Daniel Dumile, otherwise known as MF Doom is hip-hops most mysterious and promising MC’s. The London-born, NYC artist has established a sound and multitude of alter egos that are engraved into hip hop’s collective artifacts. His sound is one of a kind, and has influenced many artists including Flying Lotus, Odd Future, and SBTRKT. With a metal mask as his armor, he delves into a world drenched in comics and dusty boom-baps. Let’s take a stroll down the journey of the MC producing pioneer himself.
Dumile spent most of his time growing up in Long Island, NY. When he wasn’t burying himself in comics and video games, he was introducing himself to a world of music. Courtesy of his brother DJ Subroc, music quickly became Dumile’s inspiration. Music was no longer a hobby or an extracurricular activity, it was a way of life. This passion would soon motivate Dumile in forming his group Kausing Much Damage, also known as KMD.
Under the name Zev Love X, Dumile was already well versed in his rhymes. The group debuted their first album Mr. Hood in 1991. The 90s were known for the awakening of conscious rap, where rappers used jazz inspired beats and vocalized needs for social change amongst their communities. Mr. Hood added to this narrative, hosting themes of Black American issues and racism with an underline incorporation of Sesame Street samples. From then on, the album got commercial success, and was later on signed to Electraka Records.
While the group was on a road to fame, they encountered a huge turn for the worst. After much rave from their first album, the group linked up for the release of their sophomore project Black Bastards. The cover art featured the controversial “Sambo” cartoon character hanging on a noose. The label company deemed the cover art too controversial, and not only was the album removed from shelves, the group was also later dropped from the label. To make matters worse, that same week Dumile lost his brother Subroc. With fate against him, Dumile spent the next couple of years homeless and roaming around NYC. Music wasn’t of concern until the tail end of 1997. Dumile got back on his feet and began performing at open mics around the NYC area. During his performances, he would conceal his identity with stockings, then later on a metal faced mask.
After becoming more fond with his comics, Dimule created MF DOOM as his infamous alter ego and inspiration for his debut solo album Operation: Doomsday. Metal Face Doom used his mask in a way to create without his face being see to the public eye. Like a burglar, he robbed your attention with his rhymes while you still were in question of who the person was behind the mask. Operation: Doomsday incorporated the use of comic skits to help create an album with a storyline. The skits mostly consisted of comic book references from Marvel’s Doom villain. It gave the impression that you were living in a comic book, laced with intricate word play and classical hip hop punch. This was only the beginning for Doom. With Doomsday reaching a pinnacle of success, Doom went into more pseudonyms while keeping fans fascinated with his production. In 2003, years after his break with Doomsday, we meet the next alter ego from our pioneer, Viktor Vaughn. Vaughn was the powerhouse in the production of Doom’s sophomore album Vaudeville Villain.
Inarguably the most prominent milestone in Doom’s career was the debut of Madvillany in 2004. The masterminds of producer Madlib and Doom linked up to make Madvillany, dubbed as one of the most promising albums in hip hop history. Working side by side, the two created their duo casually known as Madvillain. The two forces on this project blended effortlessly, with Madlib on the spins, and Doom showcasing his untouchable MC skills. Together they created solid tracks like “Accordian”, “Curls” and “Fancy Clown”. Doom credited Madlib as one of his biggest inspirations, and to work with him was more than an honor. The cover art for Madvillain is simple, with Doom staring, yet serves as a powerful work of art. It’s a classic, none the less.
Did you think Metal Face could get any better? Of course you did. That same year, DOOM released another highly acclaimed project Mm..Food. With a wide variety of culinary-referenced tracks, we see DOOM in a more playful manner, while still feeding us with unlimited bars. Though critics didn’t see this as DOOM’s best work, fans loved it even more for DOOM’S re established persona and classic boom bap style.
DOOM has a skill of staying under the public eye, while still remaining relevant in most music-related conversations. His fans are loyal, and are still hungry for more from the super villain. Over the past years, he’s worked behind the scenes collaborating with various artists like Earl Sweatshirt, Jay Electrónica and Bishop Nehru. In August of this year, he announced that he will be releasing a series of snippets on Adult Swim called The Missing Notebook. This 15-track project will drop a song every week, for fifteen weeks. There is no word on whether or not these tracks will be available on streaming platforms, but hopefully someone with pick them up and release them responsibly.
When I see a metal face mask, the first person that comes to mind is DOOM. He’s branded himself in a way that no other artist has. For nearly 30 years, he still remains well relevant in hip hop, regardless of the fact that he hasn’t made a major project since 2009. Doom invented the use of aliases and alter ego characters, where artists can be parallel with rap and their subconscious (Wolf Haley, Captain Murphy, Quasimoto just to name a few). He may do a guest appearance and reveal himself every 5 or so years, but his music lives in the hearts of hip hop contributors forever.
-HCXO