To Madvillainy and beyond: How Stones Throw Records created a galaxy of taste

In its 30-year history, the Los Angeles record label Stones Throw has released generational classics by J Dilla, MF DOOM and Madlib, and launched newer stars including Sudan Archives, Knxwledge and Anderson .Paak.Photos by B+, Eric Coleman, Yanran Xiong, Jeremy Weiss and Israel Ramos / Illustration by Jackie Lay/NPR / Courtesy of Stones Throw hide caption In his 2004 New Yorker essay "Doom's Day," the critic Sasha Frere-Jones gave a buzzed-about new LP some distinctive praise, hailing it as a triumph of the indie label.

"Independent pop — not just hip-hop — has in many ways become a version of graduate school, a safe zone where artists can eke out a living, take their time doing specialized work," he wrote."The duo Madvillain demonstrate that hiding out can be the right move.

Madvillain's music is accessible but idiosyncratic, catchy but soaked in noise, lighthearted but full of abstractions.Madvillain is why independent hip-hop isn't such a bad idea; this group needed breathing space." In the two decades after that initial release, Madvillainy — an album-length collaboration between the rapper MF DOOM and the producer Madlib — would become one of hip-hop's most celebrated achievements, rising from if-you-know-you-know classic to ubiquitous dorm-room poster.

The small Los Angeles label that released it, meanwhile, has managed a similar arc: embodying the indie ideal as a creative ethic, giving artists space to breathe.Founded in 1996 by Chris Manak, aka the DJ and producer Peanut Butter Wolf, Stones Throw Records has come to feel central to LA's robust underground, plugged into the MCing and beatmaking networks that orbit local institutions like open-mic workshop Project Blowed and bygone club night Low End Theory.The label first gained traction releasing the music Wolf made with his late partner Charizma, and producing "battle reco...