Otis Jackson Jr. is indeed a musical madman. Otherwise known as Madlib, Jackson has bent, flipped, tortured, scarred and carved every genre of music known to man on his way to creating soundscapes for everyone from the Lootpack and Alkoholiks to MF Doom and Talib Kweli. But there’s those times when Madlib drifts [cont.]

    Weldon Irvine was a true original in American music. He was a uniquely soulful jazz pianist with a vision that touched all of his peers, from Joe Henderson to Nina Simone. He was a conduit of experience to the hip-hop world, influencing and working with artists like Black Star and Q-Tip. He was a [cont.]

     Anyone who knows the legacy of one of the most influential musicians of our time, the one and only Stevie Wonder, knows that the simple idea of recreating his irreplaceable work is considered blasphemy of the highest degree. But once the name “Madlib” is attached many will breath a little easier, but not much. [cont.]

The phenomenon that is Madlib is at times a baffling one. The Lootpack’s introductory 12″, “Psyche Move” could have been any number of wax-plates from the burgeoning independent movement of the late-ish 90′s. While, for all intents and purposes, it was a cool record, the slab didn’t stand far beyond the majority of similar joints [cont.]