Madlib Invasion US Schallplatten & CDs

Review: This Record Store Blanc Friday, US label Madlib Invasion serves up a CD version of this most classic of albums from Jackson Conti aka the one and only beat making behemoth Madlib with Mamao. Sujinho landed in 2008 and since then has often been heralded as one of the best few projects Madlib has ever been involved with. It is a smooth fusion of hip hop, jazz, Latin and soul that, on vinyl, has fetched eye watering high prices until now. A new reissue has landed on wax as well as this CD.

Review: The Jahari Massamba Unit is an all new jazz project from the legendary Madlib and Karriem Riggins. Madlib is responsible for all the instrumentals bar the drums, which Riggins takes care of, and both bring a wealth of jazz and hip hop experience and knowledge to the collaboration. The sounds are best described as spiritual jazz, or as Madlib calls it 'Black classical music', and are steeped in history while also offering up a vision of the future. There are moments of abstract sun worshiping, lush broken beat grooves with exquisite solos and more prickly pieces. This sure is another vital entry into the ever excellent discography of Madlib.

Review: Originally released in 2010, this album from Madlib's Medicine Show series saw him delving deep into the pocket of mother Africa for his source material, coming up with new slants on his unmistakable grooves. The samples centred around African records from the early 70s, from Afrobeat to funk, psych rock to soul, from all over the continent. Of course, Madlib is one of those artists whose signature is so strong, it all ends up sounding like him, but these high-life guitar licks and dusty drum beatdowns add an extra layer of vibe to one of the illest producers to ever do it. 37 beats taking you deep into the continent where it all began.

Review: Madlib's mad one a month release mission continues with his fifth outing on his own imprint, Madlib Invazion. The odd numbers in the series are joints produced by the man himself, while the evens are mixtapes. This one looks at his personal history as a the loop digga over a ten year span in which Madlib cranked out a whole slew of mixtapes. They were his early productions for the Alkaholiks in about 1992, while his popular Quasimoto album came in 2000, before a sabbatical saw him go and work on his fictional jazz outfit Yesterdays New Quintet.