Daniel Dumile, renowned by his stage name MF Doom and relatively also as Doom, Zev Love X, King Geedorah, Viktor Vaughn, Metal Fingers or Metal Face, was a British-American rapper and record producer, well known for elaborate wordplay, supervillain stage personality, and signature metal mask which he never removed in public. Born in London but moved to New York as a child, he performed in hip-hop group KMD as teenager. Following the loss of his younger brother and bandmate DJ Subroc, he disap... moreDaniel Dumile, renowned by his stage name MF Doom and relatively also as Doom, Zev Love X, King Geedorah, Viktor Vaughn, Metal Fingers or Metal Face, was a British-American rapper and record producer, well known for elaborate wordplay, supervillain stage personality, and signature metal mask which he never removed in public. Born in London but moved to New York as a child, he performed in hip-hop group KMD as teenager. Following the loss of his younger brother and bandmate DJ Subroc, he disappeared from music and only remerged at open mic events in Manhattan, wearing tights over his face in 1997. He protected his anonymity for the rest of his career, adopting a mask based on the Marvel villain Doctor Doom for all his public appearances. His debut as MF Doom, Operation: Doomsday, was released in 1999, and he followed it up with an almost non-stop outpouring of music, six solo albums, produced a wealth of bootlegs, compilations, collaborations, mixtapes and instrumental albums -including the influential, 10-part Special Herbs series. MF DOOM’s 2002 album, Madvillainry, is hailed as a staple in underground rap. In a 2009 interview with New Yorker Magazine, MF DOOM revealed the reason he hid his face: “I wanted to get onstage and orate, without people thinking about the normal things people think about. Like girls being like, ‘Oh, he’s sexy,’ or ‘I don’t want him, he’s ugly,’ and then other dudes sizing you up.” He continued: “A visual always brings a first impression. But if there’s going to be a first impression I might as well use it to control the story. So why not do something like throw a mask on?”. MF Doom built a cult following with his wordplay and comic-book style. His wife took to Instagram to announce his passing on October 31, 2020, at the age of 49.
