The new underground rap project by Madvillain starts with a disorienting mass of swelling keyboards that lead to vocal samples from assorted 1940s crime dramas. These samples are peppered with different crisp, percussive elements and a steady, understated bass rhythm. The samples paint a melodramatic perspective of Madvillain’s two hip-hop moguls by labeling them as villains. When the introductory segment abruptly stops, the listener is carried into a seedy underground musical world that’s equally evocative of the sample-inspired funk of DJ Shadow and the electronic glitch beats of Prefuse 73. And holding this vast array of loops together is the lazy, free-flowing vocal styling of MF Doom.

Overall, the elements that compose this album come together like the hazy recollection of a dream. Certain parts of Madvillainy may sound familiar enough to stimulate some associations, but as a whole, the album offers an adventurous foray into its own unique sound.

Rap fans shouldn’t expect anything less, as this is one of the most anticipated releases in underground rap history. Madlib, the musical engineer of the duo, has been considered to have great potential only subdued by sloppiness and lack of focus. However, in 2002, Madlib compiled a mix with MF Doom that was leaked to the public, quickly creating some serious buzz. The question was whether Doom could help Madlib harness his creative energy into a cohesive musical statement. Nothing besides the final version of Madvillainy can answer that question, because the project went under major attitudinal revisions before the final version was released March 23, 2004.

MF Doom decided to scrap his energetic delivery for a slower paced, detached presentation. Doom’s lazy, scratchy drawl ranges from telling a cohesive story to a more pervasive free association rhyming where images only have a loose connection but are strung together remarkably. For example, in the song “Curls,” Doom raps: “Villain get the money like curls / They just trying to get a nut like squirrels in his mad world / Land of milk and honey with the swirls / Where reckless naked girls / Get necklaces of pearls.” The rap floats over lightly snowing static, funky, staccato guitar flicks and wobbling piano. The song evokes a feeling of an urban, spaghetti western, jazz bar and the lyrics make sense in phrases without conveying any concrete message. This results in an album with no consistent lyrical focus. Doom and his guests broach many topics such as relationship infidelity, marijuana use and the perceptions created by the passage of time.

Madlib’s low-key music production mostly consists of loops that emerge and submerge within the great sprawl of noise. Almost any instrument is fair game, including accordions and lots of screaming, vibrato-soaked jazz brass, and the music has a predominately retro feel. The more modern-sounding instrumentation is shaped within the bass and drum work, the two of which melt together into one single presence. This is accomplished by tricky rhythmic coordination and a soft texture to the bass that lets it sink into its surroundings. The music is varied enough so that no two songs even sound remotely the same, but the album still has an undeniable cohesiveness.

Madvillainy’s cohesiveness is due to the cooperation between Madlib and MF Doom. Doom’s voice adds some consistency to an otherwise completely varied album, while Madlib’s beats help organize the vocals into phrases by highlighting natural swells and breaks. Madlib times the music’s dynamic shifts, loop introductions and resolutions in perfect coordination with Doom’s vocals. The result of their cooperation is the feeling that the album was created by one mind instead of two.

Additionally, the consistent tone of the vocal samples mix with some inspired song transitions to enhance the album’s cohesiveness and give it a melodramatic atmosphere. It evokes a world of outrageous superheroes and villains. And although the two artists that made Madvillainy happen to be on the side of evil, they are not threatening, and their genius cannot be denied.

Grade: A