Happy 50th Birthday to the Late Great MF DOOM

“Know who’s the illest ever like the greatest story told”

On July 13th, we take time to recognize and celebrate the life of Daniel “MF DOOM” Dumile. Since his untimely passing on October 31st (announced to the world on December 31st), Hip-Hop culture is still recovering from the loss.

PC: Nick Pickles

MF DOOM boasted easily one of the most impressive and longest lasting careers in all of Hip-Hop. Beginning in the late 80’s in the group KMD as Zev Love X, with his late brother DJ Subroc, and ending when he passed, DOOM was a master of productivity. A beacon of creativity, throughout his 30+ years in the game, DOOM took on multiple characters and became one of the culture’s finest producers.

Producing most of his own rap projects, he also has a legendary catalogue of instrumentals. His understanding of how to recreate Hip-Hop both through the mic and the boards meets the level of Kanye West.

Operation Doomsday album cover

“Right above my government; Dumile”

After KMD ended, Zev Love X vanished from the scene, only to return in the late 90’s as our favorite masked villain. After his seminal debut, ‘Operation: Doomsday,’ DOOM began his incredible production run, beginning with the famous ‘Special Herbs’ series.

He returned to the mic in 2003 with two new characters: King Geedorah and Viktor Vaughn. The two projects, ‘Take Me to Your Leader‘ and ‘Vaudeville Villain‘ expanded the potential of what an MC can do. Without augmenting his voice, Dumile was still able to give each character their own unique personality and writing style.

The iconic ‘Madvillainy’ album cover

In 2004, he reached the apex of underground Hip-Hop with the self-produced brilliance of ‘Mm..Food.’ If that masterpiece wasn’t enough, that same year he teamed up with Madlib to release ‘Madvillainy,’ debatably the greatest piece of underground and experimental Hip-Hop ever made.

DOOM never really slowed down from there. His 2009 ‘Born Like This’ is a classic, and his last big outing in his life, ‘Czarface Meets Metal Face‘ (2018), proved he was still in great rhyming shape.

It will always be a great tragedy to lose one of the game’s longest leaders. Known to be a fantastic father and husband, we send our love to Mrs. DOOM on this day as we celebrate the impact the late great MF DOOM had on so many of us. R.I.P. DOOM

A rare picture of DOOM without a mask, from his KMD days

Jason Heilbronner | Twitter: @JasonHeilbronn1