Good Stuff: EVERY MF DOOM ALBUM (1)
And if you can believe it, it's Doomsday once again. MF DOOM has been at the top as one of my all time favorite rappers, but I've admittedly never really delved into his discography beyond the occasional single I vibed with. So for this month this year, that changes as I marathoned most of the Metalface's career. We're only doing the solo and main collab albums this year. No EPs, remix albums or compilations, we're doing that along with KMD's works next time. Also don't expect detailed analyses of these, I'm both not a Monkey of musical expertise or actually researching anything for more than 3 minutes. We're going in chronological order, let's hit it.
OPERATION: DOOMSDAY (1999)
Prod: MF DOOM
Absolute Banger Track: 'The Finest'
Surprise MVP: 'Gas Drawls'
This is how you do a debut; exhibiting the best strength of DOOM's full throttle approach to verse and defining his new character as well as King Geedorah in certain tracks. It is weird hearing Dumile through the years where this and his time in KMD are when he sounds vocally younger. It's an overall consistent turn-of-the-century bop that you can feel the emcee's fire being made into this.
TAKE ME TO YOUR LEADER (JUNE '03)
Prod: Metal Fingered Villain, E.Mason
Absolute Banger Track: 'Krazy World' ft. Gigan
Surprise MVP: 'Fazers'
I'll be real, Geedorah is the weakest link persona and it doesn't help that this album, while consistent, didn't strike a chord with me. Maybe it's because I'm not a big kaijuu fan, maybe because the distinction lacks here compared to the next persona in the universe. Overall, it's still good, continuing on rampaging energy founded from the previous, but it's not one I could get into as much as I would've hoped.
VAUDEVILLE VILLAIN (SEPTEMBER '03)
Prod.: King Honey, Heat Sensor, Max Bill, RJD2, Mr Ten
Absolute Banger Track: 'Vaudeville Villain'
Surprise MVP: 'Open Mic Pt. 1 & 2 (Skit)'
If Geedorah showed that DOOM was more than a fluke emcee, Viktor Vaughn reset the meta and laughed maniacally while doing it. The power in this came from the story it told, more explicit than the previous, and it was a consistent banger throughout. The Viktor alias feels like a prototype for what's to come; a nasty Stagolee type that'd spit in your direction and songs like Lickupon and Raedawn reflect that. Especially loved the open mic skits cuz that was a rare time I laughed listening to music.
Prod.: Madlib, MF DOOM
Absolute Banger Track: 'Figaro'/'Accordion'
Surprise MVP: 'Rainbows'
I always heard about how this was one of the greatest MF DOOM album ever, if not the GOAT of rap period. And they weren't lying, this album is fucking powerful. It is flawless? To me, no. The only real critiques I have is that '3.214' in Madvillainy 2 was 'Great Day' done better and I couldn't vibe 'Rhinestone Cowboy's instrumental. Otherwise, the synergy and nonstop lyrical power of DOOM & Madlib here is actual peak. It's I say on par with Kendrick Lamar's TPAB where every track speaks of the MC at his most motivated. I'll say if Vaudeville Villain worked with him at his nastiest, this is him at his most imposing if that makes sense. This is where I felt they were having a grand old time making this, especially considering the story surrounding its production.
Prod.: System D-128, Diplo, DiViNCi, Swamburger, Session 31, DJ I.N.C., Dub-L, The Analears
Absolute Banger Track: 'Fall Back/Titty Fat'
Surprise MVP: 'R.A.P. G.A.M.E.' ft. Manchild, Iz-Real
I think it's no surprise to say this is the weakest album in the timeline. This definitely has an air of diminishing returns where it not only felt like Viktor was barely in it, it's like he didn't want to be in this. It doesn't help that for all the producers you see, you get a 30 minute album that feels like Viktor was in it for a third of that. The monologues feel scattershot and with more guests than favorable that barely left an impression. Dumile is good as usual, it's everything else that really bogged this down.
Prod.: MF DOOM, Madlib, Count Bass D, PNS
Absolute Banger Track: 'Rapp Snitch Knishes' ft. Mr. Fantastik
Surprise MVP: 'Guinnesses' ft. Angelika & 4ize
When it comes to DOOM's peak, Madvillainy is the strongest album while Mm..Food is the most memorable. This is a consistently bop where the concept theme makes for a more memorable vibe. I mean if Rapp Snitch Knishes wasn't on here, I would have a hard time picking the absolute best single. One day, it's Hoe Cakes. No, Beef Rapp. No, Deep Fried Frenz. Nevermind, it'd be One Beer. Mm..Food is that album where most of the songs stick with you and that's barely getting into the fun interludes using the old Spider-Man and Fantastic Four cartoons. This feels like the flipside of Vaudeville Villain where the atmosphere's uplifting and everyone's enjoying themselves. Plus again, it has Rapp Snitch Knishes, one of the all time greatest rap songs. Need I say more?
THE MOUSE AND THE MASK (2005)
Prod.: Danger Mouse
Absolute Banger Track: 'Old School' ft. Talib Kweli
Surprise MVP: 'Mince Meat'
If Madvillainy was the strongest hitting, Mm..Food being the consistent bop, Mouse and the Mask I consider the most fun. This has notably been labeled the "Adult Swim album" and frankly, if it combined with Occult Hymn was all we got for a thematic soundtrack for the channel, I would've been more than satisfied. Danger Doom is great if you're familiar with early era AS and if you're not, then this'll all probably feel annoying. Otherwise, this is the most fun knowing the references and hearing many of the classic characters like Aqua Teen and Brak. I'm in a way thankful this was their only collab with Adult Swim because I don't want to imagine MF DOOM trying to make bars for Rick & Morty; that... would wound my soul.
Now I said this marathon would be chronological, but I feel I had to jump ahead to the remaining collaborative albums since I wanna save DOOM's final solo for last...
Prod.: Jneiro Jarel
Absolute Banger Track: 'Winter Blues' ft. Indigo
Surprise MVP: 'Banished'
Honestly, I know now how old Gorillaz fans felt when the band went shifted to synth pop post Plastic Beach. Thanks to youtuber Absurd Existence, shoutout to them, I decided to listen to the Butter version. It did not help because I could not vibe with the more techno sounds from JJ; the beats don't have the comical fun like Mouse or the consistent DJ power that Madlib brought. Key to the Kuffs isn't bad, but while DOOM doesn't falter in the least here, it's not as strong as I hoped.
Prod.: MF DOOM
Absolute Banger Track: 'Caskets' ft. DOOM
Surprise MVP: 'Om'
I mean... never think you can appreciate a king rapper until you hear from an amateur. Don't get me wrong, it must've been great getting to collab with the villain himself, DOOM taking the backseat for a possible protege, but the emcee's bars felt very basic and inexperienced to me. It doesn't help that it felt like DOOM pulled random tracks from a Special Herb volume; nothing for this had as impactful a flow as it could have while I could understand the theme thanks to the interludes. Hell the absolute banger track is the only one of nine there I really enjoyed because DOOM is featured in it and Bishop was able to keep up and it felt like his moment too. I don't hold it against Bishop, as if he was too good to work with Dumile. The album's not bad, but I was just not into most of this whether or not DOOM was producing.
CZARFACE MEETS METAL FACE (2018)
Prod.: 7L, Jeremy Page, Todd Spafadore
Absolute Banger Track: 'Meddle with Metal'
Surprise MVP: 'Captain Crunch'
This marks the last full album Dumile would do before his death and it feels like a match made in heaven. It's a great throwback to 90s underground and Czarface is THE go-to for nerdcore rap. Then again, this admittedly didn't have the same highs as Mouse and the Mask even when there barely exists an actual bad track on this. There were a couple I noticed done better with a remixed beat that I came across way before listening but I can't spoil here. I guess my overall beef was that I couldn't vibe as much with Czarface and the runtime doesn't help admittedly. I recognize the strengths of Czar, but it's an album I'm not as much in a rush to replay.
Prod.: The Czar-keys
Absolute Banger Track: 'Break Into Action'
Surprise MVP: 'The King and Eye' ft. DMC / 'DOOM Unto Others'
I'll say this album was just what the world needed regarding any posthumous work from the villain. I think it works better than their previous LP not only because the runtime, but the beats I enjoyed better here because it's a more upbeat bop. Just saying, The King and Eye is one of my favorite openers to an album and it's emblematic to this feeling like a celebration of sorts while still having meaningful dark themes behind the tracks, especially when it was around COVID's stronger period. I recommend this if you want to get an more digestible feel of Czarface's music because I honestly prefer it over Czar Meets Metal.
Prod.: DOOM, Mr. Chop, J Dilla, Madlib, Jake One
Absolute Banger Track: 'Gazzillion Ear'
Surprise MVP: 'That's That'
Consider it a theory, but this felt like Dumile's genuine final solo record whether or not he was gonna live longer; a tonal inverse of Operation Doomsday where he wanted to immortalize how far he came as an emcee and producer with the album having a loop with the end and beginning. Speaking of tone, this really feels like the darkest album with DOOM at his gruffest popping off for minutes on end. I mean it has ''Batty Boyz" making this instantly nastier than I expected. The use of Bukowski's "Dinosauria, We" and taking the "MF" out his name really shows that he was serious about his skill here and this was him taking a bow in a way. An imperfect but hardknocking album to close this marathon.
Next to Kendrick Lamar, I have seen very rare artists manage to be as consistently versatile and great as Dumile. He was basically a king of underground hip-hop and I wouldn't have done this if I thought his legacy wasn't worth remembering. Not every album is flawless, but every album showcases the greatness of not just Metal Fingers but the many he's worked with. This is by no means a ranking, don't want to downplay any of them in spite of my criticisms, but I recommend the tracks I've listed for newcomers to get a feel of each album.Of course this wasn't every album, but for next year. In the meantime conclusion, MF DOOM is forever the GOAT and may he continue to rest.
Thanks for reading.
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