Posted by Long Beach, NY – The City Council of Long Beach, New York has announced an official street-naming ceremony for Daniel “MF DOOM” Dumile will take place at 2 p.m. EST on Saturday (July 31) in the Hip Hop icon’s hometown.
“KMD – MF DOOM Way” will run on East Hudson Street, between Long Beach Boulevard and Riverside Boulevard, where DOOM and his brother Dingilizwe “DJ Subroc” Dumile spent their formative years.
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According to a press release, the City Council of Long Beach approved the dedication on July 6 after a successful petition and presentation from MF DOOM’s longtime friend/KMD dancer Jason “J-Quest the Boogieman” Massey, who represented the KMD – MF DOOM Way Committee.
“The honoring of Daniel Dumile, the artist known as MF DOOM, is part of a tradition that must include the Hip Hop generation,” committee member and petition author Dr. Patrick Graham tells HipHopDX. “His Hip Hop lyricism represents some of the culture’s best linguistic metaphors, garnering intergenerational and interracial admiration.
“His life and art symbolize the resilience we need in our present context.”
Thought leader for the street dedication and DOOM’s friend Rashon “Dris” Butler says, “This is about giving flowers to a man who inspired me to believe in my talent and chase my dreams.
“He would talk life into me every time we crossed paths. While this brings some form of closure for me, it is only the beginning.”
During an interview with DX earlier this month, Graham — who attended Long Beach High School with MF DOOM (also known as Zev Love X from KMD) — was asked what the inimitable MetalFace would think of getting his own street.
“I think he would want to put a mask on the sign and hide still,” he said with a laugh. “I think he would eventually understand it is not just about him, but it’s about a legacy of Hip Hop that city must recognize and know had a great influence on the young people who grew up there. It influenced me so much, I wrote my master thesis on Hip Hop.”
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He added, “DOOM represents a brand of sort of metamorphosis over time, just like Malcom X. That’s what his life was in a very short time. Like many before, our stars take off like rockets and fall and disappear just as quick as they came. That’s the sad part, but it’s also what makes them so great that they do things so young.”
DOOM passed away on October 31, 2020, but the world didn’t learn of his death until a full two months later. He was 49 years old.