Emcee of the Month: MF Doom (Epilogue)

Since last week's post I must have listened to The Mouse and the Mask three or four times straight through, and I think it's an incredibly fun and refreshing album; energy that appears quite vividly in tracks like "A.T.H.F.", "El Chupa Nibre", and "Vats of Urine". The entire effort is a rich, quirky, and lighthearted feat of hip hop excellence. If you didn't get this album back in 2005, go pick it up now. If you're a fan of Cartoon Network's adult swim, then you should have this one already.

As for Doom's most recent efforts, here's a track with the Metal Face and Ghostface Killah from their alleged upcoming collaboration album Swift and Changeable.

I'll keep my fingers crossed.

peace.

Emcee of the Month: MF Doom

There WILL be more on this tomorrow. Right now, here's a taste.



If this track were simply lightening in a bottle, it would be plenty dope. In relation to the context surrounding it on the album, it's downright incredible and incredibly inventive. I'll be back with details mañana.



peace.

Emcee of the Month: MF Doom

I have to admit. Part of the reason MF Doom is this month's emcee is this video right here.

I first came across this video about a year and a half ago. I believe my homie Marcel sent it to me when I told him I'd been underestimating MF Doom's influence in hip hop and requested he point me in the right direction to explore the world of the Metal Face. After watching this, I knew I had to play quite a bit of catch-up.

For me, the most delightful aspect of this video is that fans like us rarely have the opportunity to witness our musical and cultural heroes responding to their peers with this amount of admiration. My friends and I spend what seems like hours throwing song quotes at each other, completely amused by the absurdity, cleverness, or aggression of the music we love. To see that one of hip hop's most successful and acclaimed performers experience this art in the same way confirms that we truly are a community. That's something special.

peace.

Emcee of the Month: MF Doom

I love this video.

3rd Base feat. Zev Love X (a.k.a. MF Doom) - "The Gas Face" Yes. That last cat to rhyme is, in fact, MF Doom.

So why am I posting a 3rd Base video from 1989? Well for the uninitiated, the emcee we now know as MF Doom started his hip hop career as Zev Love X, a member of early 1990s rap group KMD (Kausing Much Damage). This record with 3rd Base was Doom's recording debut, leading to KMD's first album Mr. Hood.

More than anything else, however, is that I wanted to show MF Doom's face. Since 1997, he has rarely allowed himself to be photographed without his mask. It's true that Doom's reluctance to have his face be seen has led to the interest and mystique surrounding his work. Much of that reluctance seems to be a direct result from the sudden and untimely death of his younger brother and fellow KMD member DJ Subroc. During the period after his brother's death in 1993 and the Operation: Doomsday release in 1999, Doom's transition from Zev Love X to the man with the metal face took place during a self-imposed three-year exile, resurfacing at New York's famed Nuyorican Café open mics in 1997 (performing with stocking over his head). He descirbed his retreat as a period of "recovering from his wounds" and swore revenge "against the industry that so badly deformed him." Therefore, I feel it's both interesting and appropriate to see the man he was before the mask.

peace.

Emcee of the Month: MF Doom

It was bound to happen sooner or later.

I'll have to be honest, I had very little contact with MF Doom's work for a long time. I was always aware of his talent and ability, but for some reason I just hadn't gotten around to checking out his stuff. It simply wasn't on my radar. Nevertheless, one day I consulted my homie Marcel for some Doom suggestions and he recommended I pick up Madvillainy, Doom's 2004 collaboration album with Madlib.

It was as if I had discovered a new set of colors that I didn't even know existed; like getting eardrum upgrades that allowed me to hear things I had never heard before.

MF Doom rhymes with a wonderfully bizarre and eccentric energy that is unmistakably clever and engaging. His dense and multi-colored literary style almost feels as if he builds his verses in reverse, meticulously retracing the steps through thoughts and ideas in the service of his textual discoveries. He uses really odd phrases, and words that are barely uttered in normal speech, let alone rap lyrics. And somehow, he puts it all together.

MF Doom freestyles have been difficult to find, so allow me to present an appropriate substitute.

"One Beer" from Doom's 2004 album Mm.. Food

peace.

Classic Moments

This simple video is a record of what can only be described as a classic hip hop moment.

The Roots w/ "Weird" Al Yankovic cover "Accordion" by Madvillain

Last week on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon "Weird" Al Yankovic sat in as a guest of The Roots, Jimmy's house band. However, what never airs are the many jam sessions The Roots enjoy with their various guess artists. Fortunately for us, Questlove (The Roots drummer and unofficial mouthpiece) is an extremely generous cat who doesn't mind giving us the behind-the-cameras moments that are so extraordinary.

The lovely thing about this track is that it raises so many more questions for me.

Is "Weird" Al a fan of MF Doom and Madlib?

Did Quest give him the chords to play or did he just start into it?

Was Black Thought there, writing perhaps?

And if he was, why wasn't he rhyming!?

Does this mean we're gonna get a "Weird" Al/Roots/Madvillain performance on the show?

Is Al going to be on the next Roots album?

Are The Roots going to be on the next "Weird" Al album?

Is Al going to do a MF Doom parody?

To be honest, the purpose of these jam sessions is for the musicians to have fun messing around with harmonies and melodies for the sake of practice and fellowship. So many of my questions probably won't be answered; or at least answered the way I want. Nevertheless, this track is simply marvelous and I'm thrilled they put it out here for us.

And Quest's responses are priceless!

peace