The first two volumes of Beat Konducta, Movie Scenes, were a soundtrack to a movie that existed only in Madlib’s mind. It’s score ranged from Blaxploitation soul to African-psychedelia, from Tropicalia to moody progressive rock. The second installment took its listeners on a tour of Bollywood, circa 1975. Beat Konducta In India paid sincere tribute to musical giants largely unheard of by Western ears. And kept the funk levels up all the way.
Beat Konducta Vol. 5-6: A Tribute to... is a 42-track piece dedicated to the late J Dilla. Madlib and J. Rocc – arguably Dilla’s closest musical compatriots during his time spent in Los Angeles – lovingly remember their friend and reflect on his boundless influence. As was the case with Donuts and in keeping with the Beat Konducta’s all-embracing musical bent, this album does not settle into one groove for too long. The result is a transfixing, sometimes jarring, and always soulful homage to the man Madlib crowned “King Of The Beats.”