Approaching Perfection #3: Madvillain - "All Caps"

MF DOOM and Madlib's modern classic revolves around a series of genius samples from cult TV shows

We all have those undeniable songs, the ones that always hit the mark. In this new series, Approaching Perfection, I’m going to explore some of my all-time favourites and the stories behind my affection for them.

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“Just remember all caps when you spell the man name”

The best MF DOOM track? His strongest record? The sharpest verse? Standout collaboration? These questions are all up for debate.

But those ten words, taken from the 2004 Madvillain masterpiece “All Caps”, comprise what is unquestionably DOOM’s signature line.

Madvillainy — the parent album of “All Caps” — is a stellar achievement. A majestic suite of expertly crafted beats, killer samples, and strung-out interludes, knitted together by an all-time great MC at the peak of his powers. But of its myriad highlights, “All Caps” hits differently. The beat, the samples, the rhymes, the flow, the pop accompanying the “madman never go *pop* like snot bubbles” line — if there’s a better moment in 2000s Hip Hop, I’m yet to hear it.

The video for “All Caps” is pretty much perfect, too.

I could sing the praises of MF DOOM all day, but I want to focus on the instrumental side of things in this article.

There are three highly distinctive samples in “All Caps” that lay the foundation for DOOM to work his magic. The first of these forms the intro. It’s just a couple of chords followed by a little flourish in a distinctive mid-70s vibe, but it builds a brief tension that is immediately shattered by Madlib’s brutally simple beat. The source material could hardly be more obscure. It’s a short clip of incidental music from a 1975 episode of The Streets of San Francisco, a crime drama starring a young Michael Douglas.

The beat itself is taken from Hip Hop favourite, “Bumpin’ Bus Stop” by Thunder and Lightning. Variations on this beat feature in a litany of well-known tunes, including Kanye West’s 2005 hit “Gold Digger”.

Samples two and three originate from the same source material. There’s a short, choppy loop — imagine a piano falling down a flight of stairs — and a longer segment, which propels DOOM’s immaculate verses. Both come from a 1968 episode of the cult American crime drama series Ironside called “The Macabre Mr Micawber”, which incidentally features a guest appearance by Burgess Meredith. Mr Micawber is Meredith’s pet bird — who talks. It’s wild.

Of course, many producers have sampled the iconic Quincy Jones theme from Ironside. It’s a classic theme tune, arguably one of the finest in TV history. It even plays a central role in Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill films. Obviously, Madlib is not like other producers. His preference is for the deeper cut, in this case, a snippet of mid-episode incidental music attributed to Emmy-winning composer Billy Goldenberg. You can find the piano riff towards the end of the embedded clip below. In creating his eventual loop, Madlib has evidently upped the tempo and altered the pitch subtly. I’m blown away by his artistic vision. Did he really visualise all of this on the sofa with a TV remote in hand?

As it happens, I also sampled Ironside on a music project once. Sadly, “The Revenge of Ironside” was anything but a classic — and I fried my computer sound card recording the bassline — but it did shift at least five copies on MP3.com back in the halcyon days of 1998. That’s six years before Madlib, for the record. You will never hear it, but I’m happy to share a photo.

I hadn’t heard this for twenty years. It was even more mediocre than I remembered. And yes, the photo is a little pixellated.

Questionable teenage recordings aside, Ironside does occupy a special place in my heart. I watched most of its 199 episodes during the mid to late 90s when the BBC’s regular daytime re-runs offered a welcome distraction from study. I basically built my routine around Ironside. It hasn’t aged too well, but that’s a different story for a different newsletter.

Thankfully, “All Caps” has aged well. Over twenty years after its release, it still sounds vital — and unlike anything else. It is a stone-cold classic and a masterclass in sampling from one of the best in the business.

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Stones Throw released Madvillainy Demos on vinyl for the first time last month. Here’s the early version of “All Caps” — please do feel free to compare and contrast in the comments.

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