WAVS / Producers / Madlib
Madlib

Madlib

Instrumental Hip-Hop / Experimental Producer
Instrumental Hip-HopExperimentalJazz RapBoom Bap
About

Madlib is the production alias of Otis Jackson Jr., born October 24, 1973, in Oxnard, California. His father Otis Jackson Sr. was a musician, and he grew up surrounded by his family's extensive record collection spanning jazz, funk, soul, and world music. He co-founded the abstract hip-hop group Lootpack with Wildchild and DJ Romes in the early 1990s and signed with Stones Throw Records, beginning a long relationship with the label.

Madlib's most celebrated work is Madvillainy (2004) with MF DOOM as Madvillain, widely considered one of the greatest hip-hop albums ever made. He produced the entirety of Freddie Gibbs' Pinata (2014) and Bandana (2019), both critically acclaimed. As Quasimoto, he raps over his own beats with a high-pitched, helium-altered vocal. His Beat Konducta instrumental series spans volumes inspired by specific regions and themes (India, Africa, movies). He also records jazz as Yesterday's New Quintet and has released an enormous catalog of aliases and side projects.

Madlib's production is entirely sample-based, drawing from a personal vinyl collection reportedly numbering in the tens of thousands. He works primarily on the Akai MPC and Boss SP-303, often recording in brief, improvised sessions. He is known for flipping samples from obscure global sources including Brazilian tropicalia, Ethiopian jazz, Indian classical, blaxploitation scores, and Soviet-era funk records. He does not use a computer DAW.

Signature Sound
Madlib is a prolific crate-digger who constructs lo-fi, sample-heavy beats from an impossibly wide range of global vinyl sources. His production has a deliberately rough, unpolished texture built on the MPC and SP-303, layering chopped jazz, soul, and world music samples over dusty drum breaks with an improvisational, freeform approach.
WAVS Catalog
Explore 38 WAVS samples in the style of Madlib

Drums, loops, one-shots, and textures curated to match this producer's sonic palette

Browse samples
Videos
Madlib Video 1
Madlib Video 2
Madlib Video 3
On WAVS
Packs: N/A
Samples: N/A

This producer is not yet on WAVS.
Style-matched samples are available below.

Links
website instagram twitter youtube
Is this your page?

Claim your profile to update your bio, add content, and connect with producers who love your sound.

58 / 109