Daniel Dumile, the musician and producer best known as the masked MC MF DOOM, is dead. According to an Instagram post signed by his wife, Jasmine, Dumile died on October 31. The post reads:
Begin all things by giving thanks to THE ALL!
To Dumile
The greatest husband, father, teacher, student, business partner, lover and friend I could ever ask for. Thank you for all the things you have shown, taught and given to me, our children and our family. Thank you for teaching me how to forgive beings and give another chance, not to be so quick to judge and write off. Thank you for showing how not to be afraid to love and be the best person I could ever be. My world will never be the same without you. Words will never express what you and Malachi mean to me, I love both and adore you always. May THE ALL continue to bless you, our family and the planet.
All my Love
Jasmine
Transitioned October 31,2020
No cause of death has been reported. Dumile was 49.
The London-born rapper began his long-gestating career in 1988 as a member of KMD, a hip-hop trio that he formed with his younger brother DJ Subroc and emcee Rodan (who would later be replaced by Onyx The Birthstone Kid). At the time, Dumile’s stage name was Zev Love X. The group was signed to Elektra Records and made its recording debut on group 3rd Bass’s song “The Gas Face.” Their first album, Mr. Hood, gained popularity thanks to heavy airplay on Yo! MTV Raps and BET’s Rap City. KMD hit an irreparable rough patch in 1993, when in the span of a week, DJ Subroc died in a vehicular accident and the remaining members were dropped from their record label. Dumile took a step back from the hip-hop scene from 1994 to 1997, taking time to recover from the hefty blows from an unforgiving industry. When KMD’s second album, Black Bastards—a previously stalled project—was later bootlegged, it garnered enough of an audience to culminate in a solid underground following. Dumile would reemerge with a brand-new identity, complete with a mask and stage name inspired by the Marvel Comics supervillain Doctor Doom.
In 1999, MF DOOM made his return to the hip-hop scene official with his debut studio album, Operation: Doomsday, which featured previously released singles “Dead Bent,” “Greenbacks,” and “The M.I.C.” In addition, it included collaborations with his artist collective Monsta Island Czars, for which he crafted a separate onstage personality, King Geedorah—an ode to the kaiju King Ghidorah. Ultimately, he would turn to a number of characters throughout his distinctive career, channeling his love of comic books into his intricate and beloved work.
After releasing albums under his other monikers (including Viktor Vaughn, inspired by Doctor Doom’s alias), Dumile released two highly influential albums under the DOOM name, Mm..Food and Madvillainy. The latter, released in 2004 with producer Madlib under the group name Madvillain, was considered a commercial success and pushed MF DOOM further into the mainstream’s consciousness. Although his final solo album was released in 2009, he spent the last few years engaging in a number of collaborations with the likes of Ghostface Killah, Beth Gibbons of Portishead, and Khujo Goodie of Goodie Mob. As recent as this month, BADBADNOTGOOD dropped the MF DOOM collab “The Chocolate Conquistadors” for the latest Grand Theft Auto update, Cayo Perico Heist.
As the tributes pour in for the fallen lyricist, the common thread that binds the wave of condolences is his immovable influence on not only the rappers of today, but also the hip-hop legends that pop culture has heralded for decades. Q-Tip rightfully referred to MF DOOM as “your favorite MC’s MC” in his tweeted tribute, a succinct recognition of the clever wordplay, introspective bars, and magnetic presence that incoming artists can only hope to emulate.
129 Comments
The only time this dumb ass panel has even been justified:
is that Iron Man or Dr Doom?
Unhappy news. I’ll make the time to listen to some of his stuff.
Dr. Doom from the weirdo post-9/11 comic that Marvel put out, iirc.
one of the coolest Marvel villains, not mentioning the Hollywood casting abomination.
It’s kinda insane that there have been three attempts to put Doctor Doom on film and the best one is the silly movie made on zero budget where you can clearly tell his costume is made out of foam. Why bug blockbuster movies can’t get the simple equation of “disfigured college rival who’s also ruler of a small country” I’ll never know
The solution is so simple within the MCU: you make Doom the villain of the next Black Panther movie. After Wakanda reveals its true nature, Von Doom realizes it’s time for Latveria, another seemingly weak state that’s actually a superpower due to tech and magic, to enter the world stage. After a movie about an internal clash of ideals, we get a movie about international relations between two similar nations with very different leadership styles.Then you introduce Doom’s relationship to the FF after we’ve established him as a brilliant evil mastermind.
so much mastermind Doom could say and do. hold that in reserve. Supervillains are about tears on cold titanium.
the next Wakanda is gonna be hard, don’t know how to do this.
Mmm, I like the idea of Latveria being another secret super power. Though, I’ve long thought the F4 movie should be a period piece and you introduce Doom in the 60’s, when the F4 make the most sense, and he and Latveria are already part of the reason Shield has all the stupid advanced tech they had (partially through the Hydra infiltration connections). But you make it a cold war story, where this time the Americans are after the super weapon of dimension x, Reed Richards is the guy to get access to it, Ben is a secret agent who’s on the case to bring in Richards, the Storm twins are the children of a former Hydra scientist trying to make good and save the planet from the Americans tests (possibly involving the tesseract), and are both basically spies. (The whole thing would be a bit like the man from UNCLE, in it’s a spy thriller, with a lot of 60’s energy.) The F4 and Doom succeed in stopping dimension X from engulfing the planet, but during the process Doom is pulled into the other dimension and the F4 are mutated. Later Doom returns, at the head of an alien army, scarred and in his armour, time works strangely in dimension x, and he’s returned determined that the world needs him to control it or it will take a dark turn, he having seen one of it’s possible futures. He will conquer it just as he has this other dimension. He partially blames Reed for his issues, but mainly the Americans, the F4 are asked to stop him, being the only Superpowered people available at the time (though there could be a cameo from Ant-man and the Wasp) and manage to do so, but are pulled into DimensionX along with him and his army, but have sealed the rift, so that it cannot be opened again.End credits scene, post 2nd snap, we see a rift open up, and out from it come the F4, they’ve aged maybe 10 years, and with them are their kids, and they warn that the next big thing is coming. WE also see Doom return to the throne of Latveria, mechanized alien tech along with him.Lol, I’ve become so attached to this idea that I can’t help but be disappointed by whatever they actually end up doing.
My only note (because you can make your story about whatever you want) is that Sue and Johnny aren’t twins; a critical aspect of their relationship, and the relationship between all four of our heroes, is that Johnny is by far the youngest.
Totally fair, and accurate. I think partially the way they’ve long been depicted in modern comics lead me to forget that Johnny is supposed to be the hot head, not just because it’s his nature, but because he’s younger, between that and the art I forgot there’s meant to be a gap. I still like the idea of them being twins, but I mean it’s not really important so there’s no reason I’d need to keep it. Not that it matters, I don’t think Marvel/Disney is consulting me lol. I do like the idea of introducing villains in earlier movies, even if it’s indirectly, it helps to sell the world, and means you don’t have to do as much heavy lifting when their story rolls around.
Well, because good casting directors are worth their money, and also you have to have the budget to hire someone good for it and none of the F4 films have managed to have both of those yet. The 2005 one obviously spent its money on CGI because it wanted to ape Spider-Man and the producers clearly only saw the ground breaking effects and not the heart that the script and Tobey Maguire brought to the screen that made it stick. The new one…there’s probably a documentary to be filmed about the new one’s failings.
Doom is a character that can’t be brought to screen. His name is literally “doom” who the hell would ever think “oh yea he’s someone we can trust”? Nobody. There’s a reason he’s never translated well to screen. He’s a silly concept that writers have tried really hard to make seem cool. But he’s not. There are far better villains out there.
nah. they don’t need to be best to be villain. Sometimes the villains we like most are the baddest because they are untranslatable. we know a supervillain when we see one, and Marvel should bring one to the screen. someone really bad and good and out there, y’know. no so much silly, kinda. And then with the showdown after 3 seasons.
Spell it Dr. Victor Von Dhume. Now it is no stranger than an OBGYN named Dr Hymen.
Okay, the guy playing Doom in the 2005 and 07 films was dope. He was one of my favorite parts of the film. The pacing and writing of the films was shit though. But for what it’s worth, he was good and I’ll stand by that.
green hood and pointy nose means Doom. Iron Man had a nose for a hot second then the editors said OMG that looks horrible.
pointy breakable nose. but that’s mostly me and not the comics. nose breaker, you get the best of me.
This is where I first heard him. The song is called All Caps.
The funniest thing I noticed about that is how I’m pretty sure I heard Samuel L. Jackson’s voice come out of a white man. Also not the worst way to be introduced to one of the most lyrical rappers on earth.
Yep, that’s Jackson, and Charlie Murphy is the other white guy. They were hysterical in this show. The boys are both voiced by Regina King. I wish the Boondocks hadn’t ended on such a shit note, when it was in its prime it was very entertaining, and this clip was from one of its better episodes. It had a great voice cast and soundtrack as well.
I didn’t know it ended on a bad note. That show meant a lot to me as a pre-teen growing up in the 2000’s. It has some hilarious as fuck episodes. Specifically the “crazy Kung fu bitch” episode and the Bob Ross ones are my favorites. Maybe Aaron McGruder comes back at some point and makes one final season to his liking 🤷♂️
The Bob Ross episode was great. Yeah, unfortunately the show ended up jumping the shark, especially with the Flanderization of some of the characters and poor plotlines, and MacGruder’s departure definitely hurt the last season.
This is the actual video for All Caps, and it is a glorious thing…
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
There’s just no two ways about it, he was one of the best ever. I remember goin to see him at Rock The Bells 2006 and even though it was for sure an imposter it didn’t dissuade how much I loved him.RIP to the king
You think you saw a Doom imposter? Who could fake that so unique buttery grit?
It was definitely just like the DangerDoom cd and the Doomsday cd played through the PA! He was the 12th person to perform that day I think, and you could just 100% tell that was not him actually rapping. No breathing, no speaking between songs. Sounded way too mixed for a live setting.
Nah I know, he was notorious for that shit 🤣
The fact that it played into his reclusive nature and it was a play on the fact that Doctor Doom was always turning out to be a Doombot and not the real Doom made it extra fun. Plus you gotta give props to the guy. Rap with a big old mask on a few times and you can tour the world without ever having to leave your couch.
also hannibal burress was one of them!
Please tell me there’s a story out there that explains that. That sounds fucking hilarious lmfao
Oliver Platt?
Not a bad suggestion honestly. I’d love to see Oli spit some of that fire
If you can be dead for two months and media outlets don’t notice until the family mentions it…is it really news?
It is if he voted! Call off the election!
Doom was a mystery, in life and death.
Man knowing him half of me thinks this is a fake out but it’s a sad day. RIP Doom.
Yes, yes it can. Just because you don’t care doesn’t mean others don’t. Don’t be so dense.
Yes, yes it can. Just because you don’t care doesn’t mean others don’t. Don’t be so dense.That’s just ptrolemy65.A douchebag troll.
believe it or not, some famous people still value their own privacy and making no public appearances for two months isn’t uncommon. even more so when most people probably recognized his mask more than his face
Yeah I read this as the family waited till after the holidays to announce it so they wouldn’t have a bunch of media requests while they’re trying to grieve together.
Privacy was kind of part of his whole deal.
the guy was a a very private person – with a reputation for sending stand-ins to perform in his name – in a year in which performers were not performing. he wore his mask in interviews.also, you’re a stupid-head.
Yes, is sorta strange. No press til 2-3 months after passing. Am not a ‘hip hop’ person [am old white guy] though very big fan of Beastie Boys, De La Soul, & Basehead. Am very familiar w/name of MF DOOM & thought He could be grouped w/aforementioned list as ‘genius’ genre but could be wrong.
Its called privacy wtf are you even talking about
Just sorta surprising that MF Doom’s death wasn’t reported sooner. We live, die, & exist in a ‘mass media culture’. He was a purdy well-known figure. ‘Its called privacy wtf are you even talking about’
Also, am currently learning moves, rules, & strategy of chess game pieces. Hope Kevin Pang of Chicago is doing same etc.
Well he or his family had a framework in place that rejected that conformist attitude/expectation. Something that is very much so in line with his musical career and rap persona. Bucking the norm. May he rest in peace.
Well said. Thx 🙂
He was well known amongst hip hop aficionados, not really the general public. I literally had not read an article about DOOM in nearly a decade until he died, and I’ve been a huge fan since the 90s. His whole thing was being a mysterious, weird dude, why would his death be any different? And if his family/label didn’t announce the death, how would the press even know he had passed? Seems like his wife and kids needed time to process his death, and his label respected that, and waited until they were good and ready before making the announcement.
Bro I need to know what kinds of paradigms you’re out there shifting with all this fuckin time you’re saving by using such chopped sentences and not having to type out “ith” with that “w”
Attn Sec. of Typography: Four less strokes on keyboard means more beer consumption pleasure time. Over/Out.‘Bro, I need to know what kinds of paradigms you’re out there shifting with.’
Big Balls
That’s kind of on brand for Doom. Reclusive and mysterious to the very end.
Fuck you very much
I can tell there are no goddamned fans here because everyone is using lower case to spell the man’s name.
I’ve just been posting the video to All Caps for everyone who spells his name wrong. They may learn something, but if not, at least they get to watch one of the best music videos ever made. Win-win. IT’S ALL CAPS WHEN YOU SPELL THE MAN NAME!
Erik you’ve been a dumbass your entire life, but we just found out about it today. Still news.
Maybe they wanted privacy, eh, asshole?
I can understand and appreciate the family’s wish to mourn in private and still consider the public announcement of such a figure’s passing to be newsworthy, sure. Maybe that’s just me.
“If you can be dead for two months and media outlets don’t notice until the family mentions it…is it really news?”
thats journalism for ya.. sitting outside famous people’s houses waiting for the first signs they’re dead. /s
news means new did you fuckin know he was dead before now? then its news
Your average ordinary every day person wouldnt recognize Dumille on the street and it wasn’t like he was some a-list Hollywood persona, whose every move was followed by the paparazzi. Not really hard to believe at all.
This is incredibly sad. I don’t listen to a lot of rap or hip hop but I’ve always been impressed by his work. A true artist has been lost much, much too early.
Gone too soon. Time to blast ssome Madvillain.Fuck 2020. What a shit year.
I was wondering why his name sounded familiar. Now I remember where I’ve heard of him. I lliked the music he and Madvillain put out in 2004. R.I.P.
You mean he and Madlib (MadVillain was Madlib and DOOM)
You’re right, my mistake.
Damn, rest in power. It’s somehow fitting that Doom died 2 months ago and nobody knew.
On Halloween during a full moon no less.
I don’t know why but this comment reminds me of that stupid Facebook meme a few years back that said “Halloween is going to be a full moon and on Friday the 13th this year”. I feel like people who reposted it in ironically are the same idiots who post picture of Ewan McGregor as Obi Wan with Jesus quotes under his name or who believe Biden stole the presidential election because “How can Trump lose when he has some many Twitter followers?”
Oh no 2020, you’ve gone and done it now motherfucker. Fucking bullshit fucking year.
For both father and son to die as young as they did it has to be from cancer or some sort of genetic defect.
Devastating. The best flow in the game.
What the FUCK! Can 2020 still get worse. Rest is peace bro. Dude was incredibly talented.
Damn! 2020 ain’t letting up until the very end.
I knew the name but I wasn’t really familiar with his work, and I thought that the two month after death thing seemed kinda funny so I started reading up on him…Dude was the member of a cult. The leader of said cult, whom MF Doom named his (deceased) son after, is a convicted child rapist.
Why do we call them “rappers” and not “rappists”?
I’ll take the rappists for 1000, Trebek!
And the fucking Pope was a Nazi. So what?
We say “Fuck that Nazi Pope”.
Do not Duck Duck Go that phrase. I need a drink. And a bath, I expect the FBI along shortly.
I thought that was the previous Pope. The one who abdicated, likely because he alarmingly resembled Chancellor Palpatine.
The last pope was a Nazi (sort of), the current pope just sort of colluded with a military dictatorship.
Who among us hasn’t sort of colluded with a military dictatorship?
No one in the state department of any large government in the last century at the least.
It was indeed Palpapope who was a Nazi. Although when people say “Nazi”, what they mean in this case is “forced by law to join the Hitler Youth, like every other boy in Germany, but refused to attend meetings; later conscripted into the armed forces, but defected.” In other words, calling him a Nazi only makes sense if you assume that “Nazi” is synonymous with “German”.The current pope’s collusion consisted of failing to publically denounce the dictatorship – which at the time was very popular, and the human rights abuses of which were largely not yet known – out of fear of retaliation against Jesuits throughout the country. Instead, he attempted to more gently pressure the dictatorship, interceded privately with them where he thought he could have some influence, and used his position to shelter enemies of the state, both by granting secret sanctuary on church property, and by helping those in danger illegally flee the country, at some risk to himself.
You don’t think it’s relevant if people used to be Nazis? I’m not sure I follow your logic here.
Where’d you read that? Never heard that. Google has nothing.
It’s right on his wikipedia page under personal life.
It doesn’t, actually?
It was there yesterday, where it now says “citation needed”.Here is a previous version of the page where it is still present.https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=MF_Doom&diff=997560886&oldid=997560777
From this Medium article from 2015: https://medium.com/cuepoint/check-the-technique-kmds-black-bastards-and-the-birth-of-mf-doom-1849f4c0a6f4
Doom says that they started recording the follow-up to Mr. Hood, “Upstate, at Dr. York’s studio, where the photo on the back of [MF Doom’s] Operation Doomsday [from 1999, on Fondle ‘Em Records] was taken.” Dr. Malachi York is the controversial leader of the Nuwaubian / Nubian Islamic Hebrew Mission spiritual movement and the Holy Tabernacle Ministries. York and his ministry operated out of several locations starting in the late 60s, including Brooklyn, Liberty, NY (near the Catskills, about 90 miles from Manhattan), and, starting in 1993, rural Georgia.In addition to being a religious and spiritual figurehead, Dr. York was also a recording artist, beginning in the early 80s. Doom and Sub had an association with him during their teenage years and, according to many accounts, followed his spiritual teachings. “Doom and Sub would go and visit Dr. York in Brooklyn on the weekends,” Ross recalls. “He had a lot of influence on them.”
Wow – “controversial leader of a spiritual movement” is certainly one way to say “American history’s worst child-rapist, sentenced to 135 years in prison”. But it’s not the usual one.
I was wondering what “THE ALL” was about.
On the page for the Nuwaubian Nation, it says the leader was indicted for 197 counts of child molestation against children as young as 8, pleaded guilty, and was convicted. I don’t even understand why someone would submit a guilty plea for a series of crimes that horrifying. You’re not going to suddenly have a crisis of conscience if you’re actually guilty, and there’s no way you’re ever getting out of prison earlier with a plea bargain.
I don’t even understand why someone would submit a guilty plea for a series of crimes that horrifying.
Former petty criminal here; he probably did it to avoid trial. Can you imagine how long it would take to bring 197 witnesses to the stand? And you know how the media covers shit like that…way better to get it over with quick and keep a low profile.For better or worse, it seems to have worked; never heard of the dude, myself…though I imagine he’s having fun in prison with a rotating cadre of Bubbas.
Yeah, that makes sense, and it really did work. I don’t remember hearing about him, and apparently it’s the single largest prosecution of anyone for child molestation, both in terms of numbers of victims and incidents.
A lot of the weirdo NoI-spinoff cults have followings, large or small, inside the prison system. I’d bet a small amount of money that the plea deal involved him going to a facility where he was reasonably sure he wouldn’t be murdered or gang-raped by virtue of having some friends to land amongst.
Save time and money?
Depending on when and where he was convicted, if the death penalty was on the table, often a criminal will plead guilty to get a sentence instead of the chair
Whatever, Madvillainy is brilliant.
Always comes back to Dwight, man …
As far as his musical output is concerned, he’ll always be one of my favorites. That’s pretty fucked tho, looking up what you said to verify. MF Doom always struck me as kind of a weird character but that’s crazy to know.
wow ….i was introduced to mf doom when i first moved to nyc. man what an era. 2020 really does not want to stop with the hits.RIP
Your favorite rapper’s favorite rapper.I know Madvillainy and Operations: Doomsday get the most accolades, but I’ve always had a soft spot for Take Me to Your Leader.
Take Me To Your Leader is my favorite of his.Damn, this one . . . this one hurts.
Vaudeville Villain is the one for me, but man, he had a discography to fucking envyRIP to one of the greatest to do it
“Take Me To Your Leader” was my introduction to Doom. It’s only after I listened to the album that a friend recommended “Madvillainy”. Then again his entire discography was lyrical gold man. Truly one of the greatest. His obscurity only becomes evident when people commenting on media outlets reporting/mourning Doom’s death, ask who he is.
I kinda want to retrace that line “your favorite rapper’s favorite rapper”.Who was the first to say it?I can cite Styles P saying it on “Ryde or Die” in 1999.I think Kool G Rap might have used it too but can find a cite.Anyone else?
Goddamn it, Anti Matter is such a good song. So sad to hear of his passing.
SadeVillain is incredible as well. Not an official album, but one of the best mashups ever. And it makes perfect sense because he sampled Sade on Doomsday (I still can’t listen to the Sade song without thinking of DOOM).
One of the best to ever grab a mic.
I remember seeing him in the soulless aircraft hangar that is Alexandria Palace and immediately afterwards two fucking Shoreditch CUNTS insisting that the man we’d just seen on stage was an imposter (IDGAF, it must have been the real DOOM at least 1 of the 3 times that I saw him). But still, given his reputation for sending ringers in his place, I can’t quite shake the hope that this is some crazy hoax.Given the fact that this is being reported by various reputable news sources (and the AV Club *rimshot*) I guess this is probably true. RIP to one of the GOATs.
Madvilliany is one of the top ten hip hop albums of all time. RIP.
Madvillainy and the Mouse and the Mask opened my rock focused and closed mind to hip hop when I was 20. A friend who was an aspiring DJ introduced this to me. So much nostalgia. This one hurts.
On some news site they have year-end obituary articles up. As you might expect, this year was a particularly depressing read.
This is sad news indeed. I loved listening to his catalogue at work.Weird that we’re only learning about this now, 2 months after his death.R.I.P. You mysterious, megalomaniacal bastard
the best to ever do it.
2020 had to give one more kick in the nuts on the way out, huh? Fuck 2020.
Who?
“He wears a mask just to cover the raw flesh / A rather ugly brother with flows that’s gorgeous”
I had really only heard his name before today, but from everything I read today he was infamous for defrauding and mistreating his fans, so I am not sure why anyone cares about him, sounds like an asshole. At least Lauryn Hill, another renowned fan abuser, usually eventually shows up.
well, speaking as a fan, most of us thought the fake performance gimmick was endearing. it was part of the supervillain thing, and honestly will be remembered fondly. doom sending out doombots. plus we all kind of understood he was somewhat mentally ill and had been through a lot of pain in his life. we forgave the quirks because the music was so good and his POV so specific. he was also, speaking personally, an early ‘whoa what’s this?!’ music find in the early wild-west digital days, so there was an element of discovering this special musician who seemed to exist only for you.he was one of a kind, for better and worse.
Your first paragraph honestly stuns me.
“defrauding and mistreating his fans”This is such a small, small piece of his career, and people who don’t know Doom’s music tend to latch onto it. Don’t get wrapped up in it. He was consistently one of the best rappers to do it and had huge crossover appeal for a number of good reasons. He wasn’t meant to be a live performer, and that was ok. Lauryn Hill has one record, and continues to subject people to spotty performances and no shows. Night and day.
was gobsmacked at this, his beats are in the background of so many of my memories. one of the best there has ever been RIP DOOM
Fuuuuuuuuck. One of my favorite artists of all time. The first rapper I was able to get my wife to listen to and enjoy. I was just introducing my brother to the DANGERDOOM album a couple weeks ago. Truly one of a kind flow and lyrics, AND he produced a wealth of fantastic beats for himself and others.
Mind blown knowing he was Zev Love X and in 3rd Bass’ ‘Gas Face’ video. Which I was just showing a friend the video last week! RIP Mother Fucking DOOM!