Writing about the legendary MF DOOM seems at face-value, antithetical. He spent the greater part of his adult life avoiding the spotlight and avoiding acclaim. It is because of this that DOOM became what he is today; the enigmatic and compelling persona of hip-hop’s underground. From the debut of his solo album ‘Operation: Doomsday’ in 1999, Daniel Dumile was no longer Daniel Dumile, nor Zev Love X like in his former hip-hop group KMD. He was now DOOM, who, like his namesake Dr. Doom of Marvel Comics, wears a mask to hide the scars of the past.
Here, we will attempt to unravel the riddle of Daniel Dumile.
THE MAN
Ever since the womb 'til I'm back where my brother went
That's what my tomb will say
Right above my government; Dumile.
Either unmarked or engraved, hey, who's to say?
- "Doomsday", 1999
Daniel Dumile was born on July 13th, 1971 in London – by accident. His mother, a citizen of Long Island, NY was said to have just been visiting family at the time of her son’s birth. Thus, Dumile was destined to be an outsider, growing up in New York and never achieving American citizenship.
At just 17 years old, Dumile first came onto the scene in 1988. Joining him in the hip-hop group KMD was his younger brother, Dingilizwe, known as DJ Subroc. The two of them, along with New York MC Onyx, signed with Elektra Records in 1988. From left to right below: Zev Love X, DJ Subroc, Onyx.
KMD released their debut album, Mr. Hood, in 1991. The album was largely part of the conscious rap movement of the time, focusing on issues of social justice and racial equality; in the vein of De-La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest, and Public Enemy. KMD used a lot of skits and comedy in their work, displaying these themes in a lighthearted and positive nature. But this motif was short-lived. In 1993, halfway through the recording of their second studio album, tragedy struck. On April 23rd, 1993 DJ Subroc was killed after being hit by a car attempting to cross the Long Island Expressway. From this moment on, the life of Daniel Dumile would never be the same. He was forced to finish up KMD’s follow-up album Black Bastards alone. As a result, Black Bastards became a departure from the lighthearted nature of Mr. Hood, choosing to focus instead on themes of sex, drugs and alcohol with songs like Plumskinnz, Smokin’ that S*#% and Sweet Premium Wine. This dark departure from their thematic style caused Elektra Records to cancel the album’s release and drop KMD from their label in 1994. In under a year, Dumile faced the reality of losing his only brother, his record deal, and his livelihood. This profound sorrow and loneliness led Dumile to disappear from the hip-hop scene altogether. It is said that at this time, Dumile became completely homeless, sleeping on park benches, couches, or even jail cells. It was a dark time; but this defeat would not be his curtain call. Rather, his retreat out of the spotlight of the sinister corporate world would serve as the origin story of his new villainous and vindictive persona: MF DOOM. THE MASK
It's ugly, like look at you It's a damn shame
Just remember ALL CAPS when you spell the man name. - "All Caps", 2004 I first heard DOOM when I was 14 years old. My older brother, addicted to pirating underground rap songs off Limewire at the time, was driving us to school with his iPod on shuffle. And then I heard it; a vicious, dark piano loop. Only 5 or 6 notes, each time it looped it felt like the song was going somewhere… getting ready to explode or fall off a cliff. The anticipation was immense, and my expectations were so satisfyingly fulfilled when I heard the raspy voice chime in over the piano loop: “So nasty that it’s probably somewhat of a travesty having me daily people call me your majesty.” Unhesitant. Breathless. Whoever this was rapping, it was eminently clear they approached rap in a completely different way than the popular artists of the time. Keep in mind this was 2009. Hip-hop had been almost completely consumed by popular culture – and so true underground was few and far between. But through DOOM, it was alive and well. ”Wait, so he never takes off the mask?” After being exposed to DOOM through All Caps at 14 I knew I had to have more. I downloaded every song I could find from him on Limewire. Watched all I could find on him from YouTube. Something was different about MF DOOM. It was the mask. He never took it off, was never seen in public or photographed without it. Being a fan of comic books growing up, I kind of intuitively knew why, even at just 14 years old. How? I had felt the urge to put on a mask myself. Why does anyone wear a mask? To conceal their identity, surely. But why? It’s pain. Trauma. Every superhero has an origin story, as does every supervillain; a hardship they underwent that makes them turn evil or good. Alan Moore’s Watchmen contends that we feel the urge to put on masks to hide our shame. We are ashamed of our failures, our pasts, and wish to hide our scars that remind us of them. This is what I intuitively understood about DOOM. And the fact that he was a musical artist with a discography, yet, he refused to show his own face was mystical, almost. And the quality of music he put out made his aura even that much more alluring. The mask is a symbol. It means, unlike the popular “rap music” of the 2000s, it’s all about the music. DOOM said himself in an interview: “The significance of the mask is this: It could be anyone under here. It could be you, your homeboy. It don’t matter. All that matter is the quality of the music. Period.” A concise statement from a concise man. It’s for this exact reason that DOOM would often even send IMPOSTORS wearing DOOM masks to perform in his stead at “concerts”, often getting booed off-stage for not being the real Dumile. I mean, that’s gotta suck for concert goers. But how fucking metal is that? Sending out fake performers dressed like you? When I learned that DOOM does that, the whole “supervillain” persona really made sense. That is some real supervillain shit. The heroes in comic books can never find the supervillain; they are more than likely scheming in their secret lair somewhere. There are always impostors. Just like in the Fantastic Four comics of which DOOM takes his namesake. Dr. Doom, sworn enemy of the Fantastic Four, wears a metal mask and suit to cover his facial scars as a result of experiments gone awry. So, no one knows what he looks like, and he also creates millions of “Doombots”, anthropomorphic robots who look just like him that can carry out his evil doing and make him appear to be everywhere (and nowhere) at once. Like I said, real-life supervillain shit.
Note: This is an excerpt from my work on the incredibly awesome LAMPIN' Blog. Read the full story and DOOM eulogy here: https://www.lampinblog.com/single-post/in-memoriam-of-mf-doom
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