Concordia students talk about the personal impact of MF DOOM’s album after the re-release dropped.
The 2004 album MM…FOOD by late underground rapper MF DOOM celebrated its 20th anniversary on Nov. 16, 2024.
The album was re-released the day prior, commemorating the occasion. The new record features three new remixes of “Hoe Cakes” by Ant, Jake One, and a beatbox/vocal-only version from MF DOOM. It also features a Madlib remix of “One Beer.”
“I have a huge MM…FOOD poster in my room because of how much I love this album,” said Safa Hachi, a fourth-year communications and cultural studies major at Concordia. “It really changed the way I listened to and appreciated music.”
MF DOOM, real name Daniel Dumile, was a British American rapper and a prolific songwriter. He has released solo music under his own stage name and numerous aliases, as well as collaboration projects. DOOM wore a metal gladiator mask that had a rich canon within his work.
“MM…FOOD is an example of MF DOOM’s genius, seeking the death of the rap culture by using food as double entendres. Which is pretty comedic but shows how clever he was,” said Minh Tu Chau, a third-year computer engineering co-op student at Concordia.
Dumile described DOOM on MM…FOOD as “a rather ugly brother with flows that’s gorgeous” on “Beef Rapp.” The character is also said to be “like D.B. Cooper” in his mysterious nature on “Hoe Cakes.” It is made clear that DOOM is a mask-wearing villain bent on world domination.
The 20th-anniversary re-release of MM…FOOD features several interview clips from Dumile, in which he explains some of his creative process and personal difficulties with his art.
“The interview on the third disc of the re-release was a pleasure to listen to,” said second-year philosophy major Benny Gaucher. “It’s rare enough to hear DOOM speak on his music as a creator, aside from maybe the Red Bull interview. To hear him speak on MM…FOOD at the time of its release was just amazing, [and] the KMD stuff too. It’s corny to say, but it literally offers a picture of the man behind the mask.”
KMD was a hip-hop trio that Dumile took part in from the late 1980s to mid-1990s. The band tapered off about a year after the death of one of its members, Dingilizwe Dumile, Dumile’s younger brother.
On the track “Conquering Writer’s Block,” which forms part of the third disc’s interviews, Dumile explained the way he continued to find inspiration.
“The English language is so vast. Not to mention the different dialects of slang that’s involved,” he said. “Plus, when you get other languages mixed with English, and their dialects and slangs that came from people migrating into America…you know what I’m saying? From the Irish to all the different types of people. You know what I’m saying? There’s no way you’re gonna run out of stupid s*** to say.”
