MF DOOM - Name Dropping (People, Places & Things)

MF DOOM featuring Wordsworth and Chubb Rock. MF DOOM's lyrical sound is a mixture of Biz Markie and Notorious B.I.G. He is an alias of Hip Hop artist Daniel Dumile, inspired by the comic book character Doctor Doom.



MF DOOM was born in London and moved to America with his Trinidadian mother and Zimbabwean father - a mixture he says made him "thick skinned" - where he was raised in Long Island New York.

Throughout his career he has worked under a number of other aliases, including Zev Love X, King Geedorah, Metal Fingers, and Viktor Vaughn.

He has appeared in a number of collaborative projects such as Danger Doom (with Dangermouse), Madvillain (with Madlib) and alongside MF Grimm - the two now locked in a bitter rivalry.



As Zev Love X, he formed the group KMD with his younger brother DJ Subroc and another MC called Onyx the Birthstone Kid.

Subroc was struck and killed by a car in 1993 while attempting to cross a Long Island expressway before the release of a second KMD album entitled Black Bastards.



With the loss of his brother, MF DOOM retreated from the hip-hop scene from 1994-1997. Commenting on his situation at the time MF DOOM says he was living "damn near homeless, walking the streets of Manhattan, sleeping on benches".

In the late 1990s, 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."

MF DOOM began to rap at open mic events at the Nuyorican Poets Café in 1998 where he withheld his face by putting a stocking over his head.



It was at this point that the MF DOOM identity was born. His new identity was influenced by Marvel Comics supervillain Doctor Doom. He wears the mask while performing and isn't photographed without it, except for very short glimpses in videos such as Viktor Vaughn's "Mr. Clean" and in earlier photos with KMD.



He has also released a series of instrumental albums "Special Herbs" which is now up to volume 9 and he has produced songs and worked alongside a number of major underground and mainstream artists, including: Wu Tang, the Molemen, Quasitmoto and Prince Paul.