Quasimoto is a side project of hip-hop producer Madlib, from Oxnard, California. Quasimoto is composed of Madlib and his animated alter ego Lord Quas. Lord Quas is known for his high-pitched voice, which often interacts with Madlib’s regular voice. Quasimoto was conceived of one day in the studio when Madlib decided to rap to his own beats.
Madlib did not like the sound of his voice, so he decided to slow his recorder down, rap slowly, and then speed the recording back up to produce Lord Quas’ distinctive high-pitched sound. Quasimoto’s lyrics frequently address themes such as violence and drug use in a comedic fashion, and the character of Lord Quas has been interpreted as a satirical take on gangsta rap.
Madlib’s original idea for his character was to make him an “unknown person or entity”, hence the title of Quasimoto’s debut album, The Unseen. While the character was depicted as a humanoid white figure on The Unseen’s album cover, the character’s appearance was changed after fans started identifying him as a creature on the cover of the single Microphone Mathematics, drawn by Keith Beats. The next covers were then designed by Stone Throw Records’ art director Jeff Janks.
01 - Cover of “Yessir Whatever”, 2013.
02 - Cover of “Microphone Mathematics”, 1999
03 - Illustration in “The Unseen” packaging.
04 - Cover of “The Further Adventures Instrumentals”, 2013.
05 - Back cover of “Yessir Whatever”.
