Unmasking the late rap supervillain with the people whom Daniel Dumile gave a slightly less obstructed view.
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Daniel Dumile was born in London in 1971.
DOOM was forced to spend his final years in the U.K., only adding to his mystique.
Although hecontinued to workwith other artists, his last solo album was 2009sBorn Like This.
Were asked to go onYo!
MTV Rapson a fishing trip with Run-D.M.C.
and Fab 5 Freddy, and DOOM was right there next to us.
Were going onArsenio Halland DOOM is right there performing his verse.
Im happy that we were able to facilitate that platform for him to really develop as an artist.
He definitely did not sleep on that opportunity.
He grew up in a whole environment of cartoons and pop culture.
Peanut Butter Wolf (Stones Throw Records founder, a.k.a.
Just a positive and reasonable dude.
And I mean that in the most beautiful and humane way.
When [KMDs 1991 debut album]Mr. Hoodcame out I was like, shit, 12 years old.
I was into hip-hop, but I wasnt, you know?
Nice:I can remember the day that Subroc died.
DOOM got out of jail and called his mother, and she had to break the news to him.
I remember the call that DOOM made to me to tell me that Subroc had passed.
He was in disbelief; it was like shock.
It was something that DOOM knew that Subroc would want.
Do you understand the majestic gift that isOperation: Doomsday?
He was in KMD, and there was this whole thing with his brother that made him go underground.
Now hes reemerged as this new character who sounded like nobody I had ever heard before.
He rolled down the window and said to me, Yo, you gotta get in here.
We gotta have a discussion.
He was like, Do you understand the majestic gift that isOperation: Doomsday?
At the time, I had been listening to it with a different set of ears.
[I said] Oh, is that Zev Love Xs project?
Anita Baker and J.J. Fad?
I cant spin this in the club.My initial response was more scoff thanwhoa.
Mos was not going to give up.
He memorized that whole album like his life depended on it.
He memorized it likemylife depended on it.
He made me listen to Rhymes like Dimes three times over.
He was determined to convince me that it was the dopest shit out.
He kept breaking it down to me until he finally planted the seed in me.
This was my feed into the underground hip-hop that was my lifeblood at the time.
Man, it was crazy.
It resonated with me so much, and I kept rewinding that part of the tape.
The same thing happened a few weeks later with Operation: Greenbacks.
That was the beginning of my love for MF DOOM.
The whole thing was really just something else.
There was a danger to it, but I didnt realize that until way later.
He started out painting them really sloppy quirky and kinda drunk which was part of the appeal at first.
Then, he started getting real precise.
Would you be interested in performing live?
Lets make this a surprise performance.
He walks in smiling ear to ear because he sees how packed it is.
Nobody knows who he is.
I introduced MF DOOM and it was like,Holy shit.
Were about to get a live performance from MF DOOM.
And the record was bubbling; Hey!
was a huge underground hit in that community.
So here he jumps onstage along with Megalon, with a stocking over his eyes and nose.
I was just the right person, at the right place, at the right time.
It was fucking magical.
Wed all wake up to Madlib playing the drums every morning.
I think DOOM really got to see a different side of this hip-hop producer and embraced it.
And DOOM, being an outsider, gave us ideas we werent even thinking about.
Most artists I work with dont take the recording process that seriously.
I never actually saw them in the same room together making music.
Both had a different job to do to get it done.
I mentioned that a Toonami record might not work, but what about an Adult Swim record?
He said that DOOM loved Adult Swim, and after talking to him, DOOM was immediately in.
He lovedAqua Teen Hunger Forcein particular.
From there, it was really just supporting DOOM and Brian as they made the record.
Id be driving up to his place at nine in the morning, thinking,Are you sure?
We had a common language of old Hanna-Barbera and 80s cartoons that we had both grown up on.
He and Danger Mouse awaited DOOM for the day of press, but alas, he was a no-show.
This was odd, but he abided.
The guy who didallthe interviews andallthe photo shoots, including a cover,was someone else!
Damon called me from the subway station and simply said, I quit.
Its hysterical lore now, the ultimate DOOM move.
Kool Keith (collaborator):A person like that is like no other.
He was mysterious all around to everything.
It aint 213; it aint 323; it aint 305 wild area codes I never ever seen.
He matched his inside persona for the outside persona.
The only time wed all really hang out together was when we had parties.
One would think DOOM would hide and not socialize, but he was around.
He was really a funny guy and also caring.
I explained, No, he doesnt mean it in a bad way.
I guess he felt bad.
He just did his thing the way he did it.
He was entirely self-motivated.
It felt very much like DOOM to do it that way.
Long live Villain.
Bishop Nehru (collaborator):It wasnt that he was reclusive from the world.
That was the vibe I got when I met him, and got to know working with him.
When we collaborated [on 2014sNehruvianDoom] and got together in the studio, everything flowed naturally.
I first got into him when I was in middle school, and I was immediately a fan.
Hes a legend that goes beyond hip-hop.
Questlove:Music hits different when someone leaves.
I put you guys onto it!
Im sitting here, 21 years later, knowing what I should have known back then.
He made the best rap music ever.
These interviews have been edited and condensed for clarity.
