Madlib / Arabian Prince

Why

mess with perfection That was the underlying question behind the tragically

Will.I.Am-heavy recent Thriller re-issue. The same question dogs Madvillainy 2:

The Madlib Remix, an

album that finds Madlib scribbling all over one of his signature masterpieces—a

2004 collaboration with fellow eccentric MF Doom—via new beats, new song

titles, a remix of Dangerdoom's "Space Ho's," and interludes rooted in

everything from Redd Foxx jokes to recording-studio chatter. The tweaked tracks

on Madvillainy 2 seldom

improve on the originals, though "Running Around With Another" compellingly

re-imagines Madvillainy's most emotional song ("Fancy Clown") as a hyper-soul wail of

heartbreak and romantic despair, and the entire project is informed by a

free-associative, non-linear spaciness. It's always a treat rummaging through

Madlib's overstuffed musical psyche, but where Madvillain was the perfect entryway

to Madlib and MF Doom's warped sonic kingdoms, Madvillainy 2 gives off a distinct "Fans

only" vibe.

Like

Madvillainy 2, Stones

Throw's Arabian Prince compilation Innovative Life has an alternate-universe

quality. It's a fascinating, sometimes revelatory look at what '80s West Coast

hip-hop might have sounded like if it took its cues from new wave, electro-funk,

and Kraftwerk instead of George Clinton and Too $hort. Arabian Prince is best

known as an original member of NWA, and listening to his chilly, forceful

compositions and robotic raps, it's easy to hear both why the seminal outfit

wanted him in the group, and why his stint with NWA was short-lived. (For one

thing, the group already had a pretty accomplished in-house producer named Dr.

Dre.) The 12 dance-floor-friendly tracks include solo work, an NWA song ("Panic

Zone"), a track recorded under the comic-book pseudonym Professor X, and a song

he produced for J.B. Beat ("Freak City"). The latter takes the retro-futuristic

robot vibe even further, with a vocoderized vocal from J.B. Beat paying homage

to the titular dance-floor utopia. The icily infectious Innovative Life, with its monster electro

grooves and abundant personality, illustrates indelibly that Arabian Prince was

and is so much more than NWA's cursed answer to Pete Best.