https://www.okayplayer.com/music/madlib-meets-ayalew-mesfin.html

Bae in my head and my personal creative inspiration, a.k.a, Madlib, along with his Stones Throw alum-homeboy Egon are featured in what appears to be a new series by Noisey. I see OKP got around to posting this recently but I'm posting this here, too, because many people don't read the home page.

The subject of this 14-minute long video is Madlib's interest in underappreciated legendary Ethiopian funk star, Ayaléw Mesfin. There's a larger message about learning about and appreciating artists that have been ignored by the mainstream industry for whatever reason. Madlib says there are only five or six people he can talk to about the music he likes.

"Madlib Meets Ethiopian Legend Ayaléw Mesfin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5_oL639i_Q
https://noisey.vice.com/en_us/article/59vykq/madlib-medicine-show-video-watch
The video description: "Madlib is one of the most prolific and acclaimed producers to ever work in music. Through his various projects over the years—from Madvillain to Quasimoto—the musician pretty much changed the way sampling works in hip-hop. Now, in a special called Madlib’s Medicine Show, Noisey follows Madlib—with the help of Egon at Now-Again Records—as he meets one of his favorite and often sampled Ethiopian musicians, the legendary Ayaléw Mesfin. Trust us. This is something you don’t want to miss."

This was a treat for me because we know Madlib doesn't do sit down interviews or features of this kind very often. Plus, I just got put on to a new artist.


A FEW QUESTIONS
* Have y'all heard of Ayalew Mesfin? What do you think? We does he rank? What works do you recommend for a new listener?

*Is Madlib still f*cking with Stones Throw? I could be reading too deeply in Madlib's facial expression, but early in this Noisey video, around the 1:20 mark, when Egon talks about Madlib being the star of Stones Throw, it seems like Madlib is giving away how he feels about the label...

As someone alluded to in the "longtime collaborators who have (or might have) beef" post, PB Wolf and Madlib are rumored to have some conflicts. I know Declaime/Dudley Perkins left and took George Anne Muldrow with him a while ago.

I recall Madlib speaking of his label/production company Madlib Invazion in an interview conducted circa his late 30s. His vibe was that he was still fucking with ST but he felt that he needed to do his own thing since he was approaching 40 at that time.

On his social media accounts, he plugs Rappcats.com as his website. The Rappcats website plugs Egon's reissue imprint, Now Again Records, and notes that the site "was founded in 2005 to launch the video for Quasimoto’s 'Rappcats' video has continued as the official home base of operations and online store for Madlib Invazion, Now-Again Records and other friends."

Someone on the now-defunct Stones Throw message boards implied that PB Wolf owns Rappcats but that doesn't sound right, does it?

Egon is also partners with Madlib in Madlib Invazion, and there's a picture of both of them together for Egon's biography on his label's website: https://www.nowagainrecords.com/egon/

Egon hasn't been general manager of Stones Throw since 2011. I just discovered that he is the creative director of the J. Dilla Estate. I know I must be super late...

I wonder where does J.Rocc stand in all of this? I know him and Madlib are tight but Rocc seems good with PB Wolf. I wanted to do some digging but it's going to take awhile. Stones Throw deactivated its message boards (2002-2018) this year. Peep this message: http://board.stonesthrow.com/

I'm curious to know what type of contracts were signed between Madlib and Stones Throw. Egon, PB Wolf and Madlib were homeboys first. I wonder what kind of contracts they had, if any...

//end

Madlib is a cat that makes a million projects and barely leaves his house....so for him not to have dropped a project in years is a red flag off top.

Pretty sure Guilty Simpson is still on the label....but he hasn't dropped a proper project in years. Just one offs with producers I've never heard of and an ep with MED (which wasn't on ST either).

None of the projects ST has been putting out has made a dent: Rejoycer,Bauhaus,Stimulator Jones,Jerry Paper, etc....nothing.

The Homeboy/Edan project got lost in the sauce....and even the (dope ass) Mndsgn album didn't do much. I haven't seen much promo for many of these projects....and if I didn't get ST's emails I wouldn't know much of any of them.

Rappcats may be slow, but at least when they do drop a project everyone knows about it. I wouldn't be surprised if PBW has stake in Rappcats because I don't think Egon ever had that much money to go it alone....it should've been a Stones Throw offshoot in the first place.

....I just would like some new Madlib albums, and I'll support whichever label that puts them out.

If NxWorries is still with the label, they could help the label attract newer artists with Anderson Paak as one-half of the duo. He’s more popular than ever.

Funny, he’s from Oxnard, too. Bhaaaahaaa!

Nothing more? What’s your source, sir? All of this is very believable but I’m curious to know your source, if you can share. I don’t think this has been written about. Sounds like LA Weekly, VICE or some other appropriate pub needs to do a deep dive on the state of Stones Throw, no?

I wonder where Karriem Riggins stands in all of this?

information that is not the business of the public and not mine to share.

that said, it's not a secret in LA that Madlib is no longer with Stones Throw and that Rapp Cats has no formal affiliations with STH.

I understand. Thanks!

Madlib costed ST so much money in lawsuits from uncleared samples. ST Couldn't handle it no more

That’s interesting and I am a bit skeptical of that rumor. When Bob James sued Stones Throw and Madlib in 2015, I read an article or comment online that implied the label had a very thorough process for clearing samples and that particular sample had slipped through the cracks.
https://www.okayplayer.com/news/bob-james-is-suing-madlib-stones-throw-for-copyright-infringement.html

Otis (yes, I just referred to Madlib by his gub’ment name) had been talking about becoming more independent and releasing his own music on Madlib Invasion for a while. I think his split from Stones Throw is much deeper than samples, if it was even about that to begin with.... I’m sure multiple issues were at play, like money. All kinds of things probably were going on and came to a head.

For example, I read an LA Weekly profile where Madlib had gone missing and his peers couldn’t find him. We all know he’s a bit reclusive and likes to do his own thing. I can see how that could have caused some issues. Dude is probably not interested in answering to nobody!

And as Egon mentioned in this Noisey video, Madlib was the star of the label. Maybe he didn’t like that, the heavy reliance on him. I could go on with possible issues that emerged. I really don’t think the split was about uncleared samples, tho.

I searched PB Wolf’s name in my Apple Podcast app and I see a few interviews from the last two years. Best believe I will be listening to these this weekend for some potential nuggets. I’m sure someone has asked him what’s going on.

Re: Stones Throw sample clearance practices.
This is the comment to which I was referring. To be fair, it’s an anonymous comment and I don’t know the source of the user’s claim:
“What's funny is Stones Throw and Madlib are the most proactive, legally protected peoples when obtaining sample clearance and dealing with Copyright.
I think telling that the only song mentioned is "Sparkdala', which is currently being sold on what project? Probably the Quasimoto compilation right? Its such an old song, and its a B-Side from a limited press of a vinyl single. So I really think they just dropped the ball and that this is an oversight on the part of Stones Throw.”
https://www.reddit.com/r/hiphopheads/comments/355xg6/jazz_legend_bob_james_sues_hip_hop_producer/

Another Reddit comment from someone who appears to have engaged with Stones Throw’s Jeff Jank but who is speaking anonymously:
“About Dilla's Donuts, that was released by Stones Throw. I asked Jeff Jank, one of the heads at the label, how they went about clearing samples, and he wouldn't elaborate, saying only that it's different for each record and those agreements are private. I don't necessarily think he was being difficult, I think he was trying to be honest without having to pour the entire story out for me, and I'm sure it's a long one.”
https://www.reddit.com/r/theavalanches/comments/4u52ae/anyone_here_know_how_sampling_and_sample/

Peep this excerpt from an article authored by Egon, the former general manager of Stones Throw. It offers some interesting context:
“It’s not often that a sample clearance claim against a record company turns out to be an altogether pleasant experience. Usually it’s a blustery, puffy-chested affair with lawyers on both sides citing arcane copyright cases and threatening court proceedings as if the year were 1987 and Biz Markie had just released his first album on Cold Chillin.’
We’ve been fortunate enough to never have to deal with any of that, as our attorney is the kind of woman who teaches copyright legends about the outcome of the most recent Koons case and its application to sampling before they even know about it. As a result, we have gained access into the superb Raymond Scott catalog through our association with Basta Audio Visuals and Scott’s musical steward Irwin Chusid. And, more recently, we inked a deal with singer, songwriter, pianist and man-in-the-know Matthew Larkin Cassell.”
https://www.stonesthrow.com/news/2009/05/matthew-larkin-cassell

Another Egon-related article (an interview with Cut Chemist) from 2006 that provides some more insight on Stones Throw’s sample clearance process:
Egon: Running an independent label myself and trying to stay on top of clearing every sample, you always have to be prepared that someone's going to come knock on your door someday and try to settle.
Cut: Even if they don't even own it.
Egon: If something slips by you could be exposing your entire company to some serious problems. We're talking about independent companies here where you're trying to build things up to where you even have some money. A lot of people who are going after those using samples don't care. They've heard of that one Ohio Players sample that got 3.5 million dollars from the estate of Biggie Smalls. That sample being on a record that sold ten million copies is a lot different than it being on a 12-inch that sold 1,000. Do you feel that something needs to change?
https://www.stonesthrow.com/news/2006/10/beat-happenings

Another random thought on Madlib’s sampling: He has admitted YEARS AGO that he often doesn’t remember the record he sampled. When a mixtape blog released samples from the Madvillain album, they asked the site to take it down. So, I think sampling may have been an issue in the earlier years past not recently. The Internet has really changed things. Whosampled, for example, was not around when the label launched.

and egon still works with madlib and does his nowagain label.

Now that I think about it, I need to finish listening to J. Rocc’s interview on Serato’s new podcast. Might find some related nuggets...

really enjoyed it

totally crazy to think a government can ban you from playing/performing music. I wonder how Mr. Mesfin even managed to get his records out of the country.

As a sidenote, I am tickled by Madlib’s recent and hilarious anti-Quasimoto stance. I think he’s said that Quasimoto probably is not returning.

He’s been saying ish like that for a few years now. E.g. “He stole my girl.” “I saw her rubbing his feet,” or “My girl was rubbing his feet.”

At this beginning of this video, around the 0.17 mark when Quasimoto is mentioned as his alias,” he’s like, “F*ck that n*gga.” LMAO. I like his sense of humor

..but I guess I would be too if I had made something as genius as Beat Konducta In Africa and most people slept on it.

Nope. I think Gibbs is more likely to speak on that than Madlib. And the subject of the video wasn’t solely about Madlib. The feature focuses on Egon and Madlib’s appreciation for Ayalew Mesfin and Mesfin’s career. Madlib doesn’t discuss his current/forthcoming projects.

No album release date yet but here's a minor update:
http://board.okayplayer.com/okp.php?az=show_topic&forum=5&topic_id=3012986&mesg_id=3012986&page=

If you're into Madlib and you're on Instagram, you should follow Egon/Now Again records: https://www.instagram.com/nowagain/?hl=en.

I came across photos from this Noisey/VICE video shoot. The footage appears to have been filmed back in February, though we didn't get to see it until late 2018. I would love to see more from this occasion.

From the Noisey interview:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BfE9IpCHrwv/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BfCQeIInohg/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BfCQNFUnFo7/ (Ayalew feeding Madlib per Ethiopian traditions)
https://www.instagram.com/p/Be_qj9tn2uf/
https://www.instagram.com/p/Be_pNydHSGW/

Egon and Madlib are outchea traveling the world, meeting legends, buying whole record collections and hosting pop-ups in LA. Example: https://www.instagram.com/p/Bq-QcQTHmR2/
There are so many gems are on his account. Here's a little tidbit on "Dadlib"/Otis Sr. (Madlib and Oh No's daddy): https://www.instagram.com/p/Bpk8bN0Hdfw/

Other gems include Egon shouting out his favorite West African record dealer Chris by sharing his eBay handle here, if you're into that type of thing. https://www.instagram.com/p/Bf1DpbXHplx/

I finally got around to listening to those PB Wolf podcast interviews I mentioned earlier. The only "revealing" episode was PBW's appearance on Rosenberg Radio published in October 2017.

https://www.rosenbergradio.com/rosenberg-interview/2017/10/16/rosenberg-interviews-peanut-butter-wolf

He was respectful and avoided being messy, not that PBW would have revealed all the details, anyway. And PBW was respectful, no bashing.

Madlib/Lootpack talk starts around 34.25. PBW talks about how he met Madlib's father at a record distributor company.

Around 44.20, PBW confirms the obvious, that Madlib was the backbone of the label, which was mentioned in this Noisey video (along with Madlib's stank face. LOL). PBW says, "He was given an opportunity to start his own label and he took it" and says they're cool.

*I know, I really need to get a life but I'm really obsessed with Madlib right now.*

Carry on.