Remembering MF DOOM, legendary rapper and radio controlled car enthusiast

The world is still in shock after news of the death of rapper and producer MF DOOM, reported Thursday. MF DOOM, real name Daniel Dumile, died on October 31; the news was confirmed by his wife Jasmine on the Instagram account. Dumile was 49 years old.

DOOM – whose name I will continue to spell in all caps, just as he demanded – was one of the most respected figures in hip hop. Q-Tip, another of the greatest, has perfectly crystallized its heritage with a Tweeter paying tribute Thursday, calling DOOM “your favorite MC”.

It’s nearly impossible to overestimate the sharpness of the rhymes and stories of the enigmatic villain with the metallic face. A series of hugely influential releases under various names between the late 90s and mid-2000s – from Operation: Doomsday at Madvillainy and The mouse and the mask – consolidated DOOM’s place in the pantheon of underground hip hop. The fact that you’ve never seen the mug behind the mask only added to its myth. The root has a great obituary on DOOM which I recommend you check out.

Like many of us, I’ve been listening to DOOM’s catalog almost exclusively since the tragic news broke before the long weekend. Even though I had always loved his music, I didn’t know much about Dumile, the man – although, of course, that was how he wanted it. You can imagine my joy and surprise then when I learned that he happened to be an RC car enthusiast.

DOOM was interviewed in 2012 for Intersection, an automotive culture and fashion magazine, about his hobby. The text has been kept online via Issuu, and begins on page 164. It includes photos of DOOM testing their rides at a London BMX park. Some excerpts from the shoot posted on Imgur, show him playing with his son, King Malachi Ezekiel Dumile, who died in 2017 at the age of 14. The photos leave me in tears but smiling.

DOOM clearly didn’t drive much on those days, as he told Intersection he didn’t have a license. That hasn’t stopped him from doing occasional rides in his wife’s Lincoln Navigator, although luckily he says he was never caught. Instead, he tended to get his solution with an RC car remote control in hand:

“I have 13 of these suckers at home” [DOOM] said pointing the rc cars in the dirt.

“I’ll easily spend two thousand dollars on one of these.” Every child wants to have a remote control car. But back when I was a kid, we couldn’t really afford it. So now I am living the dream. Relive that part of my childhood that I didn’t have the chance to do at the time. One day I said ok I’m going to heal myself and threw $ 500 for one of them. It was a T-Maxx from the Traxxas company. And I’ve always been in electronics and mechanics and stuff like that. Change things. Changing parts all the time. It’s a hobby. It keeps me out of trouble.

The feature continues to see DOOM review its favorites from its collection – the spotlight being its black Porsche Cayenne with monster truck tires, adorned with Apple stickers. The rest of the list is made up entirely of Tamiya, including a buggy, the ’80s Toyota Hilux, the Jeep Wrangler, and the first generation Ford Bronco.

There’s something delicious about DOOM that talks about brushless motors and three-speed transmissions with childish enthusiasm. “Wild Willy is on the track tearing him up again,” he said of the Jeep. “We can’t stop it! It reminds me of wacky races or shit. “All of this makes me want to browse DOOM’s discography in search of bars on RC cars.

Rest in peace, legend.