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3 min read Friday Drops

01 — Accordion | MF DOOM x Wild Turkey 101

01 — Accordion | MF DOOM x Wild Turkey 101

Pour slow. Press play.

Track — Accordion

Album: Madvillainy (2004)

“Accordion” is stripped-down and hypnotic, built on a Daedelus sample from “Experience” that loops simple but eerie. MF DOOM lays rhymes over it in a way that avoids standard patterns. His flow feels straightforward, but it shifts and swerves, keeping you guessing what comes next.

That unpredictability mirrors DOOM himself. Mask on, face hidden, voice low. He never gave it all away. “Accordion” set the tone for Madvillainy: a refusal to cater, a record that would not work the way others did. Critics often describe the album as a collage of fragments and beats that stop too soon, but “Accordion” shows intent. It isn’t laziness, it’s design.

Madlib’s skeletal loop forced DOOM to bend cadence against an almost empty canvas. No chorus, no bass drop, just clipped rhymes that made you lean closer. The placement as the second track, after the short intro “The Illest Villains,” was deliberate. Instead of opening with a single or accessible hook, DOOM and Madlib chose disorientation. The move warned listeners that nothing about the album would follow convention.

The track was never built for radio, yet it became one of DOOM’s most referenced cuts. Its minimalism and tension turned into a statement: hip hop could move differently, and the genre would bend around it.

“Living off borrowed time, the clock tick faster.”

Pour — Wild Turkey 101

Distillery: Wild Turkey Distillery
Proof / ABV: 101 proof / 50.5% ABV

Nose: Spice-forward from the start: cinnamon, clove, pepper, with a flash of citrus rising sharp above the barrel. Vanilla bean and charred oak sit underneath, drawn from Wild Turkey’s heavy “alligator” char.

Palate: Honey and caramel arrive early, then the rye in the mash pushes spice through the mid-palate. Oak and char hold steady, giving backbone. The high proof carries warmth, but the flavors remain layered instead of washed out.

Finish: Long and steady. Oak lingers first, then vanilla and dried fruit soften the fade. The proof holds on the tongue, but the close is smoother than the entry, a sign of careful aging and consistency.

Wild Turkey 101 has anchored the distillery for decades under master distiller Jimmy Russell and now his son Eddie. Its mash bill, widely reported as 75% corn, 13% rye, 12% malted barley, leans corn-heavy, but the higher rye percentage drives the spice. The deep char adds depth before the whiskey ever leaves the barrel.

What makes 101 reliable is its consistency. The label has not shifted with trends. The proof has not dropped to chase a wider market. It is priced accessibly yet drinks bigger than its tag. This is the bottle you keep in rotation, the one you reach for when you want something that works every time, without pretense.

This is a pour for the long play, grounded and complex enough to keep you thinking, smooth enough to keep pouring.

Final Bar

DOOM moved with stillness that held power. Off-center, never overexplained, he showed how absence could hold as much force as presence. He rebuilt the genre without raising his voice, bending rules most never learned. When he passed in 2020, the work did not fade. It deepened.

Wild Turkey 101 has held to the same approach. It does not dress itself up, does not soften its edges, does not chase novelty. It has stayed constant through generations, proof that constancy can outlast reinvention.

Sips & Bars was shaped by that same belief: that stillness matters, that craft speaks louder than flash. This first drop is an homage to DOOM and to Wild Turkey 101, both lasting on their own terms: DOOM with a mask and a catalog that still pulls you close, Wild Turkey with 101 that has stayed constant through generations.

This is where we begin. One pour. One listen.

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