Madlib's production on the album Piñata is so thought-out and perfect, I feel like I need to take notes on it. Inevitably I have been, at least mentally.

Freddie Gibbs is the captain on verse-spitting duty, definitely earning his keep for that job.

>OF collective comes in with Earl Sweatshirt and Domo motherfuckin' Genesis. Ex-ce-leeeeeent.

>Danny Brown does Danny and for once in a long time I don't hate him for it. Danny is really smart about his appearances on this record.

>Ab-Soul brings his crazy style but I don't enough about him yet (if you do, comment what I should listen to) along with some personally lesser-known names like BJ The Chicago Kid, Scarface, Polyester the Saint, G-Wiz, Suleiman and, of course, Madlib obeys his parents by finishing up with his Casey Veggies. I'll be here all week.

Let this album roll and if you're not usually too attentive to the production (these are the "beats"!), tune your ear to the bass guitar/upright bass work, some of the great live instrumentations, the rhythms and percussion, and the incredible samples (these are the "OHMAGOD HE RIPPED THAT RIGHT OFF OF [INSERT OLD JAZZ RECORDING]!!!") bits that polish each piece to perfection.

Enjoy!