“My world will never be the same without you,” Jasmine Dumile writes on December 31, 2020, as the public is informed of her husband’s death, the well-known rapper, MF DOOM. He died on October 31, 2020, the cause of death never being revealed.
Daniel Dumile, otherwise known as his super-villain character, MF DOOM, was announced dead with little warning, leaving many fans shocked and upset. Many famous rappers moved to social media to honor him.
DOOM released music under many different names, starting under the name Zev Love X in a group called KMD. After the death of his brother, he adopted the super-villain persona based on the Marvel Comic’s Doctor Doom, wearing a metal mask as he performed at various open mics.
Once he established himself as solo, he released music under names King Geedorah, Viktor Vaughn, Madvillain, Danger Doom and more. Although many find his lyrics and songwriting interesting and unique, he also produced many beats for his own use and for others to use. His music is largely claimed by the underground hip hop genre or alternative hip hop.
Madlib, a popular producer, and sometimes rapper, under the name Quasimoto, joined MF DOOM on one of their most popular and critically acclaimed albums, Madvillainy. Pitchfork rated Madvillainy a 9.4, an impressively high number, saying “Good luck finding a better hip-hop album this year, mainstream, undie, or otherwise.”
Jessica Tjahyadi, 20-year-old Penn State sophomore, VALLEY Spotify Admin and music enthusiast, shares her thoughts, “MF DOOM will always be recognized as one of the greatest beatmakers, lyricists, and producers, but something in particular that I will never forget about him is the way he presented himself to the world. His life was always mysterious, but yet we all seem to have captured an essence of DOOM through his art and the way he mastered his craft. If you have ever listened to him, you would be lucky to say that you have discovered one of the greatest artists in the game.”
Although DOOM claimed a major spot in hip-hop, many details about his personal life remained anonymous. His interest was never in flexing wealth or claiming fame, but creating art.
He also has inspired other rap artists like Logic, Joey Bada$$, Drake and group Odd Future. For an artist who got dropped from his original record label and spent a good amount of time crashing on couches in New York, this is quite impressive. For any music fan, albums Madvillainy, MM…FOOD, and Operation: Doomsday are great listens.
Although the rap community will miss MF DOOM’s talent and unique lyricism, he leaves behind a legacy of one of the most interesting producers and rappers in alternative hip-hop. May he rest in peace.
