Get ready for a cosmic journey with Lord Quas in his third album “Yessir Whatever.” California based producer Madlib decided to rap over his beats one day, creating Quasimoto. His voice was too deep for his liking, so he decided to alter his voice, slowing the recorder down, rapping slowly and speeding the recording back up. The sound the process produced was a high-pitched yet authoritative voice of reason and outright delinquency. His alter ego Madlib, the person who lived in the flesh, would joined in. This is Quasi’s album and thus his world and Madlib is only a guest.
Madlib, who is a notable vinyl fanatic, gave the album a distinct feel. When the tone arm hits the wax the journey begins. It’s loud, it’s thumping and it sounds good. Quasimoto and Madlib rap along in a ribbing manner. It’s the same person talking to them self between two voices. It reminds you of Smeagol. The thing needs to be played on vinyl no matter what setup. I’ve played the album on my basic set up with buzzing from a taped on ground wire many times. I’ve also played it on my junky Crosley that distorts and quiets the album. Turning the dial as far as it goes until the sound crackles still doesn’t do much to the sound, but every time this album is wonderful.
It’s a gritty and vulgar album with verses straight from the streets. A man who chose music above all else blares out his music from within a car. That’s the vibe of the whole album and you feel the night shroud around the music and the stereo. It doesn’t feel right to pull this record out of the shelf unless it’s well past midnight. The tunes carrying Quasimoto’s strange speedy raps makes you feel the funk.
The record has pop art from front to bark and even includes a 45. Everything on the album was recorded “between the late 1990s and the present and the future,” according to the back of the album. It does not disappoint and was worth the Record Store Day purchase. Don’t go as far as being fictitiously Criminal as Lord Quas, but most certainly listen to this album on vinyl. It’s funky.
Reach the writer for suggestions, comments, or angry lofty demands via twitter @jesse_millard or at jamillar@asu.edu.
Jesse Millard, junior, is a journalism major at the school where everyone wears gold “a bit too much.” He spends his time going to class, drinking coffee, listening to records, reading, writing, etc. Also, he finds himself writing quick 2-3 sentence long bios in the third person, more often than not.
