For someone who probably won’t get alot of shine in major media outlets, Madlib’s had a prolific career. Having collaborated with everyone from MF Doom to Talib Kweli, he’s rivaled all but Kool Keith in terms of putting out albums, mixtapes, collaborations, or instrumental. The bevy of work hasn’t translated into mainstream accolades, but it has earned him respect and name recognition within Hip-Hop underground and internet communities.

At the same time, putting out a new project every four months almost guarantees some of the matierial will not be up to standards (See: Bone Thugs.) Such is the case with Madlib’s latest LP,  WLIB AM: King of the Wigflip. The album is a mish-mash of samples, instrumental segments and occasional full-length songs that doesn’t have the consistent level of high-quality musical innovation to make up for its fragmented nature.

The high points of the album are the collaborations. “What It Do” features Talib Kweli outshining every other guest on the album with a typical thought rumination on the world and people around us. The best track is “Gamble On Your Boy” featuring Defari. The monotone battle rhymes meld perfectly with Madlib’s big bass and funky horns. Other tracks, like “The Thang-Thang” assisted by Prince Po and the fierce “I Want It Back,” build on this theme of retro Hip-Hop beats and rhymes that could have been the foundation of a successful album.

Unfortunately, at 24 tracks, there is too much filler that make the listener reach for the fast forward button. Maybe “Disco Dance,” would be good at a rave, but sober it lags while “Tension,” sounds like a bad Nintendo soundtrack. These parts of the album are DJ Shadow gone awry; an artist’s attempt to create piece together beautiful music out of noise that falls flat.

With so much time devoted to uninteresting musical experimentation, it’s difficult to stay focused or engaged with the album. At the lowest points, it descends into the unlistenable. “Blindfold Test # 10,” with its disharmonic horns and a piercingly irritating vocal alarm clock sound effect, is the most egregious example. But at least irritation is a reaction: the real problem with WLIB is that too many of the beats and rhymes are boring.

Madlib tries to push the envelope, but does not display the mastery or creativity needed to do so. In the end, an album must be judged on the quality of its content, and, like many radio stations out there, WLIB AM just doesn’t have enough of it.

2.5 CIGARETTES