Dumile’s eccentric wordplay makes him a favorite of underground hip-hop fans. He is heavily influenced by American comic books (especially the Fantastic Four and their battles with Dr. Doom). Japanese science fiction is also an influence; the concept for King Geedorah (which is derived from Ghidorah) and the Monsta Island Czars comes from the Godzilla movie series. He is also renowned for bringing comedy back into the sometimes overly serious world of rap lyrics and a unique, sample-heavy production style. His work with with Madvillain has been covered by the New Yorker, as has his entire career. Early Years with KMD Dumile, the son of a Trinidadian mother and Zimbabwean father, was born in Southeast London, Great Britain, in the London Borough of Bromley on January 9, 1971. The family then moved to New York and lived in Long Beach where he was raised. His debut in the world of rap music came when he devised the concept for, and guest-appeared on, the song “The Gas Face” by the rap group 3rd Bass, under the MC name Zev Love X along with his younger brother Subroc. Zev Love X, Subroc, and another MC called Onyx The Birthstone Kid together formed the group KMD. Originally, “KMD” stood for “Kausing Much Damage,” but before their first album they changed it to “a positive Kause in a Much Damaged society.” KMD were all members of the Ansaar Allah community based in Brooklyn, New York. KMD signed with Elektra Records label under the A&R Dante Ross, who noticed KMD through the 3rd Bass record. KMD released 1991’s Mr. Hood as part of a short-lived trend of conscious hip hop outings, along with labelmates Brand Nubian and other groups like Poor Righteous Teachers. The album became a minor hit through its singles “Peachfuzz”, “Who Me?” and heavy video play on cable TV’s Yo! MTV Raps and Rap City. Subroc was struck and killed by a car in 1993 while attempting to cross a busy Long Island expressway, before the release of a second KMD album entitled Bl_ck B_st_rds. The group was subsequently dropped from Elektra Records before the release of the album due to controversy over the album’s cover art which featured a cartoon of a stereotypical pickaninny or sambo character being hanged from the gallows. Still dealing with the loss of his brother, Dumile became disillusioned and began to suffer from bouts of depression. He disappeared from the hip-hop scene from 1994-1997, and testifies to living “damn near homeless, walking the streets of Manhattan, sleeping on benches and shit.” Shortly after this time, he left New York City and settled in Atlanta. According to interviews with DOOM, he was also “recovering from his wounds” and swearing revenge “against the industry that so badly deformed him.” Meanwhile, Bl_ck B_st_rds was heavily bootlegged and Zev Love’s legend grew leading to DOOM’s rise in the underground hip-hop world. Birth of MF DOOM Dumile began to rap at open mic events at the Nuyorican Poets Café in 1998 where he withheld his face by putting a stocking over his head. The imaginative MC began using the new identity MF DOOM, inspired by the Marvel Comics supervillain Dr. Doom, and wearing a similar metal mask which he would not perform or be photographed without except for short glimpses in videos such as Viktor Vaughn’s “Mr.Clean” and in earlier photos with KMD. MF stands for Metal Face (and his production name: Metal Fingers). MF Grimm gave the MF title to DOOM. Grimm’s stands for Mad Flows. Grimm has since givin the MF title to other emcees). The release of Operation: Doomsday in 1999 by independent label Fondle ‘Em marked the official turning point for Dumile in his reinvention of himself from a major label recording artist of minor status to independent artist, where he would find his greatest success. In 2000, DOOM released his first collaboration with MF Grimm, entitled MF EP. Since then, the MF’s have begun a bitter feud. During this time, DOOM also began releasing instrumental albums under the name Metal Fingers in a series known as Special Herbs. Mainstream Recognition MF DOOM was still far below the radar of mainstream press when two albums were released under new aliases by different labels in 2003. The first was Vaudeville Villain, released under the name Viktor Vaughn on Sound-Ink Records, and the second was King Geedorah’s Take Me To Your Leader, released by Big Dada/Ninja Tune. Viktor Vaughn appears as solely a rap project - he has no production or executive producer credit on the album, but raps throughout the album - and alternately, King Geedorah is a conceptual production project. Although he raps on few of the songs on Take Me To Your Leader, the album is produced entirely by MF DOOM. Several of his long time collaborators appear as MCs. DOOM’s first commercial breakthrough came in 2004, with the album Madvillainy together with producer Madlib under the group name Madvillain. Released by Stones Throw Records, the album was a critical and commercial success. MF DOOM was seen by mainstream audiences for the first time as Madvillain received publicity and acclaim in publications such as Rolling Stone, New York Times, The New Yorker, and Spin. A video for “All Caps” and a 4-date U.S. tour followed the release of Madvillainy. An additional video for “Rhinestone Cowboy” and a segment from the tour are shown on the DVD Stones Throw 101. DOOM was featured on the 2004 De La Soul release The Grind Date, MF DOOM rapping on the track “Rock Co.Kane Flow”, which was also released as a single. Late in the year, DOOM’s second solo album MM…Food was released by the Minnesota-based label Rhymesayers Entertainment, using various food items to metaphorically explain life and his own complex personality. As Viktor Vaughn he released his sophomore effort Venomous Villain (also called VV2), an album which received mixed reviews mostly critical of production values considered inferior to DOOM’s recent work, and its short 33 minute length, with only 10 minutes featuring DOOM. In 2005 MF DOOM took another step towards the commercial mainstream (while maintaining his independent artist status) with The Mouse and the Mask, a collaboration with producer DJ Danger Mouse released under the group name DANGERDOOM. The album was released on October 11, 2005 and frequently references characters from Cartoon Network’s [adult swim]. He also voiced the giraffe named Sherman in [adult swim]’s Perfect Hair Forever; not coincidentally a song on The Mouse and the Mask called “Perfect Hair” references the cartoon extensively. Perfect Hair Forever did not debut officially on [adult swim] until a month after Danger Doom, so many listeners might not have gotten the references to Coiffio and Mt. Tuna. Also on this album, MF DOOM dissed M.I.C and MF Grimm in a song called “El Chupa Nibre” when he referred to the group as “midgets into crunk”. MF Grimm released a retaliatory track titled “The Book of Daniel”, which will appear on his album, American Hunger. In 2005, MF DOOM appeared on two other Danger Mouse-produced projects: the Gorillaz album Demon Days, rapping on the song “November Has Come”, and Danger Mouse’s remix of Zero 7’s “Somersault”. Current & Upcoming Projects MF DOOM produced tracks for both of Ghostface Killah’s 2006 albums, Fishscale and More Fish; and the two are currently at work on a collaboration album called Swift & Changeable. So far only one track has been released from the album, “Angeles”, which appeared on a Nature Sounds compilation in late 2006. DOOM has also revealed plans for a second Madvillain album with producer Madlib, with one song, “Monkey Suite”, first appearing on the Adult Swim/Stones Throw Records album Chrome Children. Other potential projects mentioned by DOOM include new albums from Danger Doom, The John Robinson Project and KMD, as well as further albums under both his Viktor Vaughn and King Geedorah aliases. However, many such DOOM projects have been rumored in recent years without materializing. Despite no new DOOM releases in 2006, Kidrobot and Stones Throw released an 8” tall Madvillain toy available to coincide with the release of the Chrome Children CD/DVD (hosted by Peanut Butter Wolf) which featured a DVD performance of Madvillain and several other Stones Throw artists. MF Doom also continued to work with [adult swim] doing voice-over work as Sherman the Giraffe on Perfect Hair Forever, being the voice for The Boondocks ads and previews and hosting their Christmas Eve 2006 programming. MM…FOOD was reissued under the Rhymesayers label on July 24, 2007 as a special edition CD & DVD package. MF DOOM will also have a guest verse on a track on the second album of past collaborator, Kurious. The album titled II is due March 24 2009 and will feature DOOM on the track Benetton which reunites Dumile with MC Serch. He has also made an appearance on Stones Throw’s B-Ball Zombie War on a track called “Mash’s Revenge feat. MF Doom & Guilty Simpson” along with Guilty Simpson and the late J Dilla. Lately, Doom has co-won a mtvU Woodie Award with Madlib in the category Left Field Woodie for Madvillain’s “Monkey Suite” video. Two tracks were also announced for release on Stones Throw, to be available for digital download as of June 2008. The tracks, entitled “Sniperlite” and “Murder Goons”, were originally part of a Dilla-Doom collaboration project which was suspended indefinitely due to J Dilla’s passing. Also in the works is the launch of DOOM’s own record label Metal Face Records. No word on this has surfaced since a Lil Sci interview in 2007 where he was quoted as saying DOOM was working out the finishing touches ie. distribution deals. Another DOOM project is The John Robinson Project - Who Is This Man?. The album is a collaboration between Lil Sci (of Scienz of Life) and DOOM. Sci will handle the vocals and DOOM the production. The album has been completed for a couple years and was put on hold due to the delayed launch of DOOM’s album label. The album will finally see the light of day with the digital release available September 2008 and the physical CD/LP following in late 2008. DOOM was featured on the tracks Get Er Done and Trap Door from the Jake One album White Van Music released October 2008 on Rhymesayers. He also was featured on DJ Babu’s Duck Season Vol 3 on the track The Unexpected along with Sean P also released in October 2008. A new full length DOOM album entitled Born Like This was originally scheduled to be released on October 21st 2008 on Lex Records but was recently announced by Fontana Dist. that the record is now rescheduled for March 24 2009. The album includes production from the late J Dilla, Madlib, Jake One, Danger Mouse and of course DOOM. Guest vocals will be provided by Ghostface, Raekwon and Kurious. DOOM debuted the track Ballskin from the album on his MySpace page on January 13 2009 and features Jake One on production and is a reused beat from Planet Asia’s Street Hop. |
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