In 2002, the first demo sequence of Madvillainy leaked online. The tracks contained early vocal cuts from MF DOOM, recorded and quickly mixed in Los Angeles at Madlib's Bomb Shelter studio. The demos may have been unfinished, but fans understood that this was a hip-hop album unlike any other.

DOOM rerecorded vocals – alluding to the leak on “Rhinestone Cowboy” – and Madlib added new beats and changed up the sequence. Leaks could kill an album’s momentum in the early 2000s, but the demos only whetted fans' appetites; when Madvillainy came out in 2004 it was "one of the most anticipated releases in underground rap history," according to Pitchfork. Madvillainy is now regarded as one of the greatest hip-hop albums of all time.