Last Updated on 08/01/2021

I don’t really know why I’m even attempting to write this article (lol), as the whole world and his mum’s going to have a different opinion on this one, but I thought it’d be fun to make a case for my top 5 MF DOOM tracks. I’m using MF DOOM loosely here as an easy way to encapsulate the entire career of Daniel Dumile (otherwise known as Zev Love X, King Geedorah, Viktor Vaughn, Metal Fingers and King Dumile, to name just a few). DOOM’s had arguably the most diverse and expansive hiphop career of any living MC; by reinventing himself through all these personas and collaborating with such different producers he’s ensured that his output’s continually evolved.

To make the whole top 5 thing a bit easier for myself, I’m going to move chronologically through Dumile’s career and pick a highlight from each stage.

5. Smokin’ That S*@%!, KMD: Black Bastards

For number five we’re starting at the beginning with KMD, Dumile’s first group, formed in ‘88 with his brother DJ Subroc and MC Rodan (soon replaced by Onyx the Birthstone Kid). After being signed to Elektra Records by Dante Ross KMD released their debut album Mr. Hood (which if you haven’t already is 100% worth a listen), but just before the release of their second album Black Bastards DOOM’s brother was tragically killed by a car. In the same week their album was dropped by Elektra because of its controversial artwork, and was only released officially in 2001 through ReadyRock, but the album was circulated underground and undoubtedly contributed to DOOM’s growing influence.

This album’s sonic rawness reflects its direct content, as it unflinchingly addresses and critiques the racial injustice of America’s present and past. Although there are so many tracks you could choose, Smokin’ That S*@% is just a masterpiece. I could never get bored of the underlying melody, but it’s the rhyming that takes centre stage here. This is a lesson in wordplay, as each verse artfully employs extended metaphors, alliteration and sibilance:

‘I do run, run, run, I do run the MC’s
The king of rap, you don’t believe me? Believe these
Def rhymes on wax, don’t call me, send a fax
I slam hard like Anthrax, so turn it up to the max’ [Earthquake]

DOOM’S register is notably higher here than in his later work, his flow youthful and refreshing. 

4. Rhymes Like Dimes, MF DOOM: Operation: Doomsday

Choosing one track from Dumile’s debut solo album is an incredibly hard task, but someone’s got to do it (jk, again this is entirely self imposed). Doomsday launched DOOM’s career; although some critics look back on the album as lacking the rapper’s later lyrical sensitivity and sophisticated production, this seems like a slightly illogical criticism for a debut album. 

As one of DOOM’s best known tracks, I know Rhymes Like Dimes might seem like a slight cop out of a choice, but it’s just an endlessly enjoyable tune. The jazzy loops are simplistic but never boring, but as with Smokin’ That S*@%! it’s the lyrics, not yet the production, that takes centre stage here, as DOOM’s relentless but melodious flow churns out rhyme after rhyme. The track’s bizarre outro is a perfect indication of what’s to come with DOOM, encapsulating his infectiously cartoonish mode of storytelling. Of the whole of Doomsday, this is the track that I could listen to without ever getting tired. 

3. Vaudeville Villain, Viktor Vaughn: Vaudeville Villain

With Vaudeville Villain we move into a new century of DOOM, and this album marks something unlike anything he’s created before or since. This is his first entirely guest-produced project, and whilst some critics bemoan this fact, claiming that none of his collaborators come close to Dumile’s skill, I like the focus that this album places on his lyricism, a fact that perhaps might not have arisen if he was more heavily involved in its production. 

This is personally one of my favourite albums, and Vaudeville Villain, the titular and opening track, is the stand-out for me. In classic DOOM style there’s no chorus in sight; instead we’re met with a single relentless verse that spans over two and a half minutes of tongue twisters and metaphors.

Perhaps the most energetic track of the album, Vaudeville Villain is ridiculously catchy. Doom’s flow is effortlessly infectious, constantly switching rhythm and cadence, offsetting the uniformity of the fuzzy guitar and pounding drum machines to keep the track dynamic. 

2. All Caps, MF DOOM and Madlib: Madvillainy

For many, Madvillainy was the most iconic hiphop collab of the 2000’s. The absolute synergy of the album’s beats and rhymes has been consistently praised, and I think it’s true that, more than any other DOOM project, the lyrics, samples, bass and beats of Madvillainy intertwine to create a completely holistic sonic experience.

Interestingly, Madlib and DOOM barely seem to have interacted whilst making the album, instead exchanging tapes of their work and respectively refining their own components, yet from start to finish there’s an absolute cohesion to the album; indeed, DOOM describes it as “a telepathy thing”: “we spoke through the music”. 

It’s ridiculously hard to choose a top track, but again I’m going for the basic bitch choice – it’s got to be All Caps. DOOM’s flow is unbelievable, more lowkey and silky than the boisterous persona we’ve seen before, but he effortlessly manipulates the English language in a barrage of off-kilter rhymes, replete with double meanings, that bounce off Madlib’s modulating beats and grainy samples:

‘And you know I know that’s a bunch of snow
The beat is so butter, peep the slow cutter
As he utter the calm flow (Your mother)
Don’t talk about my moms, yo
Sometimes he rhyme quick, sometimes he rhyme slow’

1. Vomitspit, MF DOOM: MM… FOOD

I thought it’d only be fitting that for the number one spot we had a track both produced and emceed by Dumile. This left a lot of choice though, as the whole of MM.. FOOD (bar Potholderz and One Beer) was produced by DOOM himself, and it’s a testament to his skills as a sound engineer that this is one of his slickest and liveliest projects.

It took me an embarrassingly long time to realise that MM FOOD is just an anagram of MF DOOM, but this playful inversion summarises the mood of the whole album. This is Dumile at his most lighthearted, just having fun with the music and palpably enjoying being in control of all aspects of its creation.

Although I love so many songs from this album (Potholderz, Guinnesses, Hoe Cakes to name just a few), Vomitspit takes the biscuit for me (pun fully intended). DOOM’s sampling is at its best here, as he flows over a piano sample from ‘60s jazz fusion band Mashmakhan, matching this with a breezy blue note production style. Asides from being a ridiculously catchy tune, Dumile definitely flexes some of his best rhymes from the whole album here, dexterously distorting the beat and effortlessly tongue-twisting away:

‘Rake it
Take it like the good, the bad, the ugly
Break it rollin through ya hood in the cadi buggy
Butter softy, leather floss, and fatty juggy
Always threw me off when she told me daddy funk me’

You might completely disagree with this list, but that’s the great thing about an artist who’s released 137 records under 135 monikers – there’s just an insane amount of choice.