The Unseen (album)

This article is about the 2000 Madlib album. For the 2011 The Haunted album, see Unseen (album).
The Unseen
Studio album by Quasimoto
Released June 13, 2000
Recorded 1998-1999
Genre Hip hop
Length 63:09
Label Stones Throw Records
Producer Madlib
Quasimoto chronology

The Unseen
(2000)		 The Further Adventures of Lord Quas
(2005)
Madlib chronology
Soundpieces: Da Antidote
(with Lootpack)
(1999)		 The Unseen
(2000)		 Madlib Invazion
(2000)

The Unseen is the debut studio album by Quasimoto, an alter ego of producer Madlib, released on June 13, 2000 under Stones Throw Records. The album was conceived and recorded by Madlib during a week-long psilocybin mushroom binge.[1] Upon its release, it received much praise from underground heads and from mainstream media, making it onto Spin Magazine's top albums of the year list. The Unseen was re-released in 2005 as a deluxe edition with a bonus CD containing the instrumental version of the album.

Critical Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [2]
Pitchfork Media (8.5/10.0)[3]
RapReviews.com [4]

"The Unseen is a scorched chocolate coated valley scattered with 'shrooms and smoker's debris that astro-travels way beyond the unchartered hinterlands of Hip-Hop, not unlike De La's 3 Feet High and Rising once did." -Dan Stacey[5]

Rhapsody (online music service) ranked the album #7 on its "Hip-Hop’s Best Albums of the Decade" list.[6] "Madlib and alter ego Quasimoto take a weird, tangential and nuanced journey through the day in the life of a blunted b-boy. The production revisits Prince Paul's sampledelica, while Id surrogate Quas raps about hos and blunts. This is what happens when hip-hop's tightly wound world collides with psych's expansive inner-space. In a word: classic."

Jazz Cats Pt. 1

On the song "Jazz Cats Pt. 1", Madlib lists various Jazz musicians and record labels who have influenced him. They are, in order:

Sun Ra, George Benson, Hampton Hawes, Steve Kuhn, George Cables, Cedar Walton, Herbie Hancock, Gene Harris, Three Sounds, Bobby Hutcherson, Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers, Horace Silver, Bill Evans, Terry Gibbs, Gary Burton, Donald Byrd, George Duke, Lee Morgan, Shirley Scott, Groove Holmes, Jimmy Smith, Gene Russell, Art Ensemble of Chicago, Michael White, Cal Tjader, Weather Report, Max Roach, Freddie Hubbard, Cannonball Adderley, Eddie Harris, Milt Jackson, Ron Carter, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, William Fisher, John Coltrane, Gary Bartz, Kool & the Gang, Modern Jazz Quartet, Johnny Hammond, Pharoah Sanders, Paul Bley, Thelonious Monk, Norman Connors, Albert Ayler, McCoy Tyner, Dizzy Gillespie, Don Sebesky, Blue Note Records, Black Jazz Records, Impulse! Records, CTI Records, Verve Records, Milestone Records, Atlantic Records, Muse Records, and David Sanborn.

Though this song is absent of any direct reference to jazz legend Miles Davis, the song Axe Puzzles contains many of his song titles as lyrics such as 'Bitches Brew and Spanish Key.

Track listing

  1. "Welcome to Violence" – 0:49
  2. "Bad Character" – 1:56
  3. "Microphone Mathematics" – 3:14
    • Contains a sample from: "The Bizness" by De La Soul
    • Contains a sample from: "Complete Communion" by Don Cherry[7]
  4. "Basic Instinct" – 2:10
    • Contains a sample from: "Top Billin'" by Audio Two
  5. "Goodmorning Sunshine" – 2:57
  6. "Discipline 99, Pt. 0 (featuring Mr. Herb)" – 2:32
  7. "Low Class Conspiracy" – 2:26
  8. "Return of the Loop Digga" – 3:46
    • Contains a sample from: "Fragments Of Fear" by Johnny Harris
    • Contains a sample from: "North, East, South, West" performed by Kool & the Gang
    • Contains a sample from: "Oneness of Juju" by African Rhythms[7]
    • Contains a sample from: "Supermarket Blues" by Eugene McDaniels
    • Contains a sample from: "Holy Are You" by David Axelrod
    • Contains a sample from: "Stockyard" by Galt MacDermot
    • Contains a sample from: "Tital Wave" by Ronnie Laws
  9. "Real Eyes" – 3:22
    • Intro clip from: "Freestyle (Ice Cream)" performed by Canibus
    • Contains a sample from: "Shimmy Shimmy Ya" by Ol' Dirty Bastard
    • Samples "Accadde A Bali" performed by Arawak
    • Contains a sample from: "Dope Pusher Song" by Bill Cosby
  10. "Come on Feet" – 3:35
  11. "Bluffin" – 2:47
  12. "Boom Music" – 2:47
  13. "MHBs" – 2:02
  14. "Put a Curse on You" – 1:46
    • Samples the production music from the series Scooby Doo, Where Are You?
  15. "Astro Black" – 3:17
  16. "Green Power" – 2:59
  17. "Jazz Cats, Pt. 1" – 2:43
  18. "24-7 (featuring Medaphoar)" – 2:48
  19. "The Unseen" – 2:53
    • Contains a sample from: "Bubble Gum" by 9th Creation[7]
    • Contains a sample from: "California Soul" by Marlena Shaw[7]
    • Contains a sample from: "The Signs pt II" by David Axelrod[7]
  20. "Phony Game" – 1:56
  21. "Astro Travellin" – 2:58
  22. "Blitz" – 1:16
  23. "Axe Puzzles" – 2:34
    • Contains a sample from: "Keep The faith" performed by Mel & Tim
  24. "Discipline 99, Pt. 1 (featuring Wildchild)" – 3:36

References

  1. ↑ Stones Throw Records
  2. ↑ Allmusic review
  3. ↑ Pitchfork Media review
  4. ↑ RapReviews.com review
  5. ↑ Stones Throw Records
  6. ↑ "Hip-Hop’s Best Albums of the Decade" Retrieved 12 January 2010.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 7.7 7.8 7.9 7.10 7.11 7.12 7.13 7.14 The History of Sampling v. 1.3
  8. ↑