"Yo, yo, yo, y'all can't stand right here"
MF DOOM was a British-American rapper born in London and raised in New York. He is well known for his unique off-kilter flow, clever worldplay, jazzy beats, and his signature supervillain persona, inspired by Marvel Comics character Dr. Doom. He is celebrated as one of hip hop's most celebrated and enigmatic figures, and a huge inspiration to artists of all sorts from hip hop collective Odd Future to Radiohead's Thom Yorke alike.
Back in the Days
KMD (from left to right): Zev Love X, DJ Subroc, and Onyx the Birthstone Kid.
MF DOOM (real name Daniel Dumile) was born in Hounslow, London, on July 13, 1971. As a child, he moved with his family to Long Island and later Long Beach. Being a fan and avid collector of comic books, he earned the nickname "Doom" (a play on his last name Dumile) among friends and family. In 1988, he formed the hip hop group KMD with his younger brother DJ Subroc and Rodan (who was later replaced by Onyx the Birthstone Kid). Starting as a graffiti and breakdance crew, it wouldn't take them long to get into rapping, and they were eventually recruited for a guest spot on the 3rd Bass song "The Gas Face". This guest spot caught the attention of A&R executive Dante Ross, who signed them to Elektra Records.
The group released their debut album, Mr. Hood in 1991. Its songs focus on racism and black empowerment in a comical manner. Subroc heavily sampled old children's television shows and recordings, including drops of Sesame Street character Bert on the singles "Who Me?" and "Humrush." Skits featuring KMD interacting with "Mr. Hood" (a series of samples from a language instruction tape) tie the album together. A second album, Bl_ck B_st_rds, was recorded in 1993. However, just before the album's completion, Subroc was struck by a car and killed while crossing the Long Island Expressway. Zev completed the album on his own over the course of several months, and it was slated for a Q2 1994 release. Unfortunately, Elektra Records dropped the group and the album went unreleased for many years.
Who You Think I Am?
MF DOOM, circa 1999.
After his brother's death, Dumile retreated from the hip hop scene for years, struggling with near homelessness, walking the streets of Manhattan and sleeping on benches. When he re-emerged in '97 or '98 (sources conflict), he began freestyling at open-mic events in Manhattan, obscuring his face by putting tights over his head. He would eventually develop this into the persona of MF DOOM, and he would release his first album under the moniker, Operation: Doomsday in 1999. He would also begin putting out a series of instrumental albums, Special Herbs, in 2001 under the pseudonym "Metal Fingers", which showcased his skills as a producer and beatmaker.
The era of his career that marked the peak of his creative output by sheer volume would start with 2003's Take Me to Your Leader, released under the name King Geedorah (which he previously used as a member of the Monsta Island Czars collective). The album featured only a small handful of tracks with Dumile rapping (confusingly, under the MF DOOM moniker), taking more of a producer role throughout the record as several underground rappers would take charge over the villain's beats. This was followed up shortly after by Vaudeville Villain, released under the name Viktor Vaughn, which was well received.
Madvillainy: MF DOOM and Madlib.
His breakthrough into the mainstream would come with the 2004 album Madvillainy, a collaboration with legendary producer Madlib. It was a critical and commercial success, being often regarded as DOOM's finest work. The same year, he released two more albums: a second Viktor Vaughn effort, Venomous Villain, and his second solo album under the MF DOOM name proper, Mm.. Food, which features 15 tracks of beats sampling everything from Fantastic Four cartoons to commercials to old jazz records, all backing a series of off-kilter verses about food and food-related puns and metaphors. In 2005, he also released the album The Mouse and the Mask in collaboration with Cartoon Network's Adult Swim as part of DANGERDOOM, a duo consisting of DOOM and producer Danger Mouse.
Thank Ya
MF DOOM in 2014.
After 2005, DOOM's output would slow down considerably. He released his third album under the DOOM name (this time dropping the MF in his name), Born Like This in 2009, being his first solo album to chart in the US. In 2010, he would embark on a tour outside of the US to promote the album, however after the conclusion of his European tour he would be denied re-entry into the United States. Having been born in the UK, he never got proper American citizenship and as such as treated as an illegal immigrant. Relocating to London, he spent much of the 2010's collaborating with other artists, releasing albums such as 2012's Key to the Kuffs with Jneiro Jarel under the name JJ DOOM, 2014's NehruvianDoom with the teenage Bishop Nehru, and 2018's Czarface Meets Metal Face with supergroup Czarface.
On December 31st, 2020, Dumile's wife announced on his social media that he had died on October 31st. After which, a new surge of outpouring of love and appreciation for the rapper emerged on the internet. He was highly influential as a rapper and a producer alike, being one of the shining examples of the use of sampling to tell a story in hip hop, along with his unique, off-kilter and at times off-beat flow and dizzyingly clever wordplay which inspired many contemporary rappers such as Westside Gunn, Aesop Rock, Danny Brown, Earl Sweatshirt, Open Mike Eagle, among many others. His impact on hip hop as an artistic and theatrical form is rivaled only by few, and is a must-listen for anyone interested in hip hop as an artistic form.