Daniel Dumile
Daniel Dumile ("doom-uh-lay") is a American hip-hop artist who has taken on… Read Full Bio ↴Daniel Dumile ("doom-uh-lay") is a American hip-hop artist who has taken on several aliases (King Geedorah, MF DOOM, Viktor Vaughn, Zev Love X and Metal Fingers) 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.
Early Years with KMD
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, under the MC name Zev Love X along with his younger brother 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. 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.
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.
Birth of MF DOOM
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." 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, and wearing a similar metal mask which he would not perform or be photographed without. The Dr. Doom style mask was eventually replaced with a replica of the mask Russell Crowe wore in the film Gladiator.
"My partner Lord Scotch came up with the design. Ill graffiti artist. He fabricated the mask out of...it was originally...you know that movie Gladiator? Son had the helmet piece on it with the mask on the front. We found an exact replica of the mask. He takes the faceplate off, attached that to the inside of a construction helmet, where you can tighten the helmet."
(MF stands for Metal Face (and his production name: Metal Fingers). MF Grimm gave the MF title to DOOM. Grimm's stands for Mad Flows. Grimm has since givin the MF title to other emcees).
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.
Mainstream Recognition
MF DOOM was still far below the radar 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 MCs.
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.
DOOM was 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 sophomore 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 its 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 "Somersault".
Current & Upcoming Projects
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 due sometime in '07 on Lex Records (UK) & Nature Sounds (US). A new Danger Doom EP Occult Hymn was released via download on Adult Swim's website. The EP included new tracks: El Chupa Nibre Remix (again dissing the MIC with Monkeys Into Crime), Korn Dogz, Perfect Hair II, Sofa King Remix, Madlib's version of Space Ho's and a couple skits. 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 Danger Doom album with Danger Mouse.
Also in the works is his own record label Metal Face Records. Upon launching of the label, DOOM will release Hassan Chop's debut LP The Pen & The Sword. Another LP to be released on the label is The John Robinson Project - Who Is This Man?, due early '07, which is a collaboration between Lil Sci (of Scienz Of Life) and DOOM. Sci will handle the vocals and DOOM the production.
Personal Life
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 and published on his Myspace page, he stated that he is married, with two children, one of them teenage.
He currently lives in Atlanta, Georgia.
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.
Early Years with KMD
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, under the MC name Zev Love X along with his younger brother 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. 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.
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.
Birth of MF DOOM
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." 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, and wearing a similar metal mask which he would not perform or be photographed without. The Dr. Doom style mask was eventually replaced with a replica of the mask Russell Crowe wore in the film Gladiator.
"My partner Lord Scotch came up with the design. Ill graffiti artist. He fabricated the mask out of...it was originally...you know that movie Gladiator? Son had the helmet piece on it with the mask on the front. We found an exact replica of the mask. He takes the faceplate off, attached that to the inside of a construction helmet, where you can tighten the helmet."
(MF stands for Metal Face (and his production name: Metal Fingers). MF Grimm gave the MF title to DOOM. Grimm's stands for Mad Flows. Grimm has since givin the MF title to other emcees).
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.
Mainstream Recognition
MF DOOM was still far below the radar 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 MCs.
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.
DOOM was 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 sophomore 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 its 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 "Somersault".
Current & Upcoming Projects
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 due sometime in '07 on Lex Records (UK) & Nature Sounds (US). A new Danger Doom EP Occult Hymn was released via download on Adult Swim's website. The EP included new tracks: El Chupa Nibre Remix (again dissing the MIC with Monkeys Into Crime), Korn Dogz, Perfect Hair II, Sofa King Remix, Madlib's version of Space Ho's and a couple skits. 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 Danger Doom album with Danger Mouse.
Also in the works is his own record label Metal Face Records. Upon launching of the label, DOOM will release Hassan Chop's debut LP The Pen & The Sword. Another LP to be released on the label is The John Robinson Project - Who Is This Man?, due early '07, which is a collaboration between Lil Sci (of Scienz Of Life) and DOOM. Sci will handle the vocals and DOOM the production.
Personal Life
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 and published on his Myspace page, he stated that he is married, with two children, one of them teenage.
He currently lives in Atlanta, Georgia.
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Daniel Dumile Lyrics
Absolutely Absolute power corrupts absolutely if they get the villain …
Ballskin The flow is towin, precision as a afro trim All big…
Change The Beat And so Viktor Vaughn hid from the world (A fascinating s…
Doomsday Mic check... Come through, dig the sound! Crowd around! …
Gazzillion ear Villain man never ran with krills in his hand and Won't…
go with the flow "Yeah, here we go...just go with the flow" (repeats 4…
hey! I only play the games that I win at And stay…
Hoe Cakes *Beatboxing is heard through the entire song* [MF Doom] …
One Beer I get no kick from champagne Mere alcohol doesn't thrill me…
rhymes like dimes Yo, yo, yo, y'all can't stand right here In his right…
the finest Mary Davis: The, the finest MF DOOM and Mary D…