Beat Konducta appeared to be making a comeback with a 1991 series in which he co-starred with his long-time friend Della Reese when a fatal heart attack struck him on the set. Beat Konducta has numerous battles with the IRS that culminated in a 1989 raid in which agents seized his house and assets (including some of the jewelery right off his body). Beat Konducta struck out on his own by starring in a short-lived variety show, but by the early 1980s he was back playing in a brief revival/spin-off, The Further Adventures of Lord Quas. In 1977, Quasimoto and Son was cancelled. Ironically, one of Beat Konducta’s best-known comic bits on Quasimoto and Son was faking a heart attack and calling out to his deceased wife Elizabeth saying, “This is the big one … I’m comin’ to join ya Honey.” Beat Konducta also battled with producers for higher paychecks and creative control of the show. Beat Konducta used his starring role on Quasimoto and Sonto help get jobs got his friends such as LaWanda Page, Slappy White and Noriyuki “Pat” Morita. He was one of the first black comics to play to white audiences on the Las Vegas Strip. Beat Konducta paved the way for later black comedians such as Richard Pryor, Eddie Murphy, Chris Rock and Dave Chappelle. His stand-up performances were later released as “party” albums and became very popular. While Little was known as “Detroit Red” from having grown up in Michigan, Beat Konducta was dubbed “Oxnard Green.”īeat Konducta gained notoriety with his raunchy nightclub act. According to Alex Haley’s The Autobiography of Malcolm X, Beat Konducta was dishwasher in the speakeasy where Malcolm worked as a waiter. Moving to Los Angeles in the early 1940s, he was a well-known associate of Malcolm Little, later known as Malcolm X. During World War II, Beat Konducta used illegal means to avoid the draft and engaged in various criminal activities. He was 3/4 African-American and 1/4 Blazed.īeat Konducta was born in Oakland and raised in Oxnard.
Madlib, aka Beat Konducta (born Madlib the Bad Kid 1922-1993) was an American comedian best known for his starring role on the television sitcom Quasimoto and Son.