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The life of the late hip-hop artist MF Doom is soon to be captured in an upcoming book, according to New York-based publisher Astra House.
MF Doom’s death shocked the hip-hop world. His death was announced on Dec. 31, 2020, by his wife, Jasmine Dumile. No cause of death was ever given. He was 49.
Astra House has acquired the worldwide rights to the book, which is due out in 2024. “The Chronicles of Doom: Unraveling Rap’s Masked Iconoclast” was written by veteran music journalist S.H. Fernando Jr. Astra House describes the book as “a sweeping and definitive biography” that will “recount the rise, fall, redemption and untimely demise of one of Hip Hop’s most enigmatic and influential figures.”
Here are five things to know about the biography.
MF Doom was born Daniel Dumile in London, the son of a Trinidadian mother and Zimbabwean father. He emerged on the music scene in the late ‘80s and early ’90s under the name Zev Love X as a member of the rap group KMD. The murder of Doom’s brother and rhyme partner, DJ Subroc, plus the shelving of the group’s controversial sophomore album “Black Bastards” led to the group’s end. The album was ultimately released in 2000.
Things didn’t fare well for Dumile after KMD’s demise. He was homeless at one point but reemerged on the hip-hop scene with a new image –one shrouded in mystery. In the late ’90s, he began performing in a gladiator’s mask and adopted a Doctor Doom-inspired alias, MF Doom.
Doom grew up in the U.S. before moving back to the U.K. Known for his intricate wordplay, he developed a cult following and the respect of hip-hop legends.
Between 2003 and 2005, Doom released four solo albums and three collaborative albums. He dropped a slew of cult-classic albums, including “Operation: Doomsday” and “Mm..Food”, and “Madvillainy.”
In 2001, Doom began releasing his “Special Herbs” instrumentals series under the “Metal Fingers” pseudonym.
Doom produced tracks for Ghostface Killah’s 2006 albums, “Fishscale” and “More Fish.”
MF Doom’s story will be written by veteran hip-hop biographer, Fernando Jr., whose other works include the Wu-Tang Clan biography “From the Streets of Shaolin: The Wu-Tang Saga” as well as “The New Beats: Exploring the Music, Culture, and Attitudes of Hip Hop” (1994).
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Islam and Afrocentrism shaped MF Doom’s world view. His parents raised him and his brother as Muslims in the Five-Percent Nation, a religious movement influenced by Islam. His father instilled in him a knowledge of pan-African history.
By the early 1990s, Dumile and the other members of KMD identified as members of the Ansaar Allah community, later known as the Nuwaubian Nation, Vice magazine reported.
People who worked with Dumile described him as a master of his craft.
“DOOM is one of the most special people that any of us working in music could ever possibly want to work with,” a former Stones Throw Records general manager told Rolling Stone. “He just thought about things in a different way.”
Photo: Gonzales Photo / Alamy Stock Photo
