, Jeff Weiss traces the history of Madvillain and details how these two mystifying artists came together for a rap classic.

PitchforkCondé Nast

Madvillain: Madvillainy

Madvillainy, one of the most anticipated releases in underground rap history, happens to parallel one of the most anticipated arrivals…

PitchforkCondé Nast

Accordion

In my humble opinion, this is one of, if not the best track on the whole album. And it sets a whiplash pace with rapid-fire raps over a looped Daedelus’s Experience sample.

Who, outside of MF DOOM and Madlib, could get away with this? The beat and samples are complex enough, but layering DOOM’s rhyme scheme and flow over the top gives this track an incredible sway. It’s so hard to put into words just how great this track works.

How Madlib and MF DOOM Captured Lightning in a Bottle With ‘Accordion’

After an early version of ‘Madvillainy’ leaked online, the artists turned to an unorthodox sample source

Rolling StoneWill Hagle

All Caps

I'll be honest, when I first listened to the record, I kept hitting repeat on Accordion and didn't give the back half of the album much of a listen. Sure, there's some filler in between (Sickfit, Do Not Fire!, Operation Lifesaver, Supervillain Theme) and some lower-quality tracks (Operation Lifesaver, Hardcore Hustle), but All Caps is spectacular.

And the music video is even better:

Curls

Clocking in at 1:36, Curls is one of the shorter tracks on the album, but it's packed with backstory of DOOM's early drug use and how he'd steal and lie to his mom about it.

"His life is like a folklore legend..."

Fancy Clown

A rare diss-track from Viktor Vaughn to MF DOOM. Getting into layers here with alter-egos, it's the Vaudeville Villain calling out his girl for cheating on him with DOOM.

Again, layers.

Stone's Throw Records had a contest to make a Fancy Clown video and it's pretty amazing, honestly:

Rhinestone Cowboy

I can't think of a better track to close an album than Rhinestone Cowboy. This is DOOM at his peak wordplay. This first verse is just plain unfair: