Madvillain’s Madvillainy

by Will Hagle

This book celebrates Madvillainy as a representation of two genius musical minds melding to form one revered supervillain. A product of circumstance, the album came together soon after MF DOOM’s resurgence and Madlib’s reluctant return from avant-garde jazz to hip-hop.

Written from the alternating perspectives of three fake music journalist superheroes-featuring interviews with Wildchild, M.E.D., Walasia, Daedelus, Stones Throw execs, and many other real individuals involved with the album’s creation-this book blends fiction and non-fiction to celebrate Madvillainy not just as an album, but as a folkloric artifact. It is one specific retelling of a story which, like Madvillain’s music, continues to spawn infinite legends.

Paperback | 160 pages | Bloomsbury Publishing | 2023

Will Hagle is a writer from Champaign, Illinois living in Los Angeles, California. He is the author of Madvillain’s Madvillainy (Bloomsbury 2023). His non-fiction has appeared in Rolling Stone, The Ringer, Complex, Passion of the Weiss, Lyrics as Poetry, and more and his fiction has appeared in Across the Margin and Flash Fiction Magazine.