Well, this sucks. The news broke yesterday that legendary emcee/producer Daniel Dumile aka MF DOOM passed away two months ago on October 31, 2020. No cause of death was given.
He started out in the early 90’s as a member of KMD before the untimely death of his brother and sudden release from their label would mark an abrupt end to the group. After a brief hiatus from the music world, Dumile would come back with a vengeance. 1999’s Operation Doomsday saw a radical reinvention of his style and sound. DOOM was a hip hop supervillain, rapping under a mask inspired by the Fantastic Four villain Dr Doom. He incorporated comic book references, clever punchlines, and super complex rhyme schemes into his style. His verses were dense and sometimes abstract, but with plenty of memorable moments that would get stuck in your head. He didn’t play by the rules, often releasing tracks with no hook, one verse, and straight instrumental for half the runtime. On top of that, he’d go on to change his sound multiple times, create multiple monikers, and form multiple collaborative projects over the years.
While he may not be a household name the way someone like Eminem or Jay Z is, DOOM left this world with an incredibly influential catalogue of music. Simply put, he’s your favorite rapper’s favorite rapper. Drake, Tyler the Creator, Mos Def, Earl Sweatshirt, Open Mike Eagle, JPEGMAFIA, and a ton more have listed him amongst their favorite emcees in the game. Over the past 24 hours I’ve seen support pouring out from every corner of the music world. JER (ska), Teenage Halloween (pop punk), ACxDC (grindcore), and Gasp (powerviolence) all shared their appreciation for the masked rapper.
DOOM was a legend. He changed the way that I looked at hip hop and the way that I looked at what an emcee can do. RIP.
The Wasteland Digest 