After much discussion about the production style of underground versus popular hip hop songs, the defhiphop staff did a little research. Underground artists like MF Doom, Madlib, and Felt (Producer Ant) seem to have a style that is hard to describe, but is very different from the highly structured mainstream hip hop production. The defhiphop staff found an NPR review of Madlib’s album The Further Adventures of Lord Quas, which is an album that represents the extreme unstructured style that underground hip hop songs often contain.

Oliver Wang describes hip hop artist Madlib’s style on NPR saying “Afterall, what’s brilliant isn’t what’s said so much as how it’s said. The stutter step pace of the album, the frenetic beats that Madlib splices and loops… Compared to the hyper strategized formulas of other hip hop albums, The Further Adventures of Lord Quas isn’t a tidy package; neat, but innert. Through his alter ego, Madlib puts his creative process on display as a cackling stream of consciousness that only relents long enough for you to catch your breath before plunging you back into the murky giddy depths of his psyche.” Listen to Oliver Wang’s full review of Madlib’s style here.