In hip-hop, the land of India is not as sampled as the land of say…Motown…so there’s plenty of beat mining to be done in the country. And some hip-hop producers have already started. Timbaland has carved out many-a-hit record (and accompanying lawsuit) from the region’s sample rich resources, while artists like Jay-Z and Eve have used Bhangra rhythms to propel hits like “Beware Of The Boys” and “Tamborine”, respectively. In the underground, one of the most ambitious projects to utilize Indian samples was DJ Shadow and Dan The Automator’s Bombay The Hardway project (produced under the aliases Kalyanji and Anandji). Madlib is the next underground producer to dig the area, with Beat Konducta In India.

The main difference between In India an album like Bombay The Hardway (or even Dilla’s Donuts, for that matter), is that this record is set up more like a true “beat tape”, rather than an album. Seemingly using just about every Indian break he could find, Madlib crams some 30 beats into the project, each with their own take on the region’s distinctive sound.

The project opens with the humorously titled “Enter…Hot Curry”, as Madlib dives right into some heavy drums and chants that clearly did not come from any country where English is the native language. The more contemporary sounds of “Indian Hump”, and later “Indian Bells”, churn out a raw hip-hop beats, begging for verses from any Oxnard, CA emcee. Another memorable moment comes in the stripped down “Freeze”, which is propelled by a Redman vocal sample and crazy drums that might blend well with a Busta Rhymes acapella. The sultry “Dancing Girls Theme” lives up to it’s title, as you can just imagine the belly-dancers of its day moving to it (or some R&B diva singing over it). “Get It Right” has an almost early-Neptunes sound to it, as Madlib meshes adlibs from both Indian female vocalists and hardcore rappers.

Madlib’s take on the subject is hard to categorize as an album, mainly because it plays more like themed beat-tape. Donuts, which was also essentially a beat tape, accomplished this feat better because it played like a mixtape, and carried a certain hypnotic quality to it, which this lacks. Unfortunately, with so many tracks on the album, not every beat is “bhanging”.

Still, whatever your reasons for purchasing this record are, may dictate how you feel about it. Freestyle emcees and stoners will enjoy the record together, as it will probably get everyone in the smokey room rapping. However those sitting in 5PM rush hour traffic and those trying to be sexy in the club, might require some vocals to really appreciate the Beat Konducta In India. – D.T. Swinga