Tag: MF Doom

RIP to Rap Icon MF DOOM

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A featured artist in our #RushHourRap series, a truly original rapper, and a personal favorite of mine, it came out over the weekend that indie rap icon MF DOOM passed away at the age of 49. Yet another truly stunning loss for the music industry as a whole. Known for his lyrical prowess, and unapologetically verbose style, Daniel Dumile (pronounced Doom-ee-lay) AKA MF DOOM has been rapping under various names since the 80s. Dumile was a member of the rap group KMD, going by the name of Zev Love X, but the group broke up in 1993 after the death of his brother. After a few years away from music, Dumile came back onto the scene performing while wearing a Doctor Doom mask and adopted the moniker “MF Doom.” Doctor Doom is even on the cover of his 1999 debut solo album Operation: Doomsday.

Most of MF DOOM’s solo work came in the early-mid 2000s with probably his most well known album, Mm…Food, a clever anagram that included tracks all named after food such as “Rapp Snitch Knishes” to complete the wordplay. His last solo album dropped back in 2009, but he’s done all kinds of collabs over the years like the Madvillainy album where he teamed up with Madlib for what many call his magnum opus.

DOOM collabs often sneak up on you with their completely unique beats and work their way into your brain like the 2018 collab with Czarface, Czarface Meets Metal Face.

Speaking of collabs, I’d be remiss to not include MF DOOM’s 2016 collab with Atmosphere on “When The Lights Go Out.”

You may have never heard DOOM on the radio, but that hasn’t really been a measuring stick of musical quality since *at least* when YouTube was launched, probably earlier if we’re being honest. He was clearly an artist that was held in high regard around the industry. Rap juggernaut Lupe Fiasco even released a freestyle the other day honoring MF DOOM.

Check out this interview clip below where DOOM talks about how in his rhymes he always wanted to keep people off guard like he was “keeping a good conversation with the listener.” You can actually watch the whole interview from the “MF DOOM: The Man Behind The Mask” documentary here.

So if you’ve gotten this far, you’re probably wondering, why the Doctor Doom mask?

“It don’t matter what the artist look like, it’s more what the artist sound like. The mask really represents to rebel against trying to sell the product as a human being. It’s more of a sound.”

In a sea of ringtone rap and corporate branding, MF DOOM was truly one of the most unique, genuine, gonna do things his own way type of artists we’ve ever seen. Rest in Peace.

Living off borrowed time, the clock tick faster

#RushHourRap – Wu Tang Clan – Biochemical Equation

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Confronted by the devil himself, and stay strong
You think you can take the King, now meet Kong
Strong as the base of a mountain, there’s no counting
How many MC’s, have sprung from our fountain

From the group that needs no introduction, this 2005 track “Biochemical Equation” comes off one of Wu Tang’s massive collaborative efforts, Wu Tang Meets The Indie Culture. This song in particular features verses from both RZA and indie legend MF Doom so there’s plenty of clever wordplay here. RZA really is a five tool player as a producer, rapper, and an actor with dozens of acting credits to his name, including a season on the wildly underrated Californication. Just a quick quarantine binge recommendation if you’re looking for a new show.

Now add this track to your iPod shuffle or just follow the #RushHourRap playlist on Spotify!

Introducing the Official #RushHourRap Playlist

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Introducing the official #RushHourRap playlist curated by The 300s. Dozens of songs compiled from the past 30 years so you can take my obscure music recommendations with you anywhere. Featuring everyone from household names like Eminem and Kanye to lesser known artists, rappers you need to know, and young guys on the come up.

Just search #RushHourRap on Spotify to add it to your library.

Some of the deeper cuts of #RushHourRap unfortunately did not make the list because Spotify doesn’t exactly have a plethora of obscure mixtapes. So that means you’ll still need to track down hidden gems like Switch by Lupe Fiasco on YouTube.

But if you’re a fan of our morning rap recommendations then make sure you save and share this playlist because it’s a living breathing entity that I’ll be adding to all the time.

#RushHourRap – MF Doom – Accordion

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As the resident white boy from the suburbs who grew up listening to entirely too much rap, part of my role here is to introduce you to different things. Expand your horizons if you will. Aside from the ringtone rap that is all over the radio, lets try something new. Today’s #RushHourRap is one of the most lyrically technical rappers; MF Doom. And while this guy has been around since the late 80s with his first album dropping in 1999, I feel like a lot of you have yet to really dive into his music. Plus how many artists out there today could rap over an accordion?