MF DOOM, DOOM, Viktor Vaughan, King Geedorah, Metal Fingers or Daniel Dumile as his mother would call him has had one of the most prosperous careers in hip hop history with collabs with label mate producers like Madlib (Madvillany) and DangerMouse (The Man In The Mask) to other New York spitters like the young talents of Bishop Nehru (nehuruvianDOOM) or the legendary Wu Tang veteran Ghostface Killa (DOOMSTARKS).
It all started with the group K.M.D (Kausing Much Damage) a group that DOOM (far left) was in in the early 90’s under the alias of Zev Lo X with his younger brother DJ Subrock. They launched in 1991 with the debut album Mr. Hood and followed that with Black Bastards in 1993. Tragic after the release of there second album DJ Subrock was killed crossing a free way in Long Island and the record label (Elektrika) dropped the group shortly afterwards (FOOLS!!) due to controversial messages in songs, the album title and the arguably distasteful gollywog on the front cover. After this Zev Lo X would go under the radar until 1997 when he emerged as MF DOOM, with a bad-ass metal mask and a noticeable change in lyrical style. It is widely thought that the death of his younger brother is the reason that Zev Lo X became the villainous DOOM.
After his hiatus the newly named MF DOOM started popping up at open mic nights around New York with his new shiny metal mask. The mask it’self is deprived from the classic marvel villain Dr Doom and was made by graffiti artist/writer and close friend Blake Lethem who DOOM was reportedly living with during the hiatus. After a short stint on the underground open mic seen it wasn’t long until talent was recognised and DOOM was picked up by indie record label Fondle ‘Em Records for the realise of his first solo album Operation Doomsday.
After the success of his first album and the beginning of a cult like following DOOM did not slow down in the slightest, as he delved more into his new persona the higher the work rate became higher. In true DOOM fashion he continued too keep fans on there toes by working with an array of different producers under an array of different persona’s. From RJD2 for the Viktor Vaughan album Vaudeville Villain too old friend and former label mate Madlib for Madvillany or the slightly more pop friendly album The Man In The Mask with hit maker danger mouse. He even created a a dragon from space that goes under the name of King Geeadora for his conceptual album Take Me Too Your Leader. All of these different concepts from DOOM are very much why he has such a large following, committing too these themes not only in the album names & artwork but also with his lyrical content. This is very prominent in his solo work also, great examples being tracks like My Favourite Ladies & Absolutely where i will let you work out the concepts for yourself or the album MMM..FOOD witch had yes surprisingly enough the theme of tasty treats. It is evident that DOOMS creative juices are in a permanent state of flow.
DOOM also has a prominent career as a producer under the name Metal Fingers, his innovative bests like Hoe Cakes & Vomspit (that can be found on his Special Herbs beat series) and lengthy superhero samples, that have inspired producers in this modern age too look for new sounds and ways of re defining the Hip Hop sound. In the later half of his career DOOM has blessed venues with intense live shows filled with unique wordplay, sometimes even sending imposters in his place making it extremely hard to see the man in this day and age. He has also been exiled from the united states and resides in London, the only evidence of him being on the streets are the occasional graffiti piece blessing back alley walls. He has 2 shoe collabs with Nike on SB Dunks and Clarks on a pair of ‘Clarks Originals’, a favoured item in the early rap game. The essence of MF DOOMs genius is that there is so much more too be found out about the metal faced man but it seems he has spent his whole career making these details hard to find. Hard is it too find another musical example of someone committing too a concept so intensely, it relay is amazing that an artist can not show up too a live performance on purpose and it have fans not annoyed but even more eager too see there idol. We never know what too expect from the man but the only thing you can know is that he’s not going anywhere quick because no one knows where he is! all you Londoners could have walked past Metal Fingers himself and you wouldn’t have a clue.
The Various Rants Of Samuel Gard 