Madlib

Here’s Everything We Know So Far About Mac Miller And Madlib’s Album

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Mac Miller Music Choice Take Back Your Music Campaign 2013
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It’s been nearly five years since the tragic death of Mac Miller. The estate of the late rapper has worked hard to manage the requests from his fans for more works featuring Miller while uploading his legacy. Whether through the release of unreleased footage, uploading past projects to streaming, launching a grant program in his honor, or on the flipside denouncing unauthorized works, Miller’s estate has remained very active.

The estate’s latest approval has fans jumping for joy. Legendary producer Madlib and Mac Miller’s collaborative project Maclib will finally see the light of day. During Madlib’s appearance on Sway In The Morning, the musician revealed that the estate had finally approved its release.

Although Madlib didn’t share much about the project during the interview, he’s what we do know. Mac Miller and Madlib began working on the project sometime before Mac’s 2018 death. When host Sway asked Madlib about the project, calling it Maclib, the producer did not correct the name of the project. So, it is safe to assume the name has not yet changed. Also, during the interview, Madlib discussed that there were are few other projects he’s working on, so Maclib, could drop Maclib after those are done. A formal release date was not given, but during the chat, he didn’t rule out the project being released before the year’s end.

Madlib has previewed different parts of the project at his shows, but he has made it clear that it may not be a full-length project but rather he EP because of how much original material was recorded.

Mac Miller is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Madlib Confirms That His And Mac Miller’s Collab Album ‘Maclib’ Is Being Finished And Released With The Estate’s Approval

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For a time, it appeared that we’d gotten all the Mac Miller music we were ever going to after the rapper died in 2018. However, there was one project left that many fans still held out hope for: Maclib, a collaborative album with legendary Los Angeles producer Madlib, who has previously released well-received joint albums with the likes of J Dilla, Freddie Gibbs, and Talib Kweli.

Unfortunately, the likelihood of Maclib‘s release has been in doubt ever since shortly after producer Thelonious Martin revealed its existence. Although Madlib has occasionally played bits and pieces of the project in his live sets, he also noted that only about an EP’s worth of material was recorded and it wasn’t likely to see release.

However, Madlib restored hope this week when he and Kweli appeared on Sway In The Morning to talk about their latest album Liberation 2. In an aside during the interview, Madlib began listing some of the projects he has in the works including albums with Planet Asia and Erykah Badu. But it was the mention of Mac Miller that perked up Sway’s ears.

“Is that the same project that was mentioned years ago after he passed that was never released?” he asked. “Yessir,” Madlib confirmed. Sway, like the rest of us, couldn’t contain his excitement: “We ’bout to some new Mac Miller!” he exclaimed. Let’s all hope it’s sooner rather than later.

You can watch Madlib’s full interview with Talib Kweli and Sway above.

Madlib Says He’s “Finishing Up” Mac Miller Collab Album

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The long-awaited MacLib album by Mac Miller and MadLib is officially on the way. Madlib joined Talib Kweli on Sway In The Morning to promote Liberation 2, which Mac appears on posthumously. The legendary producer revealed that he’s wrapping up MacLib right now, as well as with a project with Erykah Badu. “Right now, I’m finishing up the Mac Miller album, Planet Asia album, Erykah Badu album, different stuff,” Madlib said. “[Erykah and I] just started on an album … We have a lot of unreleased stuff.”

The fact that there are now plans to release MacLib is a full 180 from previous statements made by Madlib in 2019. A few months after Mac Miller’s passing, the Pinata producer explained that there were no definitive plans to release the project. “The song still doesn’t have an official title, and there are no official plans to release the EP,” Madlib wrote on Rappcats.com shortly after previewing one of their collabs during a DJ set. However, during the interview with Sway, he confirmed that Mac’s family green-lit the release of the highly-anticipated project. 

The History Of MadLib: Mac Miller & Madlib’s Relationship

The news of the project’s existence first came to light in 2019 when Thelonious Martin detailed opening up for Madlib. “So I’m trying to focus and DJ, and Madlib gets on and 15 minutes into his set he just randomly plays a Mac Miller joint. And I turn to him, I’m like, ‘There’s more of these, right?’ He said, ‘Oh yeah, there’s a whole album. Maclib,’” Martin told DJBooth, though that was all we really knew of it at the time. 

The two met when working on Freddie Gibbs’ Pinata, leading Madlib to send Mac Miller beats every once and a while. Over time, Mac would send records back, which eventually culminated into an “EP’s worth of music,” according to Madlib’s manager Eothen “Egon” Alapatt. “What exists is what the two had originally intended: an EP’s worth of music that was supposed to be the start of something,” Egon said in 2019. Hopefully, we’ll see the project drop in its entirety at some point this year. Stay tuned for more news on MacLib. 

Talib Kweli, Madlib, And Diani Discuss The State Of Other Rappers In Their ‘Air Quotes’ Music Video

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Talib Kweli, Madlib, and Diani have dropped their new music video for the “Air Quotes” collab. The free-flowing song finds them reflecting on the current state of the rap industry.

“Most rappers cowards cuz they scared to be conscious / They only care about they pockets / This is not a popularity contest,” Kweli raps during his verse. “B*tches is tasteless and disappointing / And I didn’t give ’em my ear to / Air sh*t / I’m a heiress / I’m the one they compare to.”

The video, which was shot by Chino Chase, finds the trio rapping in front of various backdrops, including a stack of boomboxes and an artsy mural.

Kweli and Madlib most recently released their joint album, Liberation 2, which is available to stream on Luminary. It includes additional features with Q-Tip, Roc Marciano, Westside Gunn, Mac Miller, Roy Ayers, Goapele, Seun Kut, and more.

“Liberation 2 with Madlib will be on Luminary as well as vinyl after the Luminary release. People’s Party is still going strong — headed into a third season and just dropping our Season 2 finale, with Yasiin Bey — and I am happy about that,” Kweli told Uproxx about the album last fall.

Check out Talib Kweli and Madlib’s “Air Quotes” featuring Diani above.

Talib Kweli And Madlib Reunite For ‘Liberation 2,’ A Sequel To Their Fan-Favorite 2007 Album

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Talib Kweli and Madlib have announced that they are reuniting for a sequel to one of their most beloved projects. Liberation 2, due March 6, will be released through the Luminary podcast network, echoing the nontraditional release of the original in 2007.

The album is set to feature collaborations with Q-Tip, Roc Marciano, and Westside Gunn, along with a posthumous appearance from Mac Miller. In a statement accompanying the announcement, Kweli detailed the album’s decade-long recording process and its content:

“People today are taking stock of what is most important — family, health, wellness, love. The materialism and debauchery that is stereotypically associated with hip-hop has lost some of its luster. Madlib and I have been consistent in our messaging. Never has there been a better time for such honest, message-driven music that pays tribute to the sounds that came before us.”

In 2007, Kweli and Madlib teamed up to release Liberation, which was available as a free download from Stones Throw’s Rappcats website. The album was seen as a return to form for Kweli after 2004’s The Beautiful Struggle disappointed some listeners.

Madlib’s beats were seen as a perfect compliment to Kweli’s rhymes; the two have since collaborated a few more times, including most recently on Kweli and Yasiin Bey’s Black Star reunion album No Fear of Time, which was also released through Luminary. Madlib also recently released a critically acclaimed project with Freddie Gibbs, Bandana.

The first single is “After These Messages,” the video for which you can watch above.

Liberation 2 is due 3/6 on Luminary.