The Man Behind the Mask

A mask conceals and reveals. Only a narrow set of brown eyes can be seen behind a jagged metal plate, on top of which balances a New York Knicks hat fitted with supreme dexterity. The mask is a permanent fixture of Daniel Dumile, as much a part of him as his omnivorous ear and deep resonant baritone. With it on he is amorphous, able to inhabit multiple personas and identities with ease. The Long Island rapper, producer and innovator, best known as MF DOOM, turned the physical and thematic hip hop stereotype on its head over his career. The blinged-out, muscular desperado somehow felt less cool than the comic book fanatic, whose vintage Patrick Ewing jersey could barely fit over his protruding belly. DOOM became the writer, director and actor of an unorthodox saga of intertwining yet independent characters who feel just as real as the creator himself.

“I like to show different perspectives — put yourself in this guy’s shoes for a second and this guy ain’t so different from you.”

KMD Mr. Hood, 1991
1991 was a prolific year in hip hop. A Tribe Called Quest’s The Low End Theory and Ice Cube’s Death Certificate established the signature sound of both East and West coasts, providing a fertile ground for the next crop of rhyme-slaying pioneers. Artists wielded rhymes as a defense against growing racial tensions that would reach a breaking point with the Rodney King riots in Los Angeles the following year. Emerging out of this tradition was KMD — three students of the craft who blended Q-Tip crate digging with the whimsical spirit of De La Soul. Under the moniker Zev Love X, DOOM was joined by his brother DJ Subroc, and longtime friend Onyx the Birthstone Kid. While Mr. Hood exudes an adolescent playfulness on songs like “Peachfuzz” — which pairs a Sesame Street like drum loop and dense bars about stresses of growing up — the work is grounded in a satirical commentary on what it is like to be Black and young in America. On tracks like “Who Me?” we get the first glimpse of DOOM’s masterful ability to mix humor and obscure cultural references to make a larger point about society’s ills.

Essential Tracks: “Peachfuzz” + “Who Me?”
Best Bar: “Someone once said health is wealth, so check self I gots a perfect check-up, ‘cept for a hiccup, roll with no stick-up” – Peachfuzz or My nest is flood but thicker is blood / Plus, still some stay stud like sticks in the mud – Who Me?

MF DOOM, Operation: Doomsday, 1999
Following the death of his brother DJ Subroc, and a label dispute that shelved KMD’s follow up to Mr. Hood, DOOM retreated from music with anger toward the industry and the world heavy in his heart. His return to rap came clouded with the same mystique and intrigue as the supervillain he would morph into his own — Fantastic Four nemesis Victor Von Doom. The comic book villain — who experienced a similar tragic loss and period of soul searching — resonated with DOOM as his mask became a permanent fixture. Operation: Doomsday chronicles the supervillain’s rise. DOOM’s gruff, subterranean baritone meets shimmering sax and woodwind melodies that make the listener rethink what constitutes good and evil. While the album is undeniably lighthearted — enlisting samples reminiscent of elevator music on tracks like “Doomsday” and “Rhymes like Dimes” — chaotic, murky production and dense couplets on “Tick, Tick…” and “Hey” maintain a constant feeling of duality for DOOM and the character he inhabits.

Essential Tracks: “Rhymes Like Dimes” + “Gas Drawls”
Best Bar: “Only in America could you find a way to make a healthy buck/ And still keep your attitude on self-destruct.” – Rhymes like Dimes

King Geedorah (Take Me To Your Leader, 2003)Take Me To Your Leader is the start of DOOM’s Godzilla-like tear of the hip hop landscape. On this project, DOOM inhabits the three-headed King Ghidorah, a monster who appears in the Godzilla films. DOOM’s lyrical prowess takes a backseat to his production, letting his crew members from Monsta Island Czars shine behind the mic. Jazz and sci-fi are seamlessly melded together on tracks like “Next Levels” and “Fazars,” as if you blasted Q-Tip into an alien universe with a box set of Freddie Hubbard records and a sampler. While you can feel DOOM’s comfortability within the jazz aesthetic, the record is by no means safe. DOOM pushes the boundaries on what VCR narration of dubbed Japanese sci-fi flicks can do in the hands of a gifted producer like himself.

Essential Tracks: “Fazers” + “Next Levels”
Best Bar: Who needs a heater? Catch ’em with bare hands / These same hands that make razors out beer cans / His own biggest fan / And got a fan base as big as Japan – Fazars

Viktor Vaughn (Vaudeville Villain, 2003)
Just three months after the release of Take Me To Your Leader, DOOM returned with the sinister, stripped-down Vaudeville Villain. Under the moniker Viktor Vaughn, DOOM sounds like he spent his time recording in the depths of the Gotham City underworld, while chain-smoking cigars with Tony Soprano. Compared to past records, Vaudeville Villain is more structured and narrative-heavy despite the lack of DOOM’s signature gelastic energy. “Lickupon” introduces the nefarious — Viktor Vaughn whose affection for chaos is less that of a supervillain, but a washed-up mobster whose superpower is beer chugging and devouring an all-you-can-eat buffet. While the bars are as strong as always, DOOM feels less comfortable over the entirely guest-produced beat selection. Airy, transparent drum fills and fluttering synths can make DOOM’s delivery sound acapella, which let his masterful wordsmithing take center stage.

Essential Tracks: “Lickupon” + “Mr. Clean”
Best Bar: “Sounded like a half-dead from Scurvy band rock / A programmed, computer bio-grafted Herbie Hancock” – Lickupon

Madvillainy, 2004
The magnum opus of underground hip hop, Madvillainy brings together two legends at their prime for a supernatural creation reminiscent of Marvel meeting DC. Otis Jackson Jr. (aka Madlib) and DOOM blend the entire Black musical diaspora into a seamless whole that exudes a sheer love for everything music can and is able to do. The record flows like a deranged superhero comic where DOOM and Madlib cruise through downtown Los Angeles in a Cadillac Coupe Deville watching the city crumble as they pass around bottles of Old English. Tracks like “Figaro” sound like Madlib punched a Lonnie Smith sample with brass knuckles until it was limping in a drunken circle to DOOM’s dizzying flow. The duo’s alter alias pop in for cameos like on an episode of the 1972 “New Scooby-Doo Movies.” DOOM brings back Viktor Vaughn for the manic self diss trick “Fancy Clown,” while Madlib shifts into the high pitched flow of Quasimoto on “America’s Most Blunted” for a battle with DOOM on who can drop the most weed references. Madlib’s beat selection is meticulous, and DOOM’s bars feel like an infinite triple word score.

Essential Tracks: Figaro + Rhinestone Cowboy
Best Bar: “Known as the grimy, limey, slimy— try me Blimey! Simply smashing in a fashion that’s timely Madvillain dashing in a beat-rhyme crime spree – Rhinestone Cowboy

Mf DOOM (MM… Food, 2004)
On the official follow up to Operation Doomsday, DOOM continues his monstrous two-year rap tirade by simply being himself. Jazzy boom-bap beats are paired with boundless food-centered analogies for a full course meal of equally hilarious and mind-boggling hip hop. DOOM returns as the master chef behind the boards where he feels most comfortable. While MM… Food does not have the consistency of Madvilliany, or the shock factor of Operation Doomsday, DOOM’s ability to interweave a food motif with crisp production is admirable. On tracks like “Potholderz,” DOOM’s puts his lyrical dexterity on full display where a fish fry and smoke session become indistinguishable over an intoxicating Dr. Dre inspired bassline. MM… Food sees DOOM in his wheelhouse, while still taking risks. DOOM rattles off dizzying couplets over a lunchroom style beatbox on “Hoe Cakes,” and lets collaborator Mr. Fantastik come through with one of the most unlikely, catchiest choruses of any DOOM track to date on “Rapp Snitch Knishes.”

Essential Tracks: “Potholderz” + “Deep Fried Frenz”
Best Bar: “MCs is crabs in a barrel, pass the Old Bay” – Potholderz

Click here to view the print layout that appeared in the Spring 2020 print issue of Emmie Magazine.