BY JORDAN COMMANDEUR • DECEMBER 13, 2018

“Madlib The Bad Kid,” as he introduces himself in the video below, is one of only a handful of producers from this generation who can be credited with shaping modern Hip-Hop music. Noisey recently released a special titled Madlib’s Medicine Show in which the Oxnard, California beat chief meets a musician he holds in high regard and has sampled numerous times, Ayaléw Mesfin. The Ethiopian Funk artist recorded thousands of songs in the 1970s, but very few ever made it to the United States.

The gentleman sitting on the couch next to Madlib during the intro segment is Eothen “Egon” Alapatt, the founder of Stones Throw’s subsidiary Now-Again Records. This digger extraordinaire is considered one of the foremost experts on Rare Groove the world over. He stresses the value of using samples to create musical education, even through changing trends and legalities within music. Da Beat Konducta mentions that he and Egon have been working in tandem for 20 years. Both men express a need to shed light on unsung talents. Lord Quas states, “You need to know your history so you know the future. There’s are a lot of people who were better than the mainstream artists. If you like my music, then you’re gonna have to go study my samples. Even I study [the artists I sample], ’cause that’s where it comes from.”

READ MORE AT AMBROSIA FOR HEADS