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Daniel Dumile, the masked rapper who played the role of MF Doom and built a lasting underground fan base with his offbeat pun and comic book character, died on October 31, a release from his family said on Thursday. . He was 49 years old.
The rapper’s label, Rhymesayers, provided the statement, signed by Mr. Dumile’s wife, Jasmine. The label did not provide details of the cause of death or why the information was being shared two months later.
On six solo albums released between 1999 and 2009 and five collaborative LPs (with Madlib and Danger Mouse, among others) between 2004 and 2018, Mr. Dumile perfected a complex and imaginative style, appealing to both esoteric and discreet references. as well as cartoonish images in the lyrics that could be extremely emotional.
Born in London and raised on Long Island, Mr. Dumile grew up steeped in early hip-hop influences. He made his debut in 1989 on the 3rd bass track “The Gas Face” with a remarkable cameo which helped him secure a recording contract for his own band, KMD, in which he rapped as Zev Love X The act featured his brother, Dingilizwe, who performed under the name DJ Subroc, and his debut album, “Mr. Hood ”, arrived in 1991 on the big label Elektra. While recording KMD’s second album, “Black Bastards,” Subroc was killed in a car crash, and the label subsequently refused to release the record. Mr. Dumile went underground, disappearing from the entertainment industry, but continuing to work on music in private while raising his son.
He resurfaced in 1997 with the single “Dead Bent”, his first song under the name Metal Face Doom. (The character was a nod to Marvel villain Doctor Doom.) When the album “Operation: Doomsday” was released in 1999, which featured a masked character on its cover, he began to hide his face in public, at first with a stocking mask, and later with the metal one that has become his signature.
In a 2009 interview with The New Yorker, Mr Dumile said the mask became necessary as he made the jump from the studio to the stage. “I wanted to go on stage and speak, without people thinking about the normal things people think about,” he said. “A visual always brings a first impression. But if there’s a first impression, I might as well use it to control the story. So why not do something like throw on a mask?
Once an underground cult figure, Mr. Dumile’s albums in the mid-2000s propelled him to greater fame. “Madvillainy,” which arrived in 2004 with producer Madlib, was a breakthrough. “He delivers long associative free verses full of side jumps and unexpected twists,” pop music critic Kelefa Sanneh wrote in The New York Times, reviewing a 2004 concert. “You think you know where he’s headed and what each sentence will mean when it ends. Then he folds.
Released that same year, his album “MM… FOOD” (an anagram of his stage name) included tracks like “Gumbo”, “Kon Queso” and “Kon Karne”. Rapping awkwardly and wit on the seemingly mundane topic of food, Mr. Dumile told Spin in 2004 that he “shows respect for human life.”
“I look more like a writer than a freestyler,” Dumile told the Chicago Tribune the same year. “I like to design my stuff and I consider myself an author.”
Mr. Dumile struck under different personas, and later became known for sending impostors on stage to perform for fans; in his trademark metal mask, it was hard to tell the difference. The body often doubles down on disappointed fans, but sparked viral moments online, like when an apparent visit by MF Doom to a concert turned out to be comedian Hannibal Buress.
In 2017, Mr. Dumile announced on social media that his son, King Malachie Ezekiel Dumile, had died at the age of 14. Information on the survivors was not immediately available.
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