So why is Viktor Vaughn’s Vaudeville Villain on this best 1,000 albums ever thing?
This entire album flows insanely well (but take note: some R-rated material lies within). The self-titled track opens with tremendous energy and power, and could almost serve as the perfect theme song for a movie called… Vaudeville Villain, I’d imagine?
“Lickupon” might be my favorite song on the album, with its almost hypnotic hip-hop flow and exceptional production.
And what can I say, I’m a sucker for a hip-hop song that drops a Fuddruckers reference. (And let’s see how fast you can guess what it rhymes with!).
The range that this album shows off is pretty astonishing as well. For example, “Can I Watch?” might be the best hip-hop “duet” I’ve ever heard. Featuring Apani B as the female counterpart to Vaughn, it’s slowed down, slightly strange, and has a very compelling hip-hop groove. And as on everything he produces, Vaughn’s hip-hop flow is so clean and distinctive that it sets an extremely high “floor” on everything he does.
This album also sounds like
Setting aside the many other personas that this hip-hop artist has used (see more on that below), Vaudeville Villain certainly has some similarities with collaborating partners such as Madlib and Danger Mouse. Beyond that, I’ll go with Wu-Tang alumnus Ghostface Killah from a hip-hop flow standpoint, and J Dilla in terms of the unusual, eclectic, and sample-filled production.
Pop culture stuff that’s somehow related to Viktor Vaughn’s Vaudeville Villain
It occurs to me that Daniel Dumile, the artist known as Viktor Vaughn on this album but is mostly widely known as MF Doom, is one of the great chameleons of music history. When you consider his output as Viktor Vaughn, MF Doom (multiple great albums), Madvillain (Madvillainy) in collaboration with Madlib, and particularly Danger Doom (The Mouse and the Mask) in collaboration with Danger Mouse, it’s a pretty tremendous body of work. And then don’t forget about Zev Love X, King Geedorah, Metal Fingers, Doom, Metal Face…
I tried to think if there were other artists who were this prolific under the guise of so many different personas, and I didn’t come close to finding a competitor. Some of the Wu-Tang crew (and especially the artist best known as Ol’ Dirty Bastard) liked to mess around in this vein, but Dumile – who sadly passed away in 2020 – is the champ.
Some stats & info about Viktor Vaughn – Vaudeville Villain
- What kind of musical stylings does this album represent? rap, hip-hop, underground hip-hop, alternative hip-hop
- Rolling Stone’s greatest 500 albums ranking – not ranked!
- All Music’s rating – 4.5 of 5 stars
- When was Vaudeville Villain released? 2003
- My ranking, the one you’re reading right now – #991 out of 1,000
Viktor Vaughn’s Vaudeville Villain on Spotify
A lyrical snippet from Viktor Vaughn’s Vaudeville Villain that’s evocative of the album in some way, maybe
Maybe next life he’ll try harder – died a martyr at the hands of the fire-starter.
What does the “best 1,000 albums ever” mean and why are you doing this?
Yeah, I know it’s audacious, a little crazy (okay, maybe a lot cray cray), bordering on criminal nerdery.
But here’s what it’s NOT: a definitive list of the Greatest Albums of All-Time. This is 100% my own personal super biased, incredibly subjective take on what my top 1,000 albums are, ranked in painstaking order over the course of doing research for nearly a year, Rob from High Fidelity style. Find out more about why I embarked on a best 1,000 albums ever project.