Daniel Dumile
Daniel Dumile (
IPA: duː mə leɪ) is a
British-
American hip hop artist who has taken on several
stage names (King Geedorah, MF DOOM, Viktor Vaughn, Zev Love X) in his career.
Dumile's eccentric wordplay makes him a favorite of underground hip-hop fans. He is heavily influenced by American
comic books (especially the
Fantastic Four and their battles with
Dr. Doom).
Japanese science fiction is also an influence; the concept for King Geedorah (which is derived from
Ghidorah) and the
Monsta Island Czars comes from the
Godzilla movie series. He is also renowned for bringing comedy back into the sometimes overly serious world of rap lyrics and a unique, sample-heavy production style.
He was born in Southwest
London,
England on
January 9 1971 to a
South African father and a
West Indian mother; the family moved to New York and lived in
Long Island where he was raised.
His debut in the world of rap music came when he devised the concept for, and guest-appeared on, the song "The Gas Face" by the rap group
3rd Bass. On "The Gas Face" he appeared as
Zev Love X along with his younger brother
DJ Subroc. Zev Luv X, Subroc, and another MC called Onyx The Birthstone Kid together formed the group
KMD. Originally, "KMD" stood for "Kausing Much Damage," but before their first album they changed it to "a positive Kause in a Much Damaged society." KMD were all members of the Ansaar Allah community based in Brooklyn, New York founded by
Dr. Malachi Z. York then more known commonly known as Imam Issa. KMD signed with
Elektra Records label under the A&R Dante Ross, who noticed KMD through the 3rd Bass record. KMD released
1991's
Mr. Hood as part of a short-lived trend of
conscious hip hop outings, along with labelmates
Brand Nubian and other groups like
Poor Righteous Teachers. He is known for his above-average hip hop production and unique
rapping skills.
Subroc was accidentally struck and killed by a car in
1993 while attempting to cross a busy Long Island
expressway, before the release of a second KMD album entitled
Bl_ck B_st_rds. The group was subsequently dropped from
Elektra Records before the release of the album due to controversy over the album's
cover art which featured a cartoon of a stereotypical
pickaninny or
sambo character being
hanged from the
gallows.
Still dealing with the loss of his brother, Dumile became disillusioned and began to suffer from bouts of
depression. He disappeared from the hip-hop scene from 1994-1997, and testifies to living "damn near homeless, walking the streets of
Manhattan, sleeping on benches and shit" [
1]. Shortly after this time, he left
New York City and settled in
Atlanta. According to interviews with DOOM, he was also "recovering from his wounds" and swearing revenge "against the industry that so badly deformed him." Meanwhile,
Black Bastards was heavily bootlegged and Zev Love's legend grew. In
1997, he began appearing at the
Nuyorican Poets Café at open mic events for rappers, although few people knew that the man freestyling with a stocking over his face was the former Zev. The imaginative MC began using new identity MF DOOM, inspired by the
Marvel Comics supervillain,
Dr. Doom, using a metal mask(eventually stolen by the Box Office hit 'Gladiator') while performing and refusing to be photographed without it ("MF" stands for "metal face". MF Grimm used the same initials but this stands for "Mad Flows")
The release of
Operation: Doomsday in
1999 by independent label
Fondle 'Em marked the official turning point for Dumile in his reinvention of himself from a major label recording artist of minor status to independent artist, where he would find his greatest success while maintaining the most control over his music.
Operation: Doomsday was received very well by
underground listeners and was re-released in
2000. The following year, he began releasing albums of instrumental work, a series known as
Special Herbs for several small record labels under the name
Metal Fingers. He created an additional alter-egos
King Geedorah as a member of
Monsta Island Czars, a group consisting of
MF Grimm and (currently) 14 other underground New York emcees who released their debut album in
2003.
MF DOOM was still far below the rader of mainstream press when two albums were released under new aliases by different labels in 2003. The first was
Vaudeville Villain, released under the name Viktor Vaughn on Sound-Ink Records, and the second was King Geedorah's
Take Me To Your Leader, released by Big Dada/
Ninja Tune. Viktor Vaughn appears as solely a rap project - he has no production or executive producer credit on the album, but raps throughout the album - and alternately, King Geedorah is a conceptual production project. Although he raps on few of the songs on
Take Me To Your Leader, the album is produced entirely by MF DOOM. Several of his long time collaborators appear as MC's.
DOOM's first commercial breakthrough came in
2004, with the album
Madvillainy together with producer
Madlib under the group name
Madvillain. Released by
Stones Throw Records, the album was a critical and commercial success. MF DOOM was seen by mainstream audiences for the first time as Madvillain received publicity and acclaim in publications such as
Rolling Stone,
New York Times,
The New Yorker, and
Spin. A video for "All Caps" and a 4-date U.S. tour followed the release of
Madvillainy. An additional video for "Rhinestone Cowboy" and a segment from the tour are shown on the DVD "Stones Throw 101".
Both DOOM and Madlib were featured on the 2004
De La Soul release
The Grind Date, MF DOOM rapping on the track "Rock Co.Kane Flow", which was also released as a single. Late in the year, DOOM's second solo album
MM..Food? was released by the
Minnesota-based label
Rhymesayers Entertainment, using various food items to metaphorically explain life and his own complex personality. As Viktor Vaughn he released his sophmore effort
Venomous Villain (also called
VV2), an album which received mixed reviews mostly critical of production values considered inferior to DOOM's recent work, and it's short 33 minute length, with only 10 minutes featuring DOOM.
In
2005 MF DOOM took another step towards the commercial mainstream (while maintaining his independent artist status) with
The Mouse and the Mask, a collaboration with producer
DJ Danger Mouse released under the group name Danger Doom. The album was released on October 11, 2005 and frequently references characters from Cartoon Network's
Adult Swim. He also voiced the giraffe named Sherman in Adult Swim's
Perfect Hair Forever; not coincidentally a song on
The Mouse and the Mask called "Perfect Hair"
references the cartoon extensively.
Perfect Hair Forever did not debut officially on
Adult Swim until a month after Danger Doom, so many listeners might not have gotten the references to
Coiffio and
Mt. Tuna. Also on this album, MF DOOM dissed M.I.C and MF Grimm in a song called "El Chupa Nibre" when he referred to the group as "midgets into crunk". MF Grimm released a retaliatory track titled "The Book of Daniel", which will appear on his album, American Hunger.
In
2005, MF Doom appeared on two other Danger Mouse-produced projects: the
Gorillaz album "
Demon Days", rapping on the song "November Has Come", and Danger Mouse's remix of
Zero 7's "Sommersault".
MF Doom's creativity continues in
2006. Doom produced several tracks on
Ghostface Killah's
Fishscale album released in April, and the two are currently at work on a collaboration album called "Swift & Changeable". Doom is also planning to make another
Madvillain album with producer
Madlib, with one song first appearing on the
Adult Swim/
Stones Throw Records album "
Chrome Children", which also contains the first-ever live show by DOOM released on DVD.
He also plans to make another Dangerdoom album with Danger Mouse. [
2]
Dumile is rarely seen in public without a mask or hood on, and there exist no promotional photos or videos of his face post-KMD.
In an interview conducted on Independence Day in 2006, he stated that he is married, with two teenage children.
[http://www.ukhh.com/features/interviews/mfdoom]KMD (as Zev Luv X with brother DJ Subroc and Onyx)Mr. Hood (1991)
Bl_ck B_st_rds (1994)
Best of KMD (2003)
MF DOOMOperation: Doomsday (1999)
MM..Food? (2004)
Special Blends Vol. 1&2 (2004)
Live from Planet X (2005)
Viktor VaughnVaudeville Villain (2003)
VV2: Venomous Villain (2004)
King GeedorahTake Me to Your Leader (2003)
Monster Island Czars (as King Geedorah)
Escape from Monsta Island! (2003)
Madvillain (with
Madlib)
Madvillainy (2004)
Madvillainy Instrumentals (2004)
* "Monkey Suite" on
Chrome Children (2006)
Metal FingersSpecial Herbs Vol. 1 (2001)
Special Herbs Vol. 1 & 2 (2002)
Special Herbs Vol. 3 (2003)
Special Herbs Vol. 3 & 4 (2003)
Special Herbs Vol. 4, 5 & 6 (2004)
Special Herbs Vol. 7 & 8 (2004)
Special Herbs Vol. 9 & 0 (2005)
Special Herbs The Box Set Vol. 0-9 (2006)
With MF GrimmMF EP (
2000)
Special Herbs and Spices Vol. 1 (2004)
DANGERDOOM (with
DJ Danger Mouse)
The Mouse and the Mask (2005)
Occult Hymn EP (2006) - Digital release by
Adult Swim on http://www.adultswim.com/promos/dangerdoom/occulthymn/
*
Official MF DOOM myspace page www.myspace.com/mfdoom
*
MF DOOM site (hosted by HipHopSite.com) www.mfdoomsite.com
*
MF DOOM complete discography (hosted by Stones Throw)*
MF DOOM & Madlib as Madvillain www.stonesthrow.com/madvillain
*
MF DOOM & Danger Mouse as Dangerdoom www.dangerdoom.com
*
Official DANGERDOOM myspace page www.myspace.com/dangerdoom
*
Official Madvillain myspace page www.myspace.com/madvillain
