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Music

Oh No, not again!

OH NO with DIVERSE and JEFF SPEC at the Richmond (129 Peter), Sunday (July 24), 9 pm (doors 8 pm). $15. 416-203-3509, www.ramosent.com. Rating: NNNNN


Could Madlib be mad at his li’l sib?

Ever since the bottom of last year, when the prolific producer’s little brother – born Michael Jackson (ha ha ha), aka Oh No – became his official Stones Throw labelmate by dropping The Disrupt, the threat of being eclipsed by his producing/rapping/spinning kinsman swiftly became real.

No’s beats might best be described as Madlib v2.0 – an MPC-2000-tightened rendering of his older brother’s sawdust-textured spectral funk style – so you could imagine there’d be some animosity between famed soulster Otis Jackson’s sons. But after hearing Oh No’s debut full-length, the response from the man who put the Mad in Madvillain was only encouraging.

“He was hyped!” reports the voice of Oh No, which undergoes its own disruptions as his cellular service flickers on the ride from Albuquerque to Denver during his 19-date co-headlining tour with Diverse.

“He was, like, man, he told me that shit was crazy. He said, ‘That shit’s ill,’ you know what I’m saying? ‘Get ready, yo, for that world, cuz the doors is opening’ and shit.”

Shit, looks like Madlib was right. Over the course of 05, Oh No has been the object of much reaching out. He’s collaborated with (deep breath) Jean Grae, De La Soul, Large Professor, A.G., Chip Fu from Fu-Schnickens, KRS-One, Murs, Jay Dee, Madlib and has done an instrumental album, a new remix compilation for Stones Throw drawing on Hair composer Galt McDermott’s work and a mixtape called Disrupt Chronicles.

He just added a much-needed left-field twist to the entire new Grand Agent LP, is setting up a Stones Throw-affiliated label and claims to be 40 tracks into his second record. A clothing line called Ox City is in development.

So what the hell does he do, just not sleep? Yeah, pretty much. He does the math for me.

“Twenty-four hours in a day. If I go to sleep at 2 in the morning, wake up at 7, that’s only 5 hours, so I got 19 hours of movin’ in the day. I mean, I get my sleep every once in a while. I’m usually just too hungry for that, though.”

Needless to say, being on the grind all the time, his production style’s ripening at the speed of light, yet he still finds time for the other loves of his life.

“Every time I make a beat, I evolve. Everything that everybody’s heard is 2001 to 2002. They ain’t even heard my new shit. I made 80 beats last month, you know what I’m sayin’? And I beat numerous video games. And I was chillin’ with my kids, hangin’ out with them and takin’ them out everywhere. I did it all.”

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