The Unseen (album)

The Unseen
Studio album by
Quasimoto
ReleasedJune 13, 2000 (2000-06-13)
Genres
Length63:13
LabelStones Throw
ProducerMadlib
Quasimoto chronology
The Unseen
(2000)		 The Further Adventures of Lord Quas
(2005)
Singles from The Unseen
  1. "Microphone Mathematics"
    Released: 1999
  2. "Come on Feet"
    Released: 2000
  3. "Basic Instinct"
    Released: 2000

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 Unseen received critical acclaim at the time of its release, and is considered an essential album in underground hip-hop.

Background

Madlib initially created Quasimoto in the 1990s as someone to rap over his beats,[1] since he didn't like the dark sound of his voice. He made music as Quasimoto for his own private listening, but Peanut Butter Wolf, the head of Stones Throw, convinced him to release these recordings.[1] Madlib was also on a psychedelic mushroom trip for a month while creating The Unseen,[2][3] which in turn caused the album's psychedelic and hallucinogenic sound.[3][4] According to Madlib, he was "real high" during the trip and conceived the character Lord Quas because of it.[3] Madlib used the E-mu SP-1200 to produce the beats for the album.[5]

On the cover, designed by Jeff Jank, features a completely different design of Quas, as a white, ghost-like silhouette. Madlib originally thought of Lord Quas as an unknown person or entity, but on the other hand, Jeff Jank thought of him as a yellow furry creature (due to the Microphone Mathematics single cover).[6]

The album was co-mixed by Kut Masta Kurt and Peanut Butter Wolf.[7] The cover was designed by Jeff Jank.[6]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusicStarStarStarStarStar[8]
MojoStarStarStarStar[9]
Muzik4/5[10]
NME8/10[11]
Pitchfork7.3/10 (2000)[12]
8.5/10 (2005)[13]
RapReviews9/10[14]
Spin7/10[15]

The Unseen received overwhelmingly 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."[16] 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".[7]

Spin Magazine writer Neil Drumming wrote "Quas is not your typical thesaurus-hugging indie hop snob. Not exactly. When he's not rubbing your nose in his soul jazz imports, he's tweakin' em with subtle scratch fills, background babble, and transmogrifying drum patterns."[15]

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."[8]

Accolades

The Unseen ranked at number 17 on Spin's list of the best albums of 2000.[17] Rhapsody ranked it at number seven on its "Hip-Hop's Best Albums of the Decade" list.[18] In 2015, it ranked at number 29 on Fact's "100 Best Indie Hip-Hop Records of All Time" list.[19] In that year, it was also listed by HipHopDX as one of the "30 Best Underground Hip Hop Albums Since 2000".[20]

The song "Low Class Conspiracy" was on the soundtrack for the video game Tony Hawk's Underground.[21]

Track listing

No.TitleLength
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
Total length:63:13

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the back cover.[22]

References

  1. 1 2 jeffjank (April 4, 2022). "Restock: Quasimoto - The Unseen". Stones Throw Records. Retrieved June 29, 2025.
  2. ↑ Montesinos-Donaghy, Daniel (April 1, 2014). "Our Vinyl Weighs A Ton: We went to a Q&A with Stones Throw Founder Peanut Butter Wolf". Vice. Retrieved December 10, 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 admin (July 1, 2000). "Sleazenation". Stones Throw Records. Retrieved June 17, 2026.
  4. ↑ admin (September 1, 2004). "Getting To Know Madlib". Stones Throw Records. Retrieved June 17, 2026.
  5. ↑ admin (May 11, 2005). "Lord Quas!". Stones Throw Records. Retrieved August 12, 2026.
  6. 1 2 Hines, James (October 13, 2015). "Under The Covers: Stones Throw Records". Red Bull. Archived from the original on October 16, 2015. Retrieved December 10, 2015.
  7. 1 2 Matos, Michaelangelo (September 27, 2000). "Quasimoto: The Unseen". City Pages. Archived from the original on December 22, 2015. Retrieved December 10, 2015.
  8. 1 2 Huey, Steve. "The Unseen – Quasimoto". AllMusic. Retrieved September 4, 2020.
  9. ↑ Chick, Stevie (January 2005). "Quasimoto: The Unseen". Mojo. No. 134. p. 112.
  10. ↑ Ashon, Will (September 2000). "Quasimoto: The Unseen". Muzik. No. 64. p. 97.
  11. ↑ "Quasimoto: The Unseen". NME. September 4, 2000. p. 35.
  12. ↑ Murray, S. (June 27, 2000). "Quasimoto: The Unseen". Pitchfork. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
  13. ↑ Macia, Peter (August 31, 2005). "Quasimoto: The Unseen". Pitchfork. Retrieved December 10, 2015.
  14. ↑ Tomer, Matt (November 28, 2006). "Quasimoto :: The Unseen :: Stones Throw Records". RapReviews. Retrieved December 16, 2018.
  15. 1 2 Drumming, Neil (October 2000). "Quasimoto: The Unseen". Spin. Vol. 16, no. 10. pp. 175–176. Retrieved December 10, 2015.
  16. ↑ Rabin, Nathan (March 29, 2002). "Quasimoto: The Unseen". The A.V. Club. Retrieved December 10, 2015.
  17. ↑ "The Top 20 Albums of the Year". Spin. Vol. 17, no. 1. January 2001. pp. 72–73. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
  18. ↑ Chennault, Sam (October 31, 2009). "Hip-Hop's Best Albums of the Decade". Rhapsody. Archived from the original on December 8, 2009. Retrieved December 10, 2015.
  19. ↑ Piyevsky, Alex; Geng; Twells, John; Son Raw; Rascobeamer, Jeff (February 25, 2015). "The 100 best indie hip-hop records of all time". Fact. p. 73. Retrieved December 10, 2015.
  20. ↑ "The 30 Best Underground Hip Hop Albums Since 2000". HipHopDX. August 26, 2015. Retrieved December 10, 2015.
  21. ↑ "The Sounds of Tony Hawk's Underground". GameSpot. Retrieved August 6, 2026.
  22. ↑ Quasimoto (2000). The Unseen (back cover). Los Angeles, California: Stones Throw Records. STH2025-1.
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