Please, Yessir, Can I Have Some More?

After a relatively long hiatus, hip hop producer Madlib and his free-flowing alter ego, Quasimoto, have finally teamed up again for a long overdue full length album. Yessir Whatever is twelve tracks of avant-garde, witty, creative and sometimes socially conscious hip hop. Madlib and Quasimoto (also known as ‘Lord Quas’ with seemingly no tie to the Victor Hugo character) offer the perfect balance in vocalists with Madlib holding down the deep soulful end and Quasimoto holding down the higher, nasally end (he actually sounds like a pre-pubescent Eminem).

The most noticeable thing about this record is how the quality of production –and rightfully so, as Lord Quas is a producer. It’s obvious that he did not cut any corners. The beats themselves have a stream of consciousness feel, weaving from one beat to another with all the fuzz and disorientation of switching through stations on a radio with bad reception. Despite this ambitious style, each track holds down a tight groove that could chill you out on a long commute to work or keep the party going until dawn.

The album really gets going on the second track, “Seasons Change”, where Lord Quas comes at the listener with a smooth and funky R&B beat that is just as sexy as it is soulful. Madlib and Quasimoto battle back and forth over the beat until the song relents into a facetious anti-marijuana public service announcement before flowing into the next track, “The Front.” This track switches up the vibe with dirty funk that would make Ron Jeremy a little red in the face. Quasimoto’s flow is very busy and the beat is like walking down the street on a hot afternoon as he and Madlib’s words are jumping out from every corner.

Lyrically, this album is all over the place. In “The Front” there are lines like “…and then be out like Walter Peyton” (if you don’t get the reference, ask your dad), but in the more socially conscious songs, Quasimoto laments about being “just a kid / always being late / getting into weed / too many bad habits” and showcases a true honesty that is often missing in contemporary hip-hop.