How many anonymous celebrities can you name?
I can’t think of too many, probably because the phrase presents a pretty serious oxymoron. How would a celebrity be able to remain anonymous? One masked man found a pretty effective solution. A name known to many but a man known by so few, MF DOOM.
Daniel Dumile, Zev Love X, Viktor Vaughn, King Geedorah, Danger Doom, The Supervillain and MF DOOM. A surprising amount of monikers for a mysterious individual. MF DOOM began his career as part of the rap trio KMD, under the name Zev Love X alongside his younger brother Subroc. After Subroc's unfortunate passing, they were dropped by their label on the eve of their second album and Zev Love X disappeared. Only to reemerge in 1997 as MF DOOM, sporting a chrome gladiator mask and carrying a serious chip on his shoulder.
You could be confused into thinking this is the first third of a paint-by-numbers biopic. As the story goes we should now emerge into the illustrious middle third, where the artist takes on the world and wins, becoming a superstar in the process. Not quite. DOOM remained firmly in the shadows, underground and on the fringes of hip-hop. Why didn't this masked individual leap into stardom you ask? Well...MF DOOM is weird.
In an era where Hip-Hop was evolving into the mainstream and bling-fueled club bangers were climbing the charts, DOOM was making grimy underground albums, with intricate beats and extremely dense rhymes. If that mask wasn't enough, even his music is mysterious. Flooded with obscure soul samples, 90s cartoon skits and sinister characters that fill and hide in the cracks and corners of every song and album. All delivered by one of the most growling raspy voices you'll ever hear. In other words, I can understand why he didn't take the world by storm, but for me, I was hooked as soon as I heard him.
I must add that I'm writing this as if I were there to experience all of this in the moment. I wasn't. I was alive, however, I was more likely to be watching the cartoons being sampled in an MF DOOM song than digging through the crates. So I've learned all this through research, and by research, I mean YouTube videos.
I do remember the first time I heard him though. I was deep in a music YouTube rabbit hole when I came across this video. I couldn't believe I had never heard of him and was instantly curious to learn more.
I had never heard anyone that sounded like him, I'd never heard anyone rap like him and it was hypnotic. He created vivid characters and worlds to tell stories, always blurring the lines between his real life and the life of the Supervillain. Weaving tales of dastardly deeds over some of the most mind-bending music I'd ever heard. I simply couldn't get enough of MF DOOM.
You may wonder why I am capitalising DOOM every time. You may also not have noticed but I'm going to explain anyway.
On the song All Caps, off the album Madvilliany, DOOM raps:
"Just remember ALL CAPS, when you spell the man's name"
So I am simply abiding by the man's wishes.
MF DOOM may be best known for his illustrious list of collaborations. Albums with Dangermouse and Czarface are among his fan favourites, but one stands head and chrome mask above the rest. Madvilliany.
Madvilliany is a legendary collaboration album between MF DOOM and producer Madlib and this week marks 20 years since its release. It's an album made my two masters of their craft and one that revels in its overt weirdness, keeping its foot on the pedal right from the start.
It remains one of my favourite albums of all time and I love finding new things every time I listen to it. Some of the layers only begin to reveal themselves on a 5th, 6th or 10th listen, and suddenly the songs you thought were too weird have become your favourites. It's equal parts drowsy and emphatic, allowing DOOM to float and sting at will, over some of the most hypnotic beats ever produced.
It's oddly an album I've found a lot of comfort in over recent years, especially since MF DOOM's passing in 2020.
I remember vividly where I was when I found out MF DOOM died. I was sitting on the sofa on New Year's Eve, sipping a mildly warm bottle of Birra Moretti. My phone buzzed and a news notification informed me that MF DOOM, real name Daniel Dumile had passed. It was a gut punch. What made it most confusing? He died on Halloween. He had been gone for two months and not a single person had known. It was a bizarre thing to hear in our current environment.
I don't know about you guys but I feel like I'm sometimes more aware of the intricacies of a random celebrity's life than I am of some family or friends. And yet, one of my favourite artists, someone I am openly obsessed with, whose work I cherish, had passed for two months and nobody knew.
Weirdly I was happy. Happy that he managed to live his life away from what so many celebrities deal with. He enjoyed his life with his family, knowing that his music affected millions all over the world but could still go to the shop and be anonymous amongst the crowd.
Protected by the chrome-plated mask, Daniel Dumile was a mystery wrapped in a riddle, a man of many names and maybe the best rapper I've ever heard.
Will I ever crack the case of MF DOOM? I doubt it, but I’m looking forward to uncovering the next clue.
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