Top 35 Madlib Quotes

My computer? I never use a computer. It’s too easy.

I’ve always done music with so-called thug- or gangster-type lyricists. I’ve always been associated with that because I’m from the West Coast.

Dizzy Gillespie would come by, eating gumbo. It was crazy. My grandparents were friends with all of them. Dee Dee Bridgewater, all of them, they’d come through.

I do a few shows every year, but I’m mostly at home, making music. Day and night.

You have to work how you work.

I like white wine, Riesling.

I’m a man of few words.

I love zebras.

The equipment doesn’t matter, it’s the vibe you put into it. If the music sounds good, music sounds good.

I’m a jokester, man.

I think a lot of guys are influenced by ‘Pinata.’ I fathered a lot of styles off that album.

I like my space.

I get bored with music so I try to listen to things in different types of genre to see what’s possible.

As far as hip hop, I ain’t even gonna front, it was ‘Rapper’s Delight.’ That was the first thing I heard where I was like, ‘Whoa.’ You take that beat and do something over it. I started collecting records after that, old records.

My pops had me at the studio since I was born. That’s why I got into music. He would let me go up on the controls and mess with stuff.

I’m usually bored with both gangsta rappers and underground ones, too.

I’m a laid back dude, I don’t really get excited.

Sometimes I will slow down the beat for one bar on purpose, just to see if the rapper can adapt his flow and stay on beat.

My family brainwashed me, like I’m brainwashing my children. They brainwashed me with good taste.

I don’t like drama in my life, but I like reading about it.

I studied jazz at home with my grandparents. They always had jazz dudes at the house, but I didn’t study formally. I just hung around a lot of musicians.

I’ll take two months off just to listen to records and not do any music so I can absorb all that and then when I go do my music. It’s all in me. I’ll listen to a different genre every two days or something, study it, 24 hours straight.

Dudes I work with have to be like-minded to where I just hand them a beat that has a chorus and they can do with them what they gotta do. If they can’t do that, I usually don’t work with ’em.

Some people think I’m crazy, but I’m just a normal dude that loves music.

Interviews are my least favorite thing to do.

There were a certain amount of people that were down with me, and we would just sit in the room and make music.

I’ll always work with Stones Throw, but I’m trying to start my own label to release my old material and sign new artists. I want to do everything from rock, to jazz, to electronic, to noise records and movie sound tracks. Both sampled and original music.

I try to challenge my ears. I get bored easily.

I grew up on Public Enemy, which had a message with great music behind it.

I don’t have beef with anybody.

The iPad is the greatest thing as far as kids.

I’ve got about three or four rooms of records, and two rooms of instruments.

Not anyone can rap to my beats.

I do it for myself and for like-minded people. Half the time I don’t know why I make what I do. I’d do this if no one was listening. I’m stuck. I’ve got the curse.

I used to memorize music when I was real young. Schoolwork, not so much. But music I could remember.