I know that Mos clip has been in rotation for a few months now. And Ta-Nehisi Coates'New Yorker piece has been out for a minute, too. But SB got the assist when she said, "I hadn't even heard of Doom..."
As Coates writes, Doom is hardly a household name, so a nod in the thinking person's weekly gazette could go a ways. What I like about Dumile is his hyper-awareness of constructed narratives. Coates talks about Chuck D and Biggie, but the narrative idea can be found in any celebrity artist: Bowie, Miles, Bono/U2, Dylan, et. al. Each of them actively constructs and reconstructs their persona for the public to consume. Most of Doom's identity manifestations, notably the physical one (the mask), are pretty tame by performance art standards, but pretty sophisticated by popular/hip hop culture's standards. However, he is constructing his persona from detritus of a specific class of pop culture (e.g., kids with working parents who had a TV for a babysitter) on arguably unpopular terms. Take the "Doomposters," for example:
"I'm the writer, I'm the director,” Dumile said. “If I was to go out there without the mask on, they'd be like, 'Who the fuck is this?' I might send a white dude next ... I'll send a Chinese n*****r. I'll send ten Chinese n*****s. I might send the Blue Man Group.”
I think I would pay to see that last one.
So, some quick words about the blend: it's not a greatest hits to catch you up to speed on Coates' Doom references. Instead, I picked songs that have caught my ear, or that I could readily access (i.e., this was about banging something out quickly, not about planning). When I put the songs together, some of the themes from the article shone through in colors -- unsurprisingly, the constant play with narratives.
I divided the blend into 6 chapters:
Chapter 1: Episodes 4-6 The first three Star Wars as a whole sort of match Doom's presentation of multiple identities/characters. These films present a story chronologically, but are essentially the same movie repeated: main characters face a conflict, they look to be defeated, they go through a training period, then they face the enemy in the story's climax. Doom similarly presents different characters (MF Doom, DOOM, King Geedorah, Viktor Vaughn, Metal Fingers, et al.), but essentially covers the same ground every time.
Madvillain (Madlib & MF Doom) - All Caps MF Doom - Dead Bent (Original Version) King Geedorah - Fazers Viktor Vaughn - Villainous Villain Metal Fingers - Saffron
Chapter 2: Episodes 1-3 The Star Wars series is established as having taken place "a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away." But the prequels make clear that the original 3 movies represent "the present," while the 3 newer films represent "the past." What's odd about Episodes 1-3 is that their vision of the past is starkly different from the present, to the point of being disconnected. Doom's past works are genuine, unlike Lucas' efforts to write his own history after the fact. But his past has strangely become disconnected in a similar way. His rhyme style is different. His brother is dead, so KMD cannot be resurrected in a reunion. And he's burned bridges or is simply out of touch with people from his past (notably MF Grimm).
KMD - Gasface Refill (Feat. Onyx) KMD - What a Nigga Know KMD - Plumskinzz (Loose Hoe, God & Cupid) KMD - What A Nigga Know? (Remix) (Feat. MF Grimm)
Chapter 3: Blues Clues This section started as an exploration of Doom's pathology, but admittedly lost coherence. I think the broad, stretched theme is the blues, or tragedy. That said, he is like other emcees and rhymes mostly in a multi-narrative style, so it's a rare treat to listen to whole stories from him.
Viktor Vaughn - Bloody Chain Madvillain - One Beer (Drunk Version) Madvillain - Fancy Clown (Feat. Viktor Vaughn) Metal Fingers - Lovage
Chapter 4: Super Friends Coates' piece presents Doom as being both solitary and in need of company. It's a delicate balance b/c the Doom persona needs to be presented as a single identity, but clearly needs "the village" to make it happen. Personally, I think Doom is great on his own, but way better in the company of certain colleagues.
DOOM - Lightworks (Produced by J Dilla) Viktor Vaughn - Saliva (Produced by RJD2) Madvillain - Meat Grinder (Produced by Madlib) Madvillain - Rhinestone Cowboy (Four Tet Remix) MF Doom - Sniper Elite (Produced by J Dilla)
Chapter 5: Looney Tunes Doom's music is as sophisticated as contemporary fine art art b/c it presupposes an enormous body of cultural knowledge. His references just happen to be more pop culture. His constant return to cartoons seems natural b/c it is a medium where the "larger than life" ethos can be explored ad infinitum.
Dangerdoom - Space Hoes Metal Fingers - Vervain (Turmeric) (Samples original Spider Man Theme) Gorillaz - November Has Come (Feat. MF Doom) Dangerdoom - A.T.H.F. (Aqua Teen Hunger Force) MF Doom - Hey!
Still, August mug lurks around the corner, so here's a belated blend to close out the season.
Director's commentary: play this on a battered boombox or in the jalopy you call your whip, not your headphones. In other words: if you care, please share.
Cheryl will be back on August 20. Bell House. Stay chooned.
I haven't forgotten you: I'm baking more goodies in the kitchen.
Last Saturday, two Keri/Kerrys asked about MJ. Leave it to some soulful brothers from the left to cover that base. O-Dub and Murphy's Law recorded their "lesser known J5 and MJ covers/remixes/songs" and "best ofs" mixes from last week's Boogaloo[la]. Get them blends, plus more, at Oli's soul-sides.
For anyone directed here from the TONY blog post, please feel free to check out the above blend made specifically for the Cheryl crowd. It is more representative of the Cheryl aesthetic than my "normal" mixes on the right side of the screen (listed under "blends"). And, most important, swing by the Cheryl site or join the Cherylites Facebook group for updates.
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This site contains explicit material.
