The underground rap icon, who has died aged 49, was a voice like no other, plundering and splicing pop culture to deliver wilful, elliptical lines
It makes twisted sense that we’re only learning of the death of Daniel Dumile, better known as MF Doom, two months after his passing, with scant accompanying detail. An artist who thrived in the shadows, Dumile’s backstory was a chimera of myth-making and real-life tragedy. Even his face was a mystery – he performed for much of his career behind a metal mask, and later exploited this concept to an absurd degree, sending masked impostors out to tour on his behalf (“I’m the writer, I’m the director,” he averred to the New Yorker’s Ta-Nahesi Coates in 2009).
Dumile made his recorded debut in 1989 as a fresh-faced 18-year-old, delivering the final verse on 3rd Base’s classic diss anthem The Gas Face (MC Pete Nice’s verse testifies that Dumile actually coined the titular slang). London-born Dumile had relocated with his family to Long Island in the 70s, and was now one-third of New York rap trio KMD, performing under the moniker Zev Love X alongside kid brother Dingilizwe, AKA DJ Subroc. Their debut, 1991’s Mr Hood, signalled the trio worthy scions of rap’s golden age – witty and restlessly sample-happy like the Native Tongues posse, with a steely political undertow, evidenced by the acerbic, anti-racist Who Me?
