Hunchback-hop

Madlib’s helium-huffing alter ego Quasimoto has returned with The Further Adventures Of Lord Quas, a new disc of old-school samples, squeaky-voiced lyrics and bizarre interludes that only Madlib’s masterful production could bring you. As is his signature style, Madlib digs through the archives and dusts off some aged-to-perfection records to fuel his beats. The sound of static from a needle riding the grooves of old vinyl can be heard throughout. Lord Quas’s rhymes deal with all his favorite subjects: eating, sex, and weed, weed, weed. This line from “Shroom Music” sums up the elf-voiced MC’s disposition: “I guess I have sex to get my mind off of food / a big bowl of chex / let me get in the mood.” Similarly, the opening line from “Greenery”: “Smoking all the trees at a hundred degrees / never touch the breeze / just the sticky green leaves.”

Madlib occasionally makes appearances as himself, and hilarious (if not weird) exchanges between his different characters are sprinkled throughout the album. Drug deals, fights, flirting, and high-speed police chases are just a few of the digressions that compete with the beats for attention. Much like his Madvillain project, this album has enough twists and turns to hold even the shortest of attention spans. As soon as you start bobbing your head to a smooth beat, Quas without fail throws a curveball and completely changes up the sound.

Speaking of Madvillain, fellow partner in crime MF Doom makes a guest appearance, as well as M.E.D. providing some guest rhymes. Further Adventures is cartoon hip-hop, never in danger of taking itself too seriously. Which is exactly why it works so well.