''The Unseen'' is the debut studio album by

Quasimoto Quasimoto is a side project of hip hop producer Madlib, from Oxnard, California. Quasimoto is composed of Madlib and his animated alter ego Lord Quas. Lord Quas is known for his high-pitched voice, which often interacts with Madlib's regular voic ...

, a hip-hop duo composed of

Madlib Otis Jackson Jr. (born October 24, 1973), known professionally as Madlib, is an American DJ, music producer, multi-instrumentalist, and rapper. He is widely known for his collaborations with MF DOOM (as Madvillain), J Dilla (as Jaylib), ...

and his animated alter ego Lord Quas. It was released under Stones Throw Records on June 13, 2000. It was re-released in 2005 as a deluxe edition with a bonus CD containing the instrumental version of the album. Madlib took

mushrooms A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground, on soil, or on its food source. ''Toadstool'' generally denotes one poisonous to humans. The standard for the name "mushroom" is ...

for a month while creating the album. It was co-mixed by Kut Masta Kurt and

Peanut Butter Wolf Christopher George Manak (born October 8, 1969 ), better known by his stage name Peanut Butter Wolf, is an American disc jockey and record producer from San Jose, California. He is based in Los Angeles, where he moved to in 2000. He is the found ...

. The cover was designed by Jeff Jank. The song "Low Class Conspiracy" was on the soundtrack for the video game ''

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''.

Critical reception

Nathan Rabin Nathan Rabin (; born April 24, 1976) is an American film and music critic. Rabin was the first head writer for '' The A.V. Club'', a position he held until he left the ''Onion'' organization in 2013.

of ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...

'' said, "''The Unseen'' represents a dramatic leap forward for Madlib as a producer, as he integrates left-field, found-sound samples with dexterity and wit that brings to mind Prince Paul's consistently surprising production work." Meanwhile, Michaelangelo Matos of '' City Pages'' said, "''The Unseen'' bursts with so much found material it's tempting to think Madlib changed his name to escape litigation, pilfering everything from Augustus Pablo to

Melvin Van Peebles Melvin Van Peebles (born Melvin Peebles; August 21, 1932 – September 21, 2021) was an American actor, filmmaker, writer, and composer. He worked as an active filmmaker into the 2000s. His feature film debut, '' The Story of a Three-Day Pass'' ...

to enough jazz artists to fill a

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loft". Steve Huey of

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called it "one of the most imaginative albums of the new West Coast underground, a puzzling, psychedelic jazz-rap gem riddled with warped humor and fractured musical genius." ''The Unseen'' ranked at number 17 on '' Spin''s list of the best albums of 2000. Rhapsody ranked it at number seven on its "Hip-Hop's Best Albums of the Decade" list. In 2015, it ranked at number 29 on '' Fact''s "100 Best Indie Hip-Hop Records of All Time" list. In that year, it was also listed by ''

HipHopDX ''HipHopDX'' is an online magazine of hip hop music criticism and news. The website's current president and publisher is Sharath Cherian and the Head Of Content is Jerry L. Barrow. ''HipHopDX'' is the flagship publication of Cheri Media Group. ...

'' as one of the "30 Best Underground Hip Hop Albums Since 2000".

Track listing

*All tracks produced by

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Unseen, The Madlib albums 2000 debut albums Stones Throw Records albums Albums produced by Madlib