Madlib is the best-known name of Otis Jackson Jr., a producer, DJ and multi-instrumentalist born in 1973 and raised in Oxnard, California. Signed to Stones Throw with his group Lootpack in 1998, he became known for an enormous record collection and a restless output under many aliases, including the alter ego Quasimoto, the jazz project Yesterdays New Quintet and the Beat Konducta series of beat albums.
His collaboration with MF DOOM as Madvillain, Madvillainy (2004), is one of the most admired underground hip hop albums, and with J Dilla he formed the duo Jaylib. In 2003 Blue Note gave him access to its archive for Shades of Blue, which reworked recordings by artists such as Donald Byrd, Bobbi Humphrey and Bobby Hutcherson. Later projects include Piñata (2014) with Freddie Gibbs and Sound Ancestors (2021), made with Four Tet. His dusty, sample-heavy style is a constant reference point in lo-fi.