Tales from the Loopdigga.
The Red Bull Music Academy recently concluded its yearly New York festival which included a rare public appearance from Californian producer Madlib, born Otis Jackson Jr.
Best known for his production work and mushroom-induced, helium-voiced rapping alter-ego Quasimoto, Jackson isn’t one for talking much as he admits within the first minutes of his public conversation with Egotrip’s and RBMA’s Jeff Mao.
Nonetheless, the hour-long session is one of the most revealing in the ongoing career of the Oxnard-native.
Reclining in a leather-bound chair, Jackson discussed his early life and being born into music as well as life in Oxnard – “dudes was shooting and gang banging” – before moving to his jazz work and sampling approach.
“It’s hard to sample and it’s hard to make music so it doesn’t really matter,” Jackson said. “As long as you try to do both, it really don’t matter. They try to act like sampling is not music but it’s hard to do correctly.”
When asked about further Quasimoto projects, Jackson made it clear he was done with his rapping alter-ego, for now at least. “I don’t really like to rap no more, man. I ain’t got nothing to say. I done said what I said,” Jackson told the audience. “I don’t even fuck with Quas no more. Fuck that n**a man.”
In discussing his work with Indiana-rapper Gibbs, Madlib let out the news that a follow up to their 2014 album Pinata was in the works. Titled Bandana, it’s still in the production process despite what we all first claimed. Jackson called Gibbs “a good rapper. He’s like my cousin, we just get along. He might shoot you, might hug you. I don’t know.”
Another point of note was Jackson’s admission that he is putting together a series of beat-related projects on his own Madlib Invazion label that will feature a range of artists including The Gaslamp Killer, Pete Rock, RJ from Slum Village, and his brother Oh No.
You can watch the full conversation on YouTube below and read a transcript over at the RBMA site.
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