The 47-year-old is known for being immensely prolific: his discography is dizzying, with dozens of albums (as himself, alias Beat Konducta, Madlib Medicine Show, for other people, or collaborations). He isn’t one to pause much for reflection. Speaking to this somewhat, his new album starts with a prelude called There Is No Time. Jackson had previously likened Dilla to John Coltrane and Doom to Charlie Parker, two rebellious jazz greats, jokingly calling himself a Thelonious Monk now he’s the only one left of this holy trinity, the no-rules beat constructors who revitalised 00s hip-hop. It is not the first time Jackson has lost a friend and collaborator: his kindred spirit J Dilla, with whom he’d also made an album as “Jaylib”, died in 2006 aged 32 from rare blood disease TTP and lupus. “He was working hard on whatever he was doing. “But we said that every year, and it never happened,” he says. The last time they talked was “about a year ago” to discuss working on new music. That album is widely considered one of the greatest collaborations in hip-hop, two enigmatic minds whose disregard for form and embrace of experimentation inspired a generation of MCs. You might assume Jackson had a psychic hotline to Doom: as legend has it, they made their one album, 2004’s Madvillainy, in the same house without speaking, on magic mushrooms. “Last week I saw five of Doom’s albums on the top charts, and it’s sad to say but that wouldn’t happen if he was here.” He is glad his late contemporary is posthumously getting the recognition he deserves. “Everybody’s still learning off of him,” he adds. He described Doom as “a brother, a guy that took time to hang out, call me all the time” but also “king of the beats”, the “Muhammad Ali” of hip-hop whose rhyming skills are hugely influential.

“I still don’t believe it,” says the producer, real name Otis Jackson Jr, from his home in Los Angeles.

New mf doom and madlib