In Search of Stoney Jackson

VINYL FORMAT. The Madlib/Strong Arm Steady collaboration album Stoney Jackson came together in a flurry of creative energy over the past six months. Prompted by Madlib's stalwart DJ J. Rocc, who supplied SAS's Krondon and Phil Da Agony with fourteen new Madlib beats, this album's conception and delivery bear resemblance to the trajectory took by 2003's Jaylib (with J. Dilla) and 2004's Madvillian (with DOOM). Strong Arm Steady had previously rapped over Madlib's music on their mixtape/album Deep Hearted and on the Talib Kweli/Madlib album Liberation. The Stoney Jackson album unfolds over sixteen tracks and is a brisk, exciting hip hop record. Krondon and Phil supply the majority of the vocals with the third SAS member Mitchy Slick; guest appearances include Talib Kweli, Guilty Simpson, Little Brother's Phonte, Planet Asia, and a host of underground Los Angeles's emerging rap talent. Stoney Jackson represents Madlib's return to the hip hop fold and sets the scene for the OJ Simpson collaboration he's finishing with Guilty Simpson.