Quasimoto is a recognizable character in various hip-hop circles, typically spotted with a joint and a brick. He is the imaginative invention of legendary DJ/producer #Madlib, notorious for creating alternative personas. The idea of Quasimoto came during the very beginning of Madlib's career when he was still unknown as a beatmaker. For fun, he would freestyle on his own beats in between creating new ones but never enjoyed the deepness of his voice. He slowed down the beat's tempo and rap in slo-mo, playing it back at regular speed to create the high-pitched sound that became the voice of Quasimoto. How Madlib envisioned Quas was heavily inspired by a french sci-fi film, La Planete Sauvage, which gave much sonic inspiration for Quas's first album âThe Unseen.â
While climbing the ranks of Cali's underground scene, some Quasimoto recordings caught the attention of Peanut Butter Wolf, founder of Stones Throw. He began to guest feature on more songs and built a buzz for an official album. His first feature was on the Lootpack âwhenimondamicâ single and was personified in the music video by Wildchild dressed as an alien from La Planete Sauvage.
Initially, he was to remain unseen. There was never a plan for the Q-Bert-Esque image he is known by today. The first appearance of the smoking, fuzzy, snouted thing was drawn by DJ Design for Quasimoto's âMicrophone Mathematicsâ single. In the marketing campaign for The Unseen, the fuzzy character appeared on merch with a brick in hand and a joint in his mouth to represent the lyrics of the track âBad Character,â but fans referred to him as Quasimoto. Madlib and Stones Throw went along with it, and it has been depicted that way ever since.
Quas has retained some popularity in the years after his first album, with a few follow-up albums and appearances on tracks with the likes of DOOM and Dilla. In recent years, Madlib has claimed to have a strained relationship with Quas and described him as the only person he doesn't get along with. It seems like we won't have new Quasimoto music anytime soon, but he can still be found in hip-hop creatorsâ and fans' images.