Why Zev Love X became MF Doom and put on that metal mask

April 20, 2015 9:34 PM

In 1991, Daniel Dumile was part of KMD, a trio with his brother and another kid from their neighborhood, when they released their first album on Elektra, Mr. Hood (YT playlist). Dumile's next album wouldn't come out until 1999, and on an independent label. Operation: Doomsday was not released under the name he used with KMD, Zev Love X, but M(etal) F(ace) Doom, and he only appeared while wearing his metal mask. The transition from an upbeat youth to a cartoon villain was not clear at the time, unless you got your hands on the unreleased (except as a bootleg) second album of KMD, Black Bastards (full album on YT). Here is the story of that transition: KMD's Black Bastards and the Birth of MF Doom, a chapter from Brian Coleman's Check the Technique Volume 2, "more liner notes for hip-hop junkies."

Read also: NPR's A Rational Conversation: The 20-Year-Old Album That's MF DOOM's Missing Link, and then Noisey's The Evolution of MF Doom for Vice, to take you up to (just about) the present day. His latest work was NehruvianDoom, a collaboration with Bishop Nehru, who had previously (indirectly) worked with DOOM via Nehru's mixtape, Nehruvia (full mix on YT).

posted by filthy light thief (13 comments total)

For some vintage early 1990s hip-hop video goodness, here's 3rd Bass' "Gas Face," featuring Zev Love X.

And if you're digging Bl_ck B_st_rds, it was re-released recently as a deluxe pop-up book for Record Store Day.
posted by filthy light thief at 9:36 PM on April 20, 2015 [2 favorites]

the transition from an upbeat youth to a cartoon villain was not clear at the time, unless you got your hands on the unreleased (except as a bootleg) second album of KMD, Black Bastards (full album on YT).

I'm pretty sure I have Bl_ck B_st_rds on CD (somewhere--I didn't like it that much). AMG says it was released in 2001 by Subversivemusic, fwiw.

I loved Mr. Hood; by the time I got to hear BB, I was pretty disappointed, and then never got into MF Doom (or wasn't it MF Doooooooooooom for a while?). I have a few records/MP3s. I'll give them a re-listen.

I remember the shelving/killing of BB, but never (obviously, in the pre-internet days) knew the story. Great links. Thanks!
posted by mrgrimm at 10:08 PM on April 20, 2015

This is the best post my 1995-self has seen on Metafilter all year. SRSLY. Thank you.
posted by Mike Mongo at 10:18 PM on April 20, 2015 [1 favorite]

Shouldn't you remember ALL CAPS when you spell the man name? Either way, killer post FLT✌🏿
posted by Chichibio at 12:03 AM on April 21, 2015 [5 favorites]

Great post! As a complete outsider to hip hop but occasionally latches onto things because they click, MF Doom is probably played the most often out of the hours of random tracks and albums I've accumulated. Always wanted to read more about the guy.
posted by ardgedee at 3:48 AM on April 21, 2015

I was originally introduced to Doom not through one of his main releases, but through his King Geedorah side project. Take Me To Your Leader (full album on YT) is still one of my favorite records of all time.
posted by Strange Interlude at 5:38 AM on April 21, 2015 [1 favorite]

Shouldn't you remember ALL CAPS when you spell the man name?

You're right, I should.

I love that track something fierce, but now all his wild lyricism and kooky cartoon samples are shaded with the knowledge of his really tough life and transition to the man in the metal mask, but by the fact that he's really embraced the mask and the persona, even giving a lecture in the Red Bull Music Academy (light on the RB promotions, heavy on the awesome music).


I was originally introduced to Doom not through one of his main releases, but through his King Geedorah side project.

I didn't know a ton about DOOM before reading that main article, but that got me digging into the tangents of his story, like the Monster Island Czars, a crew formed around the monsters from Toho's Godzilla movies, which really takes the serious/cartoon villainy to another level. Seriously, there are 12 rappers who have "normal" hip-hop personas but also operate under the monikers of Japanese monsters. I love seeing such creative twists in hip-hop, where WuTang are probably the most well-known adopters of Japanese imagery, but focusing on the martial arts side (along with the cheesy dub samples).
posted by filthy light thief at 8:22 AM on April 21, 2015

Subroc's death is so sad. I worked for a while at a studio in East New York back in 1998 right on Pennsylvania Ave and the only place to eat was a Subway, right across the street. Of course there were no stoplights or crosswalks for a mile in either direction, so the only thing to do was jaywalk and wait on the double yellow line as cars zoomed past in either direction until an opening appeared.

I can't even imagine crossing the LIE. The way our society is explicitly engineered to endanger the poor and PoC is reprehensible, unforgivable and totally avoidable.
posted by grumpybear69 at 8:44 AM on April 21, 2015 [1 favorite]

Thanks for this. I just learned about MF Doom's Monkey Suit this week.
posted by PHINC at 8:56 AM on April 21, 2015

Mr. Hood is one of the greatest hiphop albums of all time. I think I still have it on cassette somewhere.
posted by Ham Snadwich at 10:38 AM on April 21, 2015

Great post, thanks. Doom is one of the very few hip hop acts I get excited by nowadays. I can't stand all the empty megastar Kanye bullshit, I've comprehensively failed to get on board with any of the new kids (Kendrick Lamar et al), and... guh, I dunno, kinda everything kinda sucks.

Anyway... back in 2005 The Wire published "Mask of Sorrow" — another article that details Dumile's travails, with a little extra attention paid to his various characters. I've linked to what seems to be a typo-strewn transcript on the Stones Throw website — the original doesn't seem to be available on The Wire's site. A fascinating story, and a genuinely incredible talent. When's his next thing due?
posted by ZipRibbons at 1:56 PM on April 21, 2015 [2 favorites]

I've got this sitting around somewhere. Its kinda funny, because it was during the time he had quit music, and part of his verse is someone else going "hey didn't you quit?". Cant seem to find it on youtube, and my turntables are packed up, but its around there somewhere. It might be a different track, but thats around when I picked it up (I got it for Sadat/Diamond D -- didn't realize what it actually was until much later).
posted by lkc at 4:14 PM on April 21, 2015

My all time favorite artist. I check every single day for any news related to Madvillainy 2.
posted by wats at 5:13 PM on April 22, 2015