Madvillainy

About Madvillainy

Madvillainy is the debut studio album by American hip hop duo Madvillain, a group consisting of MF Doom (MC) and Madlib (producer). It was released on March 23, 2004 on Stones Throw Records. The album was recorded between 2002 and 2004 and was produced entirely by Madlib, with the exception of "The Illest Villains" which was produced by both Madlib and Doom. Madlib created most of the album's instrumentals during a trip to Brazil, where the production was composed in his hotel room using minimal amounts of equipment: a Boss SP-303, a turntable, and a tape deck. Fourteen months before the album was officially released, an unfinished demo of the album was stolen and leaked onto the internet. Frustrated over the leak, the duo stopped working on the album and returned to it only after they released other solo projects. While Madvillainy achieved only moderate commercial success, it still became one of the label's best-selling albums. The album peaked at number 179 on the US Billboard 200, and attracted much attention from media outlets not usually covering hip hop music, including The New Yorker. Madvillainy received rave reviews from most music critics, who praised both Doom's lyricism and Madlib's production. The album has appeared in various publications' lists of the best albums, including NME magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time more »