The Unseen (album)

This article is about the 2000 Madlib album. For similarly titled albums, see Unseen (disambiguation).

The Unseen is the debut studio album by Quasimoto, a hip-hop duo composed of Madlib and his animated alter ego Lord Quas. It was released under Stones Throw Records on June 13, 2000. It was re-released in 2005 as a deluxe edition with a bonus CD containing the instrumental version of the album. The album was co-mixed by Kut Masta Kurt and Peanut Butter Wolf.^[1] The cover was designed by Jeff Jank.^[2]

The Unseen
Studio album by Quasimoto
Released	June 13, 2000 (2000-06-13)
Genre	West Coast hip hop jazz rap psychedelic rap experimental hip hop
Length	63:13
Label	Stones Throw
Producer	Madlib
Quasimoto chronology
The Unseen (2000) The Further Adventures of Lord Quas (2005)
Singles from The Unseen
"Microphone Mathematics" Released: 1999 "Come on Feet" Released: 2000 "Basic Instinct" Released: 2000

Background

Madlib initially created Quasimoto as someone to rap over his beats,^[3] since he didn't like the dark sound of his voice. On the cover, designed by Jeff Jank, Madlib originally thought of Quasimoto as an unknown person or entity, and on the other hand, Jeff Jank thought of Quasimoto as a yellow furry creature (due to the Microphone Mathematics single cover).^[4]

Madlib took mushrooms for a month while creating the album.^[5]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[6]
Mojo	[7]
Muzik	4/5[8]
NME	8/10[9]
Pitchfork	7.3/10 (2000)[10] 8.5/10 (2005)[11]
RapReviews	9/10[12]
Spin	7/10[13]

The Unseen received positive reviews upon release. Nathan Rabin of The A.V. Club said, "The Unseen represents a dramatic leap forward for Madlib as a producer, as he integrates left-field, found-sound samples with dexterity and wit that brings to mind Prince Paul's consistently surprising production work."^[14] Meanwhile, Michaelangelo Matos of City Pages said, "The Unseen bursts with so much found material it's tempting to think Madlib changed his name to escape litigation, pilfering everything from Augustus Pablo to Melvin Van Peebles to enough jazz artists to fill a West Village loft".^[1]

Steve Huey of AllMusic called it "one of the most imaginative albums of the new West Coast underground, a puzzling, psychedelic jazz-rap gem riddled with warped humor and fractured musical genius."^[6]

The Unseen ranked at number 17 on Spin's list of the best albums of 2000.^[15] Rhapsody ranked it at number seven on its "Hip-Hop's Best Albums of the Decade" list.^[16] In 2015, it ranked at number 29 on Fact's "100 Best Indie Hip-Hop Records of All Time" list.^[17] In that year, it was also listed by HipHopDX as one of the "30 Best Underground Hip Hop Albums Since 2000".^[18]

In popular culture

The song "Low Class Conspiracy" was on the soundtrack for the video game Tony Hawk's Underground.

Track listing

• All tracks produced by Madlib

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Welcome to Violence"	0:49
2.	"Bad Character"	1:56
3.	"Microphone Mathematics"	3:14
4.	"Basic Instinct"	2:10
5.	"Goodmorning Sunshine"	2:57
6.	"Discipline 99, Pt. 0" (featuring Mr. Herb)	2:32
7.	"Low Class Conspiracy"	2:26
8.	"Return of the Loop Digga"	3:46
9.	"Real Eyes"	3:22
10.	"Come on Feet"	3:35
11.	"Bluffin"	2:47
12.	"Boom Music"	2:47
13.	"MHBs"	2:02
14.	"Put a Curse on You"	1:46
15.	"Astro Black"	3:17
16.	"Green Power"	2:59
17.	"Jazz Cats, Pt. 1"	2:43
18.	"24-7" (featuring Medaphoar)	2:48
19.	"The Unseen"	2:53
20.	"Phony Game"	1:56
21.	"Astro Travellin"	2:58
22.	"Blitz"	1:16
23.	"Axe Puzzles"	2:34
24.	"Discipline 99, Pt. 1" (featuring Wildchild)	3:36