Dissect - S12E3 - Accordion by Madvillain

Episode Date: April 9, 2024

We begin our season-long analysis of MF DOOM and Madlib's collaborative classic Madvillainy. We revisit the circumstances that brought the two together, then dive into the album's opening track "The Illest Villains" before our line by line analysis of "Accordion." Support Dissect by leaving a review or sharing this episode on social media. It really helps. Follow @dissectpodcast on Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter. Host/Writer/EP: Cole Cuchna Co-Writer: Camden Ostrander Additional Production: Justin Sayles Audio Editing: Kevin Pooler Theme Music: Birocratic Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Nathan Hubbard, spring has sprung, the birds are chirping, and the pop girls are pop-girling. Oh, and you know what that means, Nora Prenziotti. Every single album is back. This spring is packed with new releases from some of the biggest pop stars in the world, including our girl Taylor Swift, and we'll be covering it all. We'll, of course, break down every angle on the tortured poets department, and we'll also cover new music from Beyonce, Duolipa, Maggie Rogers, Casey Musgraves, and Ariana Grande. It's Pop Girl Spring on every single album.

New episodes starting March 28th. On Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. From Spotify and The Ringer, this is Dissect. Longform musical analysis broken into short digestible episodes. Today we begin our examination of MF Doom and Mad Lib's Mad Villain. I'm your host, Cole Kushner. Last time I dissect, we surveyed 1999's Operation Doomsday. The album that introduced MF Doom to the world and marked Daniel Dumalay's return to rap.

Operation Doomsday Right Here In his right hand Was your man's worst nightmare Loud enough to burst is right here Jump Close. Operation Doom's Day was an immediate cult classic and a significant

milestone in the underground independent hip-hop movement. Around the same time, on the other side of the country, a West Coast producer named Madlib was making his own waves in the same movement. Born Otis Jackson Jr., Madlib grew up in Oxnard, California,

where he was immersed in music from a young age. His mother was a pianist and composer and his father was an established soul singer who would take young Otis to his shows and recording studio. Madlib began making beats at the age of 10, and not unlike Daniel Dumalay, started a hip-hop collective with his brother while in high school.

But the group that put Madlib on the map was his trio dubbed Looppack, who made a name for themselves working with the alcoholics in the mid-90s and later with their debut record sound pieces to Antedote, which was released just a few months before Operation Doom's Day in 1999. Digging for them unordinary sound of loops, even if it's not clean to these. With raw, sample-based beats and lyrics focused on undermining WACC's, Looppack's debut was grounded in the anti-commercial ethos of late 90s underground hip-hop. It was released on the indie label Stones Throw, founded by West Coast DJ and producer Peanut Butter Wolf.

Sound pieces would be LutePack's one and only album, but in the following years, Madlib's prolific work ethic blossomed under Stones Throw. In the year 2000, he released the album The Unseen under the pseudonym Quasimodo. Like Operation Doomsday, the Unseen became an instant cult classic. Branded as a duo, Quasimodo was composed of Madlib and his mischievous alter ego Lord Quas, a.k.a. Quasimodo, who was Madlim himself but with his voice pitched up. The original intent of the character was to make him completely anonymous, a quote, unknown person or entity, hence the title The Unseen. He would eventually take the form of a misbehaving, furry yellow cartoon character

that looked like a standing wolf with a pig's nose. He was also rather villainous. In the album's opening song Bad Character, Quasimodo introduces himself by detailing his habitual transgressions, which includes smacking people with bricks, huffing paint, passing out poison apples, and looking up women's skirts. As compelling and quirky as the Quasimodo character is, Madlib's production is the true star of the unseen. The album's experimental psychedelic scope allowed Madlib to create a freedom to show case an unparalleled range of sample sources, from avant-garde jazz to experimental French science fiction soundtracks to indigenous music from the Caribbean. Individual songs can contain up to 14 sample sources alone, which Madlib chops, splices, blends, and arranges with an intuitive ease

and fluidity that like a great martial artist or jazz soloist is only made possible by years of concentrated practice. Anonymous, villainous alter egos with cartoon aesthetics paired with raw, virtuosic sample-based beats from an eclectic range of sources, it would seem that Madlib and MF Doom were a match made in Indy Hop Heaven. However, while Madlib expressed interest in working with Doom after hearing Operation Doomsday, Doom had never heard of Madlib, Quasimoto, Loop Pack, or Stones Throw. The two wouldn't meet until 2002, and in the interim, Madlib would actually pivot away from hip-hop and instead turned his focus on jazz. In 2001, he released an album under yet another moniker, Yesterday's New Quintet, a five-person jazz band composed of Otis Jackson Jr. Madlib's real name,

Monk Hughes, Amad Miller, Joe McDurphy, and Malik Flowers. In reality, yesterday's new quintet was a one-man band. The four other members with the cool jazz names were all pseudonyms Madlib made up. However, this project was markedly different from his previous work, as Madlib played actual instruments on all the songs, mixing them with samples from pre-existing jazz records as well as samples of his own playing. Yesterday's new quintet's debut album, Angles Without Edges, was released on Stone's Throw in September of 2001. While the label supported the effort, they were also eager to get Madlib's focus back on hip-hop.

And to do so, they sought to materialize Madlib's desire to work with Doom, who at the time was living in Kennesaw, Georgia, a suburb outside of Atlanta. It just so happened that Stone's then-Srow's then-General manager, Egonne Alapat, had a college friend that lived there too. Alapat sent this friend a collection of Madlib's work. to give to Doom, and unsurprisingly, Doom loved it. Within months, Doom and Stone's throw had negotiated a deal. For $1,500 and a plane ticket to California, Doom would record three songs over Madlib's beats. You know, he had heard some of my music, who's Operation Doomsday album. And, you know,

he had mutual respect for me, like on some, you know, being that I'm a producer, engineer, and MC. And that's, you know, he also does the same thing, does all his own music, you know, different personas. So he kind of reached out to me. And then I, I got up on his music. They sent me a package of all this stuff. So I caught a quick crash course on, like his whole, his whole catalog. You know what I mean? So I was equally impressed.

Yeah, so, you know, it was just a matter of time before we hooked up and did it. You know what I mean? But once I met him, it's like I knew him all my life. That's my man old, you know what I mean? And so in the spring of 2002, Doom Touchdown to Los Angeles, where label owner Peanut Butter Wolf escorted him to Stone Thro's headquarters, a rented house in the hills with an underground bomb shelter that served as Madlib's studio. The creative chemistry between the two artists was clear immediately. Madlib told Pitchfork,

shit usually works out when you're with the like-minded. Doom's like my super smart cousin. We trade books and records, SunRoy equations, biographies of Charlie Parker. Some people are born off that same energy, unquote. Doom would have similar remarks about their connection. Here he is speaking to much music while crate digging with Madlib at a Toronto record store. Oh yeah, old just got me back into the whole like fun part of. you know what I mean? Like, like, until I ain't really have a partner. Now I feel like if I'm a partner, you know what I mean?

Understanding the creative isolation, Doom felt after his brother Subrock's passing, hearing the joy born from his partnership with Madlib is incredibly endearing. With all parties agreeing on the creative success of their initial efforts together, Doom's three-song agreement with Stone's Throat expanded into a full-length album. True to their anti-corporate ethos, the quote-unquote contract between Doom, Madlib, and the label was written and signed on a paper play. A somewhat atypical work routine was established between the two artists in the bomb shelter. With each of them preferring to work alone, the two rarely spoke, communicating instead through the music.

Here's both of them describing their working relationship in separate interviews. I'm trying to finish the record so I get back home. I'm staying in L.A. I'm trying to get back to my children and whatnot. So I'm working as fast as I possibly can without sacrificing the quality. But he's working too like that. Like I would hardly see him. We're in the same house. But he's always in the bomb shelter. I'm always up on the deck, writing, right?

And then he'll give me another CD, I get the CD, and I'm writing, you know what I'm saying? And he's back in the barn. So how would Harley speak to him? We might stop and he'll burn one and we'll listen to the beat, and then that's it. And then the next two days I probably won't see him. And then that's it. You know what I'm saying? We hardly spoke really.

It's more through telepathy and like, we spoke really through the music. Like he'll hear the joint and that's like my conversation with him. Then I hear a beat and that's like what he's saying to me. You know what I mean? It's real bug. Still to this day, that's how we do it. The process wasn't really a big deal. We just hung out, went to clubs, got drunk.

I'll hand him a beat CD. I'll go to sleep. He'll work on some music. He'll go to sleep. I'll wake up. I make some more beats, listen to what he did. We might take some shrooms together if we awake at the same time. And then listen to the music when it's done.

It's not entirely clear how long Doom stayed in California, but by the time he left, the two had recorded at least 15 tracks, including Figaro, All Caps, and Meat Grinder. Madlib burned a CD of their songs to listen to on a flight to Brazil in November of 2002, and sometime during his two-week stay, the disc was stolen and leaked to the internet. In these early days of the web, a leaked album, even an unfinished one, was considered a death blow, especially to an indie label dependent on vinyl sales. And so the project was abandoned, and Maddoll. Madov and Doom went their separate ways.

It is your guide. King Guitara, take me to your leader. Look to claim that he's not no snake like me neither. 2003 would prove to be a prolific year for both artists. Doom continued to build out his comic-inspired musical universe by releasing two projects under two different characters. King Guitara's Take Me to Your Leader and Victor Vaughn's vaudeville villain. Madlib also released two projects in 2003.

Champion Sounds, his collaboration with Jay Dilla, and shades of blue, an album that exclusively samples from the library of renowned jazz label Blue Note. Meanwhile, throughout 2003, the leaked version of Madlib and Doom's project continued to proliferate across the internet. And while it was initially seen as catastrophic, in hindsight, the leak ended up working to the project's advantage, because despite being incomplete, the fans loved it, like really loved it. The leak teased what could be. It became its own unintended hype machine. And so in mid-2003, Madlib and Doom reconnected to finish what they started. Along with a handful of new songs that were written during this second recording stint,

Doom also chose to re-record his vocals on every song, noticeably altering his voice to a slower, deeper, throaty baritone. We can hear this difference in a song like Figaro. Here's the leaked and final versions played back to back. As far as I'm aware, Doom himself has never revealed why he chose to re-record his vocals, but it's been suggested that he was looking to differentiate the final version from the leaked one, as well as create consistency throughout the entire project. In any case, two years after Doom and Madlib first met in the bomb shelter, and 15 months after the leak, the album was finally and officially released to the world on March 23, 2004.

They called it Mad Villainey. praised from day one, beloved by hip-hop purists, critics, and casuals alike. In the subsequent years, Mad Villany has cemented itself as an unassailable classic. And while we'll have plenty of time this season to discuss its influential legacy, I'm antsy to just jump right into the music. We'll begin with the album's opening track, The Illest Villains, a world-building sound collage composed from nine different sample sources. The first sound we'll hear is clip from the 1972 song Contrast by avant-garde jazz artist Sunrah.

The Illest Villains will then transition from this sample into another pulled from the Hawaii 5O TV show soundtrack from 1968. On paper, a 60 sitcom soundtrack and an avant-garde jazz artist aren't exactly an obvious match. But as a testament to the talent of his ear, Madlid blends the two by recognizing a common trait between them, as both feature a similar high-pitched droning keyboard sound. He uses this timbrel similarity to seamlessly blend between them. Let's listen to this transition in the Illest Villans, and I'll point out the moment it switches from Sun Rock to Hawaii 50. Transition. As luck would have it, one of America's two most

powerful villains. It's pretty smooth, right? That similarity in instrumental tone and some slight pitch shifting was all Madlib needed to fuse these disparate pieces together. I know it's a small detail to hone in on, but it's these kinds of details that exemplify Madlib's encyclopedic ability to recall songs and sounds from its vast library of samples and stitch them together with the thinnest of musical threads. This kind of cross-pollination of seemingly unrelated genres is routine in the world of mad villainy, a world in which no sound source is above or below being put under the knife of Madlib Sampler. Now, as the Illest Villains continues, the Hawaii 50 excerpt becomes the backdrop beneath a collage of samples meant to introduce and establish the character of the mad villain duo. The main sample source we hear is from a 1989 film titled A Documentary History of the Colt Villains.

The narration from this documentary is interwoven with samples pulled from a hand, handful of old horror movie trailers, including Frankenstein, Dracula, and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. As luck would have it, one of America's two most powerful villains of the next decade is turned loose to strike terror into the hearts of men. This colloshing of classic movie clips builds up the historic partnership of these two villains and the musical carnage they're capable of. This kind of character development through sampling is reminiscent of the intro to Operation Doomsday and appears to be the direct work of Doom, as the illest villains and the illest villains is the only track on mad villainy that Doom receives a co-production credit for.

And like Operation Doom's Day, Doom once again reminds us that we have more in common with the villains than we might think. Mad villain, more accurately, the dark side of our beings. Perhaps it is due to this seminal connection that audiences can relate their experience in life with the villains and their dastardly doings. Mad villain is succinctly defined here as the dark side of our beings. Our fascination with villains, the reason why they're an archetype throughout human history, is a reflection of the intrinsic bond we feel with darkness, the fact that the potential for villainy lies inside us all.

After the Illest Villains, Mad Villain abruptly drops us into the standout opening track Accordion. Accordian's central sample is pulled from the 2002 song Experience by electronic music artist Datalus. Contrary to what the song title Accordian has influenced us to believe, the instrument being played here is NOT an accordion. Datalus is actually playing a vintage mid-century magnus 391 electric chord organ. While shaped and played like a keyboard, the chord organ resumed resembles an accordion in that it features a plastic keyboard that's played with the right hand and a group of buttons that play chords with the left hand. And like an accordion, the chord organ uses air to produce sound. Striking a key blows air across the reeds with the help of an

electronically powered fan. In both experience and accordion, we can actually hear the clicking sounds of the vintage plastic keys being played by Daedalus. Madlib samples a four-bar loop, slows it down to 97 beats per minute, and adds simple but tastefully effect drums and bass. Notably, Madlib doesn't add a steady high hat. Rather, he lets those rhythmic, consistent clicking sounds from the keyboard do the job instead. Now, when examining the raw elements that comprise this track, it doesn't seem like much, a four-bar loop, a somewhat standard electronic drum kit, and a minimal bass line. Yet accordion is one of the most admired beats in hip-hop. It's a textbook example of the whole being more than the sum of its parts.

But the question is, why exactly? Well, for Madlib, it always starts with the selection of the sample itself. He told Hype Beast, quote, I've always been open to studying all genres of music. I've tried to soak up every style possible to incorporate into my music, no barriers. The choice of the samples used is the most important to me. Even though equipment does matter, the sounds are the main thing. In 2002, Daedalus was a brand new experimental electronic artist that had just released their debut album on a small indie label. Madlib's discovery and use of this record then is a testament to its expansive, open-minded approach to sample sourcing, his willingness to dig deeper into the

crates than most. Sonically, the sample itself has an overwhelming amount of character. There's the rich, unique timbre of the vintage electric chord organ, those textual clicking sounds, the fully saturated drone of those sagging chords, and the persistent undercurrent of the supporting arpeggios. Harmonically, the two measures Madlib chooses to loop contain an equally pleasing chord progression. It begins with the G minor ninth chord, followed by a C-dominiscan. its seventh chord. Now this second chord is an unstable chord of dissonance. It's used to create tension, making us crave resolution to a consonant or stable chord. In this key signature, that stable chord we're craving is an F major. Here's what that would sound like. You can feel that sense of resolution,

right? Well, that's not what happens in accordion. Instead of that warm F major chord resolution, we get resolution with F major's dark cousin chord, D minor. In music theory, this is what's called a deceptive cadence because we get resolution, just not the one we're expecting. And because it's a minor chord, a dark, somber feeling is a vote. Now, the symbolic implications of this musical detail seem almost too good to be true. I mean, what better cadence for a villain than a dark, deceptive one? Accordian's cadential D minor chord also comes with a little twist, because there's actually an extra note added to it. This extra note adds dissonance or tension to our chord of resolution. Specifically, it adds what's called a minor second, and especially nasty dissonance.

So a resolution is a little tainted. That is, until the next and final chord in the progression, a D minor seventh chord. This final chord completes the resolution we craved. Because this fully satisfying cadence is slightly delayed, it's all the more rewarding when we finally receive it. Let's listen to the progression in full, noticing the tension created in that second chord, the tainted resolution of the third chord, and the full resolution. of the fourth and final chord. Tension and release is the fundamental principle of musical harmony,

and this chord progression is a great little microcosm of this core principle. The loop being so theoretically sound is evidence of Daedalus' education from the USC Thornton School of Music. It's also a big reason why we're okay with hearing this same chord progression over 20 times throughout accordion, because each repetition provides us with a well-executed setup and payoff. And I'd also argue that all of these qualities, from its tonal depth to its timbre or richness to its theoretically sound harmony, or why this small section of Daedalus's song caught Madlip's ear, why he recognized its potential for looping, even if that recognition was intuitive.

Even Daedalus himself was impressed with Madlip's flip of his work, as they told author Will Hegel, quote, it's a smaller recontextualization to add a drumbeat and a baseline, but it's huge in terms of formatting it. As a sample artist myself, I know there's an alchemy-like process to sampling, transmuting what is nothing to someone else to being something. And goodness, Madlib is incredible at that process and has the philosopher's stone firmly, unquote. Accordian's dark, mournful minor key makes the perfect soundscape for the villain Doom, who enters the track reciting Mad Villan's now iconic existential opening line. We'll dissect that line along with the rest of Doom's verse right after the break.

Welcome back to Dissect. Before the break, we examined accordion's appropriately dark tonal qualities, including the villainous deceptive cadence, an appropriate black carpet rollout for Doom's commanding entrance. Doom enters the track with a brief sputtering flam-filled beatbox, literally spitting before spinning bars. He then delivers Mad Villanese classic opening line and his lazy but commanding baritone, Living off Borrowed Time, the clock tick faster. It would appear that Doom here is slightly acknowledging the beat itself. Similar to how the song title persuades us into mistaking the chord organ for an accordion,

the clock ticked faster recontextualizes those clicking keyboard sounds, as we can now hear them as a ticking clock. The idiom, living on borrowed time means living after a point in which you were expected to die, and or that your death is impending. In this expression, you're borrowing time from capital D death, who will be coming to collect his debt at any moment. The clock ticking faster then is an inventive way to convey that time is running out, that each moment is bringing one closer to death. Devoid of any context, the line resounds existentially, a reminder of the unrelenting passage of time, and that certain lifestyles move more quickly toward death than others. Doom continues,

that'll be the hour they knocked the slick blaster. He executes the five, syllable rhyme scheme with ease. The clock tick faster, knock the slick blaster. Doom here plays off another common idiom, that'll be the day, which is used to mean that something is unlikely to happen. In this case, it's unlikely that his rivals will ever knock the slick blaster or kill the villain Doom. Doom exchanges day to hour in order to continue the clock motif, but the meaning remains the same. The third bar is incredibly dense, Dick dastardly and mutely with sick laughter. We first acknowledge how Doom now both starts and ends the line continuing the slick blaster tick faster rhyme, as both Dick Dastard and Sick Laughter fit the scheme.

Dick Dastardly and his sidekick dog Muttley are villains that have appeared in Hannah Barbera cartoon since 1968. Doom is likening this duo to himself and Madlib, the mad villain duo. Dick Dastardly does all the talking, just like Doom does the rapping, while Muttley remains silent, like Madlib behind the beats. We also recognize how Dick Dastardly's double D initials matches Dr. Doom or Daniel Dumalay, while both Mutley and Madly begin with M. While Mutley doesn't talk, he's known for his trademark wheezing laugh. It's this laugh that inspires Doom's sick laughter. And if you listen closely in the background after this line, you can actually hear a sample of Mutley's sick or wheezing laugh.

Doom continues a gunfight and they come to cut the mix master. He's remixing yet another idiom, This time it's bring a knife to a gunfight, which means that someone has come unprepared or underestimated their opponent. This is the reason the villainous duo is laughing, because their rivals really thought they could knock the slick blaster or cut the mixed master in a gunfight. And so as it turns out, it's these same rivals who are living off borrowed time, who quickly meet their demise when facing the villainous duo. Cut the Mixmaster has a few musical connotations as well, as DJ's cut records, or someone who doesn't like what is playing might try to cut the tape short. This reveals that the violence and conflict in this introductory quatrain is an extended metaphor for Mad Villains' musical competition, those inferior, rival MCs and producers unsuccessfully trying to take their spot at the top. Doom continues the verse, I-C-E-Cold, Nice to Be Old, Y-2 G's D twice to three-fold. He sold scrolls low and be-hole. No who's the illest ever like the greatest story told. Keep your glory gold and glitter for half of his...

Doom continues the verse, I-C-E-Cold. nice to be old. We have to praise the perfect rhyme and rhythmic symmetry of this eight-syllable line as the first four syllables I-C-E-Cold rhyme completely with the last four syllables, nice to be old. When combined with the final word of the previous line, Mixmaster, it appears Doom is shouting out Mixmaster Ice, the DJ in the 1980s rap group UTFO. In their hit song Roxanne Roxanne, we hear the name Mixmaster Ice shouted out with ICE spelled out just like Doom's. Spelling out ice cold, Doom claims he's the coldest on the mic,

and his subsequent Nice to be Old references his then age of 33. He's a veteran in the game who has grown colder or better with time. A similar line and statement will be made on the song Figaro, where Doom raps, As he gets older, he gets colder than a witch tit. Given the way accordion began, we also recognize how Doom stating it's nice to be old references the looming ticking clock of borrowed time. With so many of his friends and partners gone, Daniel appreciates still being alive. The time motif continues in the next line, Y2G STE twice to threefold. Cleverly, Doom slurs the word fold, so we can also hear the numeric

sequence 234. Y2G stands for Year 2 grand or the year 2000. It's a remix of Y2K, the year 2000 doomsday scenario in which a potential computer glitch snowballed into mass anticipation of catastrophe. Again, we recognize how Doom is still developing the initial borrowed time motif, as the apocalyptic scenario conveys impending death. At the same time, Doom is also continuing the nice-to-be-old, as the year 2000 twice to three-fold seems to mean he's ahead of his time, that his wraps are so superior that they must be from the future, from the year 4 or 6,000. He continues the age time motif with the following line, He sold scrolls, lo and behold.

The rhyme scheme is still relentless, and given the tongue twister of these rapid rhymes, it's possible that he sold scrolls is a play on the classic tongue twister, she sold seashells by the seashore. Selling scrolls feels like a play on Doom's occupation as lyricist. But coming after the futuristic brag, both scrolls and the old English phrase, lo and behold, are references to the past. Juxtaposing the past and future in this way conveys Doom's timelessness. He was, is, and will always be the quote.

coldest MC. Thus, we get the following line, know who's the illest ever, like the greatest story told. The Illest Ever refers to the mad villain duo and nods to the album's first track, The Illest Villains. The Greatest Story Ever Told is often used to describe the life and death of Jesus Christ. The phrase is the title of a 1965 film recounting the tale of Jesus. This biblical illusion makes sense given Doom's practice of selling scrolls or ancient texts. The history motif extends into the next line, keep your glory, gold, and glitter. It's a play on the phrase, gold, God, and glory, the shorthand that historians use to describe the motivations of Europeans to expand and conquer between 1400 and 1750. Notice how Doom omits the word God and instead says

glory, gold, and glitter. In Doom's own quest to conquer rap, he's not interested in flashing materialism or fame. He'll keep only with God. The others can have the rest. to take him out the picture. The other half is rich and it don't mean shitta. Filling a mixture between both with a twister liquor, chasing with more beer, tasting like truth for dear. When he at the mic, it's like the place get like,

oh yeah, it's like they know what's about to happen. Just keep your eye out like eye-capping. Doom builds off the reference to glory, gold, and glitter, rapping, for half, half of his N-words will take him out the picture. The other half is rich and it don't mean shita. Doom cynically illuminates human disloyalty, claiming that half of a rich man's friends would be willing to kill him for half of his wealth, his gold and glitter, while the other half wouldn't, not for any moral reason,

but simply because they're already rich and don't need the money. It don't mean shit to them. It's a villainous view of human nature, not good versus evil, but evil versus less evil. Doom's next line reads like a definition, villain, a mixture between both with a twist of liquor. In other words, a villain is defined as a mix of someone who will do anything for wealth and someone who couldn't care less for material goods, who does evil for evil's sake. It speaks to a central duality, twisted with liquor, as if a perfect villainous cocktail. Doom then follows this cocktail rapping, Chase it with more beer, tasted like truth or dare. Typically, liquor is chased or followed with a more palatable beverage to ease the harsh taste. However, Doom's potent

cocktail is followed by more alcohol. With this cocktail and chaser being a metaphor for mad villain themselves, Doom is daring us to fully indulge in this music that may be too harsh and thus not palatable for the masses. The play on truth or dare is clever in that the game is sometimes played with a bottle, and that drinking heavily often ends up in a kind of truth or dare, either spilling some truthful thoughts or behaving recklessly. This drinking motif morphs into a drunken audience attending Doom's show, as he continues, when he has the mic, it's like the play skit like, oh yeah. Cleverly, Doom consciously switches from his abstract poetic tone to a more informal vernacular to mimic how an audience member might talk. It sets the line apart from the rest,

making it easier to recite by said audience at his actual shows. He then continues, it's like they know what's about to happen. Doom's infamous reputation has the crowd anticipating greatness whenever he touches the mic. He then wraps, just keep your eye out like I-I-Captain. As he often does, Doom advises the audience to watch or follow him closely, to keep their focus in order to catch the complexity of his rhymes. Eye-out then transforms into a reference to another classic villain, a pirate, and their missing eye covered with an eye patch. However, instead of saying eye out like a pirate, Doom instead says a cliche pirate expression, I-I-I-Captain. It still gets the metaphor across, but adds a homophone of I, E-Y-E, and I, A-Y-E.

Also, I-I-Captain is a subordinate phrase said from a lower position to a higher position, maintaining the audience and performer analogy of the previous line. Finally, because Doom says eye three times in close proximity, it's possible he's playing with another idiom, keep your third eye open. In totality, this single line exhibits so much of what we love about Doom's lyricism, the clever, whimsical twists of phrase that subvert our expectations and create pleasurable moments of surprise. As I'm writing it, I'm also thinking of it from a listener point of view. I try to make it to where I could catch myself off guard. Like, you want to keep the story interesting. Like, soon as somebody thinks they know what you

going to say, that's part of the essence of rhyming, is to not, is to keep everybody kind of off off guard a little. Just keep your eye out like eye, eye capping. Is he still a fly guy clapping if nobody ain't hear it? And can they testify from in the spirit? And live in the true guards, giving y'all nothing but the lick like two broads. Got more lyrics to the church, got o' lords. And he hold the mic in your attention like two swords.

Or either one with two blades on it. Hey, you don't touch the mic like it's AIDS on it. Doom's possible reference to the third eye, extends into a few metaphysical questions. Is he still a fly guy clapping if nobody ain't hearing, and can they testify from in the spirit? Once again, Doom is playing with cliches, evoking two common thought experiments, what is the sound of one hand clapping, and if a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it doesn't make a sound. In terms of music, Doom is asking whether a rapper is still cool or relevant if no one is listening to them.

Remember, Doom just encouraged his audience to keep their eye out, to pay attention, to really listen to him. So the play here is that no one is really listening closely to the fly guy or commercial image-centered rapper because he's not actually saying anything of substance, not saying anything from within his spirit or soul. This explains why the questions are followed with a slight pause, after which point we hear doom in the background say, nah, meaning no, they don't make a sound, they don't testify from their spirit, their music lacks substance and therefore there's nothing to actually hear. The spiritual thread leads to the next lines, in living the true gods, giving y'all nothing but the licks like two broads.

The true gods appears to reference Doom's education in the 5% nation, the idea that black men are God. This also positions Mad Lib and Doom as the true gods of hip-hop, and continues the biblical allusions Doom has been making throughout the track. It's a powerful juxtaposition, villainy and sainthood all in one. Giving nothing but the lick like two broads relates to the musical beating or licking mad villain is handing out to lesbians, with the joke being that their interaction amounts to nothing more than licks or oral sex. Doom then binds the spiritual and audience threads with the following line, got more lyrics than the church got ooh lords. Notice how this line mirrors a previous one. During a pastor's sermon, the congregation responds with, O Lord, just like the God Doom elicits

the response from his audience, when the crowd is like, aw yeah. Next, Doom digs into his literary bag with the line, and he holds the mic and your attention like two swords. Employed here is what's known as Zugma, where one word applies to two other and different senses. For example, in the sentence, She Lost Her Keys and Her Mind. Lost applies literally to her keys and figuratively to her mind. In Doom Zugma, he literally holds the mic and figuratively holds our attention. He handles both like two swords.

In other words, he's dangerous on the mic. He follows by saying, either that or either the one with two blades on it, which seems to be a play on a double-edged sword, or literally referencing a double-bladed sword. Doom following the two broads line with this two swords line may also be a nod to broadswords, a special class of large weaponry. Regardless, Doom wields the mic like a deadly weapon.

His focus on the two-sided nature of his weapon furthers the themes of multiplicity and duality. From the two swords, two blades, and two broads, this motivic duality continues emphasis on the double entendres of his wordplay and the dastardly duo that is mad villain. Doom. Fuck type of message that sends to the fiends. That's why he bring his own needles and get more cheese than Doritos, Cheetos or Fritos. Slip like Freudian. Your first and last step to playing yourself like accordion.

Doom continues the verse, Hey, you, don't touch the mic like it's AIDS on it. It's like the ends to the means. Fuck type of message that sends to the fiends. He crudely proclaims himself an untouchable MC, warning whoever dares to follow him on the mic that it will end in their demise, like being infected by a fatal virus. He then follows with a play on means to an end, which is typically used to describe an action taken solely to reach a certain result.

Doom's flip to the end to the means contains a few possible meanings. Continuing his attack on inferior MCs, he could be saying he's putting an end to those who rap as a means to an end, as a means for reaping material gains, not for the love of the game. He could also be using the secondary definition of means, which is resources or income, like the sentence they didn't have the means to send her to college. In this reading, Doom would be saying irresponsible MCs who try to follow him on the mic are putting their means or career at risk. This leads to the next lines,

Fuck type a message that sends to the fiends. That's why he bring his own needles. Sharing the mic with Doom is like drug addicts sharing needles, putting them at risk for contracting infectious diseases, continuing the AIDS reference. But it also works with end to the means, as drug fiends or addicts are more at risk of depleting all their resources to satiate their illness, leading to the end of their means.

Not wanting to set a bad example, Doom brings his own needles, which of course also has musical connotations, as in record player needles. This could refer to Doom self-producing his own beats, or working with an acclaimed producer like Madlib. Either way, they are bringing their own sound that's superior to the competition. Continuing the monetary connotations of end to the means, doom wraps, and get more cheese than Doritos, Cheetos, or Fritos. This holy trinity of cheesy chips has become iconically doomed. At first glance, it's a boast of amazing illiterate, However, they also reflect some core truths. First, Doritos and Cheetos are cheesy, albeit fake cheese, which lends a luster of cheap gold to the villain's riches. And then there's Fritos. Freetos are a

corn chip with no cheese. But this doesn't matter. First, Doom is right. He's getting more cheese than no cheese, so technically he does get more cheese than Fritos. Secondly, the words and the sounds are more important than the basic dictionary-bound definitions. It doesn't have to make by the book sense for us to understand and feel the impact of Doom's words. However, for anyone that might critique the Frito's reference, Doom seems to acknowledge it himself, rapping, Slip like Freudian, your first and last step to playing yourself like accordion. A Freudian slip, also known as a parapraxis, refers to a verbal mistake that supposedly reveals secret or subconscious thoughts and feelings. This may refer to Doom's Frito reference, considered a mistake or slip of the tongue by some. However, as we

just covered, the reference still works, especially when you consider the popular. popularity of Frito's chili cheese flavor. So anyone who thought Doom made a mistake on the mic, underestimating his skill, is playing themselves, setting themselves up for failure. This extends into the first and last step, as Doom plays off someone physically slipping as they are stepping or walking. However, Freudian slip also extends the music motif, as a slip mat is a rubber or cork mat placed under a vinyl record. This subtle reference pairs perfectly with Doom's previous nod to record needles. But recall that needle was simultaneously a reference to a drug syringe, and it's here that we realize slip is actually a triple entendre, as a lure slip syringe is a type of hyperdermic needle,

like the kind drug addicts used to shoot up. Finally, playing yourself like accordion refers to the physicality required to play the instrument, as it's physically strapped to its player becoming a part of their body. It's also a clear reference to the track's main sample, though as we establish, the instrument is not an accordion, but rather an electric chord organ. While not quite a Freudian slip, this incorrect attribution is a mistake. However, like the Frito's reference, the technicality doesn't really matter. And if there's anything we've learned from this verse, it's not the last thing we want to do is underestimate the villain,

lest we play ourselves like a chord organ. In hip-hop, you don't go next. Leaving pussycats like why holes need cortex. Exercise index won't need bowflex and won't take the one with no skinny legs like Jotex. In hip-hop, 16 bar or measure verses are the standard line. length. Sometimes MCs will choose to double the length to 32 bars. And that appears what Doom was heading toward on accordion. However, your first and last step to playing yourself like accordion is

bar number 30, and instead of wrapping the final two bars, Doom opts to leave them blank, quietly humming to himself. This appears to be a bit of theatrics. Recall the string of bars leading to this moment warned other MCs about touching the mic after Doom. Thus, the instrumental break seems to represent those MCs failing to challenge him, as if they are scared to follow him, to play themselves. This leads to the final quatrain. When he at the mic, you don't go next, leaving Pussycats like why Ho's need Cotex. Doom leaves his opponents bleeding, as Cotex is a brand of menstrual hygiene products such as tampons. The use of PussyCast is thus a play on both his fearful rivals and menstruating vaginas. He concludes, Exercise Index won't need Bowflex

and won't take the one with no skinny legs like Joe Tex. Exercising Index or Index finger is a triple entendre, relating to three motifs in this final quatrain. First, it refers to rapidly pulling the trigger of a gun, tying into the previous metaphor about leaving its competition bloody. In this reading, he won't need Bowflex exercise equipment, he won't need to be buff, because his gun ends the conflict before it gets physical. Second, exercise index ties into the idea of MC's attempting to follow Doom on the mic. In this reading, Doom is referring to his rhymes, his fingers physically writing down lyrics, which he does prolifically. Finally, Doom extends the pussycat and hose reference to create a sexual innuendo, with exercise index alluding to fingering a woman. This reading is

punctuated with the final line and won't take the one with no skinny legs like Joe Tex. It would appear Doom likes his women thick, ones who stay away from the bowflex. The name drop of Southern soul singer Joe Tex nods to his 1967 single, Skinny Legs and All. Now y'all know the lady with skinny legs got to have somebody too now. In 2021, Stone's throat owner Peanut Butter Wolf revealed that Accordion's final line first began as a joke about his girlfriend. He told Vulture, quote, He was really a funny guy and also very caring. The final line in the song Accordian used to be,

Wolf likes the girls with the skinny legs because my girlfriend at the time was really thin. I showed her to the song thinking that she'd think it was funny and be flattered, but she started to cry. I explained, no, he doesn't mean it. it in a bad way. Next time I saw Doom, I told him about her reaction, and he didn't tell me he was going to do this, nor did I ask him to, but the next thing you know, he changed the lyrics, unquote. This bit of insight is endearing and once again illuminates the difference between Doom and Dumalay. While he might have played a supervillain, Daniel was no monster. Conclusions. Sometime in the early 2000s, M.F. Doom shared his version of the 10 Rap Commandments,

titled Ten Ways to Spot a Wack MC, Doom critiqued the tired cliches inferior rappers relied on, including plugging name brands, overusing curse words, and going shirtless on album covers. Number four on this list took issue with choruses, saying, quote, the overuse of choruses to fill up songtime is BS. It hypnotizes fans into thinking that there's a lot of content when there's not, and it's whack, unquote. This conviction informs the two-minute single-verse, no-chorus structure, of accordion, a structure that the majority of the songs on Mad Villany adopt. In fact, not only is accordion hook-free, the entire 22-track album doesn't contain a single chorus. Instead,

Madvillany relies on what accordion immediately makes clear, the extraordinary creative chemistry between Doom and Madlib and their like-minded, almost spontaneous approach to songwriting. Each track feels like we're hearing the initial spark of inspiration. Madlib discovers a sample that inspires a beat, that inspires Doom's verse. And, right, Rather than developing the song further, they fade the song out immediately and opt to move on to the next idea, the next potent spontaneous burst of inspiration. Doom talked specifically about the organic way in which accordion manifested, telling double XL, quote, That was one of the first beats I heard. It just happened to be a catchy beat.

I was just writing down my first thoughts for all my rhymes right there. There's not a big concept behind it. It's like a freestyle verse. That one just happened to be at a time when everything was coming to a culmination of information. It was simple and easy to do, wasn't hard, unquote. I mean, first of all, what a flex. But his remarks also speak to the collaborative, telepathic flow state that makes Madvill any special, where Doom and Madlib function not unlike an accordion itself, a single instrument that combines two things, the melodic keyboard on one side, the chordal accompaniment on the other, operating as a single device. Even the etymology of the word denotes collaboration, as accordion stems from the 12th century French word a quarter,

which means to agree, be in harmony. Thus, accordion makes the perfect musical and symbolic start to mad villainy, an album conceived by two kindred creatives on opposite sides of the country joining forces, the illest villains operating in perfect harmony. Today's episode of Dysect was written by Camden Ostrander and me, Kolkushna. If you enjoyed the episode, please tell a friend about the new season or share on social media tagging at Dysick podcast. It really helps. Additional production assistance by Justin Sales. Audio editing by Kevin Pooler. Theme music by Bureau Credit. All right. Thanks everyone. Talk to you next week.