Posted by MF DOOM left the physical realm as mysteriously as he lived it. Known to the world as Metal Face (or Metal Fingers), his elusive presence and supervillain persona cloaked his legacy in intrigue, making him even more of a bona fide legend.
The Hip Hop community was left reeling after his death was announced on December 31, a full two months after the London native actually died. In the wake of his untimely passing, DOOM and Madlib’s celebrated collaboration Madvillainy has made U.K. history.
According to a pair of tweets from Chart Data, the project is now certified silver in Britain, DOOM’s first. [Editor’s note: Silver means an album has sold at least 200,000 total album-equivalent units.]
Madvillain’s 'Madvillainy' is now certified Silver in the UK.
— chart data (@chartdata) January 8, 2021
MF Doom posthumously earns his first certified album in the UK ('Madvillainy').
— chart data (@chartdata) January 8, 2021
Madlib and DOOM began working on the project in 2002 and the lauded producer created 100 hundred beats in a matter of weeks — some were used on Madvillainy, others wound up on his collaboration album with J Dilla Champion Sound, while some ended up on M.E.D.’s and Dudley Perkins’ albums.
As the story goes, Stones Throw Records booked a hotel room for DOOM, but he spent the majority of his time in Madlib’s Los Angeles studio, which used to be an old bomb shelter. In their free time, they’d drink beer, eat Thai food, smoke weed and and consume psychedelic mushrooms during which songs such as “Meat Grinder” and “Figaro” were birthed.
After a frustrating internet leak, Madvillainy was finally released in 2004 via Stones Throw Records and achieved moderate commercial success for the label, landing at No. 179 on the Billboard 200 chart. But its impact on the culture would prove to be immeasurable.
On Thursday night (January 7), legendary New York City radio hosts Stretch Armstrong and Bobbito Garcia hosted a special episode of their revived Stretch & Bobbito Radio show on Apple Music, strictly dedicated to DOOM. Throughout the nearly two-hour episode, they played music from Madvillainy, Operation Doomsday, Dangerdoom, KMD’s nearly mythical Black Bastards album and Mm…Food, among others.
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But perhaps the most enthralling element of the show was the rare freestyles from DOOM’s early years (known then as KMD’s Zev Lov X) when he’d stop by Stretch and Bobbito’s studio at WKCR as their show was just beginning to crawl.
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Personal stories from some of the people who knew him well — including 3rd Bass MC Pete Nice, Elektra Records A&R Dante Ross, Company Flow (and now Run The Jewels) MC El-P and KMD’s Onyx The Birthstone Kid — were also peppered in between tracks, allowing listeners another perspective on their favorite super villain.
DOOM was only 49 at the time of his death and had plans to release another KMD album called Crack In Time, the first new KMD album in over 25 years. Most recently, he’d teamed up with Flying Lotus and Thundercat for “Lunch Break,” which lives on the popular video game Grand Theft Auto V.
Dozens of DOOM’s peers have expressed their shock and sadness over his passing — from Yasiin Bey (Mos Def) and Lupe Fiasco to 3rd Bass’ MC Serch and A Tribe Called Quest’s de facto leader Q-Tip.
Bishop Nehru, who calls DOOM his mentor and worked on projects such as NehruvianDoom and My Disregarded Thoughts with the late legend, told HipHopDX, “Working with him was a dream come true. I loved his music before I met him and to even meet him was enough. But for him to see something in me outside of music and want to help me grow, it means everything.”
Find Stretch and Bobbito’s DOOM episode here.