Artifacts from the Future #1-Madvillian-Madvillainy

MF Doom is to hip-hop, what mid 60's Bob Dylan is to rock'n'roll, his poetry flows and rhymes and can  appear to be random, but is deep in meaning, whether political or social. Much like Dylan's poetry, especially on tracks like "Tombstone Blues."  MF Doom also has one of the greatest flows of any emcee alive, he dables in social, political, and religious issues, without making it obvious, he also manages to make it fit so perfectly with the music, on tracks like "Accordian" and "Great Day", where rhymes and saturated beats become one. Madlib is one of the best producers in hip-hop, because he turns down MF Doom's track to make it fit with the beat perfectly,unlike other producers who add empty noise in order to back the emcee. This technique is evident on the songs "Money Folder", "All Caps", and "Strange Ways". The entire album is constructed into one flow, with several short J Dilla style beats leading from one track to the next, sampling everything from Sun Ra to Gentle Giant, each sample fits so well together, its hard to tell exactly where the inspiration came from.  The song "Fancy Clown"features a fairly well known sample by Z.Z. Hill, but it is crafted in such a way that the sample compliments Doom's rhymes, instead of interfering with them. "All Caps" is arguably the best track on the album, with MF Doom at the top of his game, and Madlib cutting the best beat on the album, the song is poetic in its sections, it is constantly changing themes, but in the end each sample and kick beat brings the listener closer to the true meaning, like each line in a poem. The album finishes with a marathon of fantastic tracks, "All Caps", then the organ driven "Great Day" and finally the spaced out "Rhinestone Cowboy", the proverbial climax and resolution of this hip-hop classic.