At the core of Quakers is a three-man production team consisting of Fuzzface—better known as Geoff Barrow, the producer and arranger of Portishead—and two of his closest associates: Portishead engineer Stuart Matthews and Australian DJ/producer Ashley Anderson. Recorded over the span of four years, the album is the consequence of three lifelong hip-hop fans wanting to, in Barrow’s words, “make a rap album before they got too old.” Rather than glitz up the project with big-name rappers, the trio combed Myspace for unsigned talent and also sent invitations to up-and-coming artists (Jonwayne, Guilty Simpson) and underground veterans (Prince Po, Dead Prez). The album's collage-like structure is similar to that of other Stones Throw projects, as is the hallucinogenic atmosphere. The objective was not to create hit songs but to flesh out a landscape of sounds and ideas that reflected the producers’ lifelong experience of hip-hop culture. Mysterious and fragmented yet sophisticated, the collection is a never-ending menu of gritty delights and miniature surprises.