Hip-Hop's Most Inspiring Super Villain: A Review of MF DOOM’s ‘Mad Villainy’
By Bethany Dowell
The Villain Origin Story of MF DOOM
The underground hip-hop trio “KMD” consisted of brothers Daniel Dumile and DJ Subroc, as well as MC Onyx the Birthstone Kid. Optimism sparked for the group after being signed to Elektra Records and producing their first album, which discussed the topics of racism and black empowerment. Everything seemed set in stone when their second album was nearing distribution. For Dumile, his dream aligned with his reality.
However, in 1993 a tragic car accident resulted in the passing of Dumile’s brother, Subroc. Consequently, this same week, Elektra Records dropped the group and refused to distribute their second album due to their controversial album cover. With the combination of mourning and Elektra’s abandonment, Dumile’s hip-hop hibernation began. Thus, this was the origin story of a supervillain whose legacy lives with us today, inspiring big names like Tyler the Creator to produce content from the soul.
Inspired by Fantastic Four’s supervillain Dr. Doom, the alter ego of Daniel Dumile is best known for breaking the mould in the hip-hop industry eternally, a product of his revenge against the passion which pained him.
In selecting an album to review, “Madvillainy” sounded the most appropriate, where DOOM collaborated with Madlib to form their duo known as ‘Madvillain.’ This is an album adored by self-proclaimed hip-hop connoisseurs and hip-hop rookies alike. Arguably, this was also the album that exposed DOOM to the public eye, which is everything his music subverts.
Following Daniel Dumile’s unexpected and disclosed death in 2020, “Madvillainy” is a fine example that displays how DOOM’s music continues to move us with a timeless quality, achieved with no hooks or choruses. With 22 tracks on the album, this review will focus on the three songs that I believe are the most notorious.
Great Day
“Great Day” is my personal favourite entry from the album for its supposed sheer simplicity. However, when dissecting the track, DOOM’s skill in maintaining a consistent flow over a manipulated Stevie Wonder piano is admirable.
Although the rhyme scheme is complex itself as the syllable pattern shifts through every line, Great Day does not feel convoluted or overbearing. For example:
“Lookie here, it’s just the way the cookie tear/
Prepare to get hurt and mangled like Kurt Angle rookie year.”
In one sentence, DOOM can sneak seven rhymes and preserve inconsistent syllables between these lines. Alone this is impressive, but when considering that DOOM can swiftly move on from this into another stage of different rhyme, his skill is respectable. Compared to modern-day rap, where patterns are often consistent and follow one singular beat, DOOM creates irregular pauses for his language to impact the listener more. It almost feels as if DOOM teases us by luring us into the possibility of a predictable rhyme and flow, but he then pauses and shocks us with an incredible skill to manipulate the steady beat.
Alone, “Great Day” displays DOOM’S vigour of the art of rhyme, his immense capability to overcome the predictability of rap is one of many reasons why DOOM’S music makes a long-lasting impression.
Meat Grinder
Of DOOM’s whole discography, “Meat Grinder” inhibits the most compelling narrative, fused with two sampled songs, a Frank Zappa TV advert in the introduction and Lew Howard’s “Hula Rock.” In a sense, the samples provide a timeless element to “Meat Grinder,” which never makes the track sound repetitive.
Again, like “Great Day,” the unpredictability of his verses is prevalent, and the flexibility results in an infatuation with his lyrics.
The narrative of “Meat Grinder” is not cohesive, however, DOOM manages to retain immense detail. He addresses several topics from his favourite shoes to cartoons.
Every line of “Madvillainy” matters, and this is extremely transparent in this track, which is open for interpretation. Even when analyzing the opening lines of the track, his carefully crafted language is apparent.
“Tripping of the beat kinda, dripping off the meat grinder.”
“Tripping off the beat” could refer to hallucinating due to drugs, or the phrase could represent DOOM’S easy flow. Within rap, this ambiguity of expression is a rarity. The previous phrase also links to the idea of a “meat grinder” which effortlessly slices raw meat to pieces, symbolic of DOOM’S authentic and smooth work. Consequently, DOOM is a jack of all trades when it comes to lyricism, being able to rhyme uniquely, maintain his own rhythm and allow his audience to accumulate several interpretations.
All Caps
Accompanying “All Caps” is probably my favourite music video of all time. With DOOM’S interest in comic books, the video references American artist Jack Kirby and is entirely drawn by hand. The mastermind behind the video, James Reitano, explained in an interview: “The music was so cinematic that I knew right off the bat, “this part needs a cliff-chase, this part needs a revelation of sorts,” and really just wrote it around those ideas”
The video tributes DOOM’S entire persona, it pays homage to his desire for his name to be spelled with full capitalization. Relating to the comic book style of always having capitalization, DOOM states in his verse: “Remember ALL CAPS when you spell the man's name.” DOOM here represents his inspiration, dr. DOOM, pushing his authority to his past and present fanbase.
“All Caps” contextualizes DOOM’S villainous image to the beginning listener and solidifies the image to the current listener. Samples from 70s crime show images result in this song bursting with personality and flare.
Ultimately, this track is crucial to DOOM’S status and the music video enhances his music journey as well as the notion that his stage name will always be “all caps.”