5 MF DOOM Songs You Need to Add to Your Playlist

 

    If there was one person in the hip hop scene who was miles above everybody else in terms of lyrical ability and artistic refinement, it was MF DOOM. He sadly passed away in October of 2020, and fitting with his mysterious persona, his death was only announced at the turn of the New Year by his wife Jasmine. MF DOOM was supremely talented, adopting a variety of alter egos to rap under and released records that were almost instant classics. His wordplay and rhyme schemes were otherworldly, his beats were electric and his presence with his Doctor Doom inspired mask was daunting and beautifully menacing. MF DOOM became a so called super villain in the rap scene, on a plane of existence unlike any of his contemporaries. This list contains five tracks of his that showcase his abilities and should get any of you uninitiated MF DOOM fans familiar with his legend. He was your favorite rappers favorite rapper, and remember when you spell the man’s name don’t forget to put that in ALL CAPS. A link to the Spotify playlist with all these tracks will be posted below.

1.     Vaudeville Villain

    Released under his alter ego of "Viktor Vaughn," a clever play on the name of the Marvel super villain Doctor Doom, whose real name is Victor Von Doom. This track embodies the villain shrouded in mystique nature that MF DOOM was trying to accomplish. The production is ridiculous, with some hard hitting, classic underground drums and chopped up grueling guitar chords emanating a tone of vileness and dark energy. The textures that stand out are the intermittent synth horns that radiate that villain-like persona, sounding sharp and wicked like that of an actual super villain theme song. On the first bars of the track his lyrical wit is immediately present, rapping “V. Vaughn, the travelin’ Vaudeville Villain, Who don’t give a flyin’ fuck who ain’t not feelin’ him, Watch what ya dealin’ him: Ace, king death card, Strong-arm the wrong man, pardon the left, god.” Even breaking this down is a challenge, as MF DOOM keeps that same rhyme scheme on the “n” sound on multiple words and syllables, on the ending of the bars and internally as well. The bars also rhyme on the sounds in “god” and “card,” with DOOM changing his inflections and sonic delivery to also rhyme the internal syllables on both those as well as “feelin,” “villain” and “dealin.” Later DOOM raps “On borrowed-time rhymes, gassed by the silver screen, They act like their monkey-ass can heal back like Wolverine, Mellow out what y’all bellow out ya yellow mouth, What happened to the typa spit that used to help a fellow out?” With some clever bars about the super power Wolverine has to heal, and the rhyming he shows here we really get a sense of how talented he was. The rhyming on the words “mellow,” “yellow” and “fellow” are absurd, because they are internal and the “y” sound also rhymes in “y’all,” “ya” and “yellow” as well. MF DOOM also makes the “ou” sound rhyme in all the words like “mouth” and “out” with such fluidity and ease, showcasing his god-like lyrical talents.

 2.     Vomitspit

    “Vomitspit” comes of arguably his most popular solo release MM…Food that has a concept of everything on it being a reference towards food (interesting right?). This track stands out because it is superbly funky and is simply a fun song as MF DOOM flows in a contagiously good mood. The foodstuffs theme is ever present in the bars “Even when the ribs touchin’ never swallowed the ham, He’d rather eat a sand sandwich salad, It might need salt like your man’s bland ballad.” The rhyming here is so catchy and his delivery is amazing, with that “sand sandwich salad” lyric being one of the smoothest lines of all time. The “a,” “an” and “d” sounds all rhyme and rapping that your man’s ballad needs salt was pretty humorous. The production on this cut is fantastic, with his signature villain laugh sound ringing in at the start and an addictive drum loop coming in clean with the snare and bass sharing the same timing, giving this track a steady groove to follow. There are some zany, groovy guitar chords that hit at different pitches and progressions, further adding to the personality and layered perfection this instrumental has. The highlight though is the soulful, infatuating piano synth loop that rides with the percussion, as this is the main element that stands out in this track, sounding funky as hell. Another divine moment on this cut are on some bars later in the song, when DOOM raps “Well edumacated, he heard it when he meditated, In deep theta, let her hate the creep later, Dedicated cheap skater who keeps data, Say he stay self-medicated to sleep later.” The dope rhymes are present again with him rhyming the purposely misspelled “edumacated” with “medicated” and “meditated,” as well as the words “deep,” “creep” and “cheap.” MF DOOM also is able to rhyme “theta” and “skater with “data,” which are words that while simple themselves, are not easy to rhyme together, let alone in separate bars.

3.     All Caps

    This track is from the album Madvillainy, a project from the duo “Madvillain” which of course features MF DOOM and the legendary producer Madlib. The production on this cut is some of the best ever done on any song that exists, as Madlib’s talents with beats paired with the rapping ability of MF DOOM is a match made in heaven. The percussion hits with some softer boom bap drums akin to New York styles, and the chopped up synths are varied extremely well. There is a vile piano loop that is heard at the beginning that pops up throughout the track, with the main portion being carried by a dreamy, fairy tale-like flute loop. Some droning horns can be heard in the background that ride with the beat and come up in volume and pitch intermittently as the track progresses. Every time I hear this song, knew production elements are noticed, which just goes to show how creatively talented Madlib is at making beats. DOOM’s rapping is fantastic, with bars such as “Sometimes he rhyme quick, sometimes he rhyme slow, Or vice versa, whip up a slice of nice verse pie, Hit it on the first try, villain the worst guy.” The line about “verse pie” might just be his most creative line, as the cleverness of the rhymes and using “versa” and “verse” in the same bar is so unique, even if it appears to be just two simple words. He also showcases a very famous quotable on here, and one that is constantly referenced when he raps “It’s ugly, like look at, it’s a damn shame, Just remember, all caps when you spell the man name.” this line is of course is what the song title is about, but spelling DOOM’s name in all caps became his motto in a sense and something fans could take and express their love for him by quoting it or spelling it out when they wrote about MF DOOM.

4.     That’s That

    This track is off of Born Like This, probably MF DOOM’s most underrated project and what many would be consider to be his most underwhelming project. The cut features this buzzing, synthed out violin chord that serves as the main sample sound used in this beat. The drums are rocking and hit hard, with them speeding up and slowing down as DOOM changes his flow. There are also some choppy synthesizer notes that patiently hit every so often, adding a unique flare and vibrancy to the production. The whole vibe this track gives off is a slight one of melancholy, as DOOM feels alone in his stardom and stands alone at the top as the best. The rhyming on here literally shows why “That’s that,” as he just goes all in and flows like crazy with some insane rhymes. DOOM raps on some of the first bars “Here, share strawberry morning, gone an more important spawning, Torn in, poor me sworn in, Cornish hens switchin’ positions, auditionin’ morticians, Saw it in a vision, ignorin’ prison.” How he is able to rhyme all the “or,” “orn,” “ition,” “on” and other plethora of syllables in there is beyond belief, as a rhyme scheme like that is almost incomprehensible. We get even more of this later when he raps “Sickest ninja injury this century, enter plea, Lend sympathy to limper Simple Simon-rhymin’ emcees, Trees is free, please leave a key, These meager fleas, he’s the breeze, and she’s the bees knees for sheez.” I mean, all this is ridiculous, the internal rhyming and the separate words and syllables that rhyme and the sheer number of them throughout the track is unfathomable, making this cut the one that shows off MF DOOM’s pure lyrical ability in the most complete sense.

5.     Fazers.

    “Fazers” is the first cut off of his alien monster alter ego album Take Me to Your Leader. MF DOOM creates the persona of “King Geedorah,” a moniker styled on Godzilla’s enemy King Ghidorah, a three-headed lightning spitting dragon from Planet X. Fitting with the three heads of Ghidorah; DOOM has stated that he raps in a pattern of threes throughout this project. The production opens with a sample from the movie “Invasion of the Astro-Monster” and some dialogue is used to introduce DOOM as the three headed monster. The production is very polished with some distinct boom bap drums that get your foot tapping and head bobbing off the get go. Some classic, synthed piano notes and crooning orchestral string chords form the main part of the instrumental, sounding like they could be an old soundtrack to one of these cult monster movies. MF DOOM raps with an air of intensity and an urgent nature, seeming to fully embrace this monster-like persona as he sounds devilish and his words hit like lightning strikes. He raps “King Geedorah, take me to your leader, Quick to claim he not no snake like, Me neither, They need to take a breather, he been rhyming longer than Sigmund the sea creature. DOOM’s rapping is hyperkinetic and monstrously aggressive, flowing like he was battling Godzilla for dominance over planet earth. His inflections and delivery are like being hit with a 12 gauge point-blank, rapping on the next bars “He needed to stop before he caught the knee-drop, Even give you more zip-zip than ZZ Top. DOOM sounds euphonious over this entire cut, making the track overflow with confidence and boom with personality. He ends it with the concise and piercing lyric of “Rule number one: Keep your fazers on stun,” and the tracks production slowly fades out with that trademark MF DOOM energy still jarring and bouncing around in your mind.

 

    MF DOOM was a legend, and a supremely talented one at that. He was in a league of his own and should be remembered for having pioneered the underground rap scene and delivering some of the best pure lyrical and technical rapping skills ever. Hopefully these five tracks give listeners a sense of just how great he was, and how he will live on in our hearts and minds forever. Do not forget that when you spell the man’s name to put that in ALL CAPS. RIP MF DOOM.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0iyErNnIIgoUOsr2SgnOpj?si=3o-tKFamR7OBpkB89fXleA