Gallery: A Conversation with Madlib

A production catalog as vast and varied as that of Otis Jackson Jr. AKA Madlib is hard to come by. The California-bred beatmaker and crate-digging aficionado got his start in the early ’90s producing gems for cult groups Tha Alkaholiks and Lootpack, and has since expanded his discography to include work with J Dilla, MF DOOM, Erykah Badu, Freddie Gibbs and many, many more. As a solo artist, Madlib has taken on many guises - be it pitch-shifted rapping alter ego Quasimoto, as fictional jazz group Yesterdays New Quintet, or combing through crates as the Beat Konducta — and his career is an awe-inspiring display of constant reinvention and creative evolution. On May 7th, Red Bull Music Academy proudly presented a public conversation with one of hip hop’s most prolific yet enigmatic figures as part of the 2016 festival programming in New York.

Besides nerding out with our very own ‘Chairman’ Jeff Mao on obscure jazz, funk and krautrock, Madlib detailed his working process with MF DOOM, comparing him to the great Charlie “Bird” Parker, threw shots at Lord Quas, and announced a forthcoming sequel to his collaboration with Freddie Gibbs. Check out photos from the talk below, shot by Maria Jose Govea.