When I thought about how to respond to your initial reply my response was going to be something along the lines of his lack of classic albums come down more to the emcees he works with rather than the quality of his production. My favorite Madlib projects are the ones where he's working with rappers I enjoy (Madvillainy, the Gibbs collabs, Liberation). I have no time for squeaky voice (or normal voice) Madlib rapping. If that's your thing, more power to you, but it's just not for me.

All that said, should he be knocked down when compared to other all time greats because he didn't have guys like GZA, Ghost, Rae, Guru, Jeru, etc rapping over his fully produced albums? Do we expect the producer to be able to elevate below average and average rappers to be listenable/enjoyable? Or should we strictly be basing our opinions on just the beats?