Stream Madlib & Oh No’s New Album The Professionals
Two of our finest hazily adventurous rapper/producers were born into the family. Madlib and his younger brother Oh No have both been making music for many, many years. Most of the time, though, they have not been making music together. Over the years, Madlib and Oh No have linked up a few times to record tracks, referring to themselves as the Professionals. Today, we finally get the first-ever full-length Professionals project.
While it would be cool to hear what might happen if Madlib and Oh No traded off verses, and if they produced tracks together, that’s not what this Professionals album is. Instead, Madlib produced all the beats on the album, and Oh No rapped on all the songs. But that’s still pretty good! Oh No is a strong, solid rapper. Madlib, meanwhile, is one of the greatest indie-rap producers of all time. The Professionals arrives less than a year after Madlib teamed up with Freddie Gibbs on Bandana. The Professionals is not Bandana. It’s not Madvillainy, either. But it’s still a full album of Madlib producing woozy, blunted tracks for a single rapper. On its face, that is worthy of your attention.
We’ve already posted “Superhumans,” the Professionals track with guest-verses from Chino XL and Elzhi. On this album, it’s atypical. Other than one appearance from California rapper Adub, The Professionals is free of guest-rappers. Instead, it’s just younger brother Oh No going in over some murky, stumbling Madlib beats. Stream it below.
The Professionals is out now on Madlib Invazion.