“Right here to let you realize that I’ve no prior data to any invasion being deliberate or executed,” the now-deceased MF DOOM gruffs on the introduction of “Stepping Into Tomorrow.” Listeners wouldn’t realize it but, however on the tenth monitor of Madlib’s album Shades of Blue, DOOM foreshadowed his 2004 collaboration with Madlib as superduo Madvillain, Madvillainy. Extra instantly, although, “Stepping Into Tomorrow,” the longest minimize on Madlib’s 2003 remix album that honored Blue Word Information, noticed jazz lovers and hip-hop heads float inside an oasis of crate-digging reverie.
Hearken to Madlib’s “Stepping Into Tomorrow” now.
The jazz origins of Madlib
Raised in Oxnard, a city 40 miles north of Los Angeles, Madlib was born Otis Jackson, Jr. to jazz and session singer-musician Otis, Sr. together with pianist and songwriter Dora. The firstborn of two sons – adopted by rapper-producer Oh No within the late 70s – Madlib had direct ties to the style that may form Shades of Blue. Madlib’s uncle is Jon Faddis, a trumpeter who performed with the likes of Charles Mingus, Dizzy Gillespie, and Bob James. In an interview with Wax Poetics, Madlib defined that his grandparents have been accustomed to throwing feasts for Gillespie, vocalist Dee Dee Bridgewater, and different jazz pioneers. Rising up, Madlib pored over his father’s report assortment, ultimately carving out a path as a burgeoning beatmaker for impartial report label Stones Throw Information within the 90s.
Madlib’s friendship with MF DOOM
Madlib met masked MC MF DOOM within the early 00s. The London-born, Lengthy Island-raised artist was a member of 90s hip-hop group KMD earlier than the tragic loss of life of his brother DJ Subroc in 1993. Discovering simpatico with Madlib upon first listening to a demo from the West Coast producer, DOOM flew to Los Angeles in 2002 together with his focus set on crafting Madvillainy, a progressive rap basic.
Flipping a throwback tune into a up to date masterpiece
In the identical yr that Madlib and DOOM linked, Blue Word invited Madlib to discover their archive, throwing open the doorways to the producer to make something he needed. Amidst classic data from The Three Sounds, Ronnie Foster and Bobby Hutcherson, Madlib landed on “Stepping Into Tomorrow” from trumpeter Donald Byrd’s 1975 album of the identical title. The tune solely consists of 4 strains, however Madlib’s remix stretches the unique into infinitude.
Vocals from Stephanie Spruill hang-out “Stepping Into Tomorrow,” piercing by means of Madlib’s easy manufacturing. Tipping a hat to Byrd’s easy instrumentation – and highlighting future collaborator DOOM – the deep rhythms of “Stepping Into Tomorrow” assist cement Madlib as a hip-hop virtuoso and supplied a testomony to jazz music’s foundational legacy.
Hearken to Madlib’s “Stepping Into Tomorrow” now.