Jaylib - Champion Sound

Two of underground hip-hop's most revered producers made an album from opposite ends of the country. J Dilla in Detroit and Madlib in Oxnard, California traded instrumentals back and forth, each rapping over the other's beats, and Champion Sound is the singular result: a head-to-head exchange between two obsessive crate-diggers pushing each other somewhere strange.

The contrast is the whole point. Dilla's swing and woozy drums sit next to Madlib's murky, psychedelic samples, and both men clearly enjoy being on the other side of the mic. "McNasty Filth" with Frank-N-Dank is gleefully raw, "The Red" and "The Official" were the album's first single, "Raw Shit" pulls in Talib Kweli, and Madlib's alter ego Quasimoto shows up on "React," with Guilty Simpson and Percee P rounding out the guest list.

Released on Stones Throw in 2003, it was never a commercial force, but critics embraced it and its reputation has only grown. It stands today as a cult landmark of indie rap.

A double LP on black vinyl, with the seventeen tracks spread over four sides.