I think back to the line "MF DOOM, he's like D.B. Cooper" off of Hoe Cakes on the album MM..FOOD. He always was an enigma, and I guess having your passing be a secret for that long, for someone that influential, in the age of social media, just goes to show that it wasn't just an act.
We've banned that troll account, but it's absolutely not ok for you to post like this. We've asked you several times to stop breaking the HN guidelines in comments here, and it looks like you've been continuing to do a ton of that. If you keep doing it we're going to ban you. Regardless of how shitty another comment is or how strongly you feel, it's not ok to make things worse like this.
Reality is, years don't mark anything. People have been saying "x year is the worst" increasingly for the last 4 years, and 2020 is the only recent one that actually fits. Tomorrow isn't going to shift anything, it's just how we keep track of time. Expecting a year to contain itself is what leads to this yearly disappointment everyone seems to experience. What I find frustrating, is that all people can say about most deaths now a day is "this year is the worst". No sentiments, nothing about the person who's passed. Just self absorbed focus on how this year sucks (they all suck apparently if I were to listen to people yearly). I wish we'd celebrate the person by default instead.
MF DOOM was one of the greats. One of the only reasons I could get into hip hop. Really heartbreaking.
> Expecting a year to contain itself is what leads to this yearly disappointment everyone seems to experience.
This thought reminds me of Utah Phillips in Ani DiFranco's song "Bridges":
> Fifties, sixties, seventies, nineties, that whole idea of decade packages. Things don’t happen that way. The Vietnam War heated up in 1965 and ended in 1975. Well, what’s that got to do with decades? No, that packaging of time is a journalistic convenience that they use to trivialize and to dismiss important events and important ideas. I defy that.
(And I say this having myself just told a family member that I'm sure people everywhere are happy for 2020 to be over.)
So much this. Man's the GOAT. And learning about his death months after is so DOOM. Condolences to the family. I like to think he was a legend at home like he was in the booth.
Madvillainy is maybe the best hiphop album of all time. I go back and listen to it often and always find something new.
+1 on changing the post title to all caps. This news also probably deserves a black bar. MF DOOM was the greatest lyricist in hiphop and influenced a generation or more of artists.
Agreed. And Madlib was always promising there'd be a sequel, but from what I understand MF DOOM always flaked. So all we have is that one perfect album.
I think part of the all caps thing thing is world building and relates to the graffiti influence in hip hop. All caps being and hand style used in many graffiti tags (and the MF DOOM tag). With DOOM a lot of the time you have to infer the meaning of a rhyme from what you know about DOOMs influence and his other works.
"He write "VIK" in a sick demented handstyle" -Viktor Vaughn (another alias), Raedawn.
This is a knife in the gut right now. I had listened to him on and off since 05 or so. Just recently, I rediscovered "The Mouse and the Mask" and have been humming the bars to Sofa King for the last week or two.
I think it's one of his most underrated albums- at least I never hear about people talk about it. I had it burned to a CD because my college car was too old to have anything else. I would only go through the effort of burning CDs I loved front to back and this was one of the most-played. The Space Ghost song near the end used to make me feel nostalgic. Now I feel nostalgic for that nostalgia... meta-nostalgia?
While speculation is mostly bad, I'm just seriously hoping it wasn't suicide. Given the fact he had his wife and another child I'd presume it's highly likely that it wasn't though.
I remember finding out about his kid dying a bit after it happened. Mainly because every few months I'd check in to see if there's any word on anything new coming out - things had come to a bit of a lull. Then around a year after his kids death, once again checking back in for anything new - I'd seen somebody say something along the lines of "His teen son fucking died man. For all we know, he could seriously want nothing to do with rapping anymore after such a big and shitty life event"
For whatever reason, that logic definitely struck a chord with me. Pretty much cut my expectations for new material and left me with being thankful for everything he'd made.
While I'd enjoy knowing the cause of death, I respect the privacy of his family more and understand it may never come out.
Saw his "Doomposter" show in Chicago back in 2010 when a little person lip synced his songs in costume. Kind of irritating at the time but it's one of my most memorable shows and I remember Mos Def trying to calm down the crowd. RIP. Love all the Doom stuff, Madvillainy, Metal Fingers Special Herbs, and more.
MF DOOM used language in such a unique way. Whenever your thoughts seem to settle into well-worn ruts, you can listen to some MF DOOM and all those weird bars and rhymes will stir things up in your noggin. There's nothing quite like it :) Glad to see the man appreciated here on HN. RIP!
That whole album. I can listen to it on repeat and never bore. I don't think I've ever managed to sit through a whole album by anybody but DOOM, and here he is, looping to no end.
One of the true greats, very deeply saddened to hear this. Growing up he meant a lot to me. It was just the other day I was trying to find out if he was going to drop a new album.
105 comments
[ 4.1 ms ] story [ 184 ms ] threadhttps://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
MF DOOM was one of the greats. One of the only reasons I could get into hip hop. Really heartbreaking.
It's not so much a loss as it is a chance to celebrate what still remains, and to not take it for granted or keep expecting more.
For anyone reading this news, MF DOOM's work takes on a new life as people come to experience it for themselves, for the first time.
This thought reminds me of Utah Phillips in Ani DiFranco's song "Bridges":
> Fifties, sixties, seventies, nineties, that whole idea of decade packages. Things don’t happen that way. The Vietnam War heated up in 1965 and ended in 1975. Well, what’s that got to do with decades? No, that packaging of time is a journalistic convenience that they use to trivialize and to dismiss important events and important ideas. I defy that.
(And I say this having myself just told a family member that I'm sure people everywhere are happy for 2020 to be over.)
> Just remember ALL CAPS when you spell the man name
https://youtu.be/noPlIn8TJSQ
Madvillainy is maybe the best hiphop album of all time. I go back and listen to it often and always find something new.
+1 on changing the post title to all caps. This news also probably deserves a black bar. MF DOOM was the greatest lyricist in hiphop and influenced a generation or more of artists.
RIP MF DOOM, Viktor Vaughn, and King Geedorah.
Because it's a scream, and all caps are a way to express screaming in text.
"Just remember ALL CAPS when you spell the man name"
"He write "VIK" in a sick demented handstyle" -Viktor Vaughn (another alias), Raedawn.
“DOOM, all capitals, no trick spellin'”
“Got what it take to get it through your thick melon”
MF DOOM...
RIP DOOM.
F
His music helped me find a big part of who I am.
MF DOOM created great music that I'm sure a decent bit of HN users who haven't heard of him would enjoy.
Here it is if anyone is interested.
https://youtu.be/zQ0yXh_ADlQ
> that's what my tomb will say
> Right above my government; Dumile
> Either unmarked or engraved, hey, who's to say?
> He hold his heart when he telling rhyme
> When it's his time, I hope his soul go to Heaven
> He nasty like the old time Old No. 7
> Doomsday
> Ever since the womb ‘til I'm back to the essence
> Read it off the tomb
> Either engraved or unmarked grave, who's to say?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayfv0SOjvRs
I remember finding out about his kid dying a bit after it happened. Mainly because every few months I'd check in to see if there's any word on anything new coming out - things had come to a bit of a lull. Then around a year after his kids death, once again checking back in for anything new - I'd seen somebody say something along the lines of "His teen son fucking died man. For all we know, he could seriously want nothing to do with rapping anymore after such a big and shitty life event"
For whatever reason, that logic definitely struck a chord with me. Pretty much cut my expectations for new material and left me with being thankful for everything he'd made.
While I'd enjoy knowing the cause of death, I respect the privacy of his family more and understand it may never come out.
Some lyrics like 'Living off borrowed, the clock ticks faster' from Accordian stand out more or take on a different meaning to me now.
I love that video where mos def is just reciting DOOM lyrics like a kid in a candy store: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTBIvIDnnv8
https://youtu.be/xmPmtYRB1TE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayfv0SOjvRs&feature=emb_titl...