View source for MF Doom

{{Short description|British-American rapper (1971–2020)}}
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{{Use American English|date=December 2024}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2024}}
{{Infobox person
| name          = MF Doom<!-- DO NOT CHANGE THIS. See the FAQ on the talk page.-->
| image         = MF Doom - Hultsfred 2011 (cropped).jpg<!--DO NOT CHANGE THIS TO ALL CAPS "DOOM", THE NAME OF THE FILE IS CASE SENSITIVE-->
| caption       = Dumile at the [[Hultsfred Festival]] in 2011
| birth_name    = Dumile Daniel Thompson
| alias         = {{hlist|Zev Love X|King Geedorah|Viktor Vaughn|Metal Fingers|Doom|Metal Face}}
| birth_date    = {{birth date|mf=yes|1971|7|13}}
| death_date    = {{death date and age|mf=yes|2020|10|31|1971|1|9}}
| birth_place   = London, England<!-- Just city and country (no districts, counties, etc.) per article format.-->
| death_place   = [[Leeds]], England<!-- Just city and country (no districts, counties, etc.) per article format.-->
| spouse        = Jasmine Dumile
| children      = 5
| relatives     = [[DJ Subroc]] (brother)
| module        = {{Infobox musical artist
| origin         = [[Long Beach, New York]], U.S.
| embed          = yes
| genre          = {{flat list|
*[[East Coast hip-hop]]
*[[alternative hip-hop]]
*[[underground hip-hop]]
*[[jazz rap]]
}}
| occupation     = {{hlist|Rapper|songwriter|record producer}}
| years_active   = {{hlist|1988–1993|1997–2020}}
| discography    = {{hlist|[[MF Doom discography]]|[[MF Doom production discography|production discography]]}}
| label          = {{hlist|Metal Face|[[Fondle 'Em Records|Fondle 'Em]]|[[Stones Throw Records|Stones Throw]]|[[Nature Sounds]]|[[Lex Records|Lex]]|[[Rhymesayers Entertainment|Rhymesayers]]|[[Elektra Records|Elektra]]}}
| past_member_of = {{flatlist|
* [[KMD]]
* [[Monsta Island Czars]]
* [[Madvillain]]
* [[Danger Doom]]
* [[Ghostface Killah|DOOMSTARKS]]
* [[JJ Doom]]
* [[NehruvianDoom]]
}}
| website        = {{plainlink|https://www.gasdrawls.com|gasdrawls.com}}}}
| signature     = MF Doom signature.svg
| signature_alt = MF Doom
}}
'''Daniel Dumile'''{{efn|Dumile's [[birth certificate]] provides his name as "Dumile Daniel Thompson". Variations like "Daniel Dumile Thompson" and "Dumile Thompson Dumile" appear in other records. In his life as a public figure, "Daniel Dumile" was the name most commonly used to refer to him.<ref name=yoo2021 />}} ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|d|uː|m|ə|l|eɪ}} {{respell|DOO|mə|lay}}; born '''Dumile Daniel Thompson'''; July 13, 1971{{spnd}}October 31,<!-- NOT DECEMBER --> 2020), also known by his stage name '''MF Doom''' or simply '''Doom''' (both mostly stylized in all caps),<!-- Do not capitalize the entire name; see talk page --> was a British-American<!-- Please seek consensus on the talk page before changing the statement about Dumile's nationality --> rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Noted for his intricate wordplay, signature metal mask, and "[[supervillain]]" stage persona, he became a major figure of [[Underground hip-hop|underground hip hop]] and [[Alternative hip-hop|alternative hip hop]] in the 2000s.<ref name=weingarten2021>{{Cite news |last=Weingarten |first=Christopher R. |date=January 12, 2021 |title=MF Doom Influenced Scores of Musicians. Hear 11 of Them. |language=en-US |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/12/arts/music/mf-doom-influences.html|access-date=May 2, 2021 |issn=0362-4331|archive-date=March 15, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210315232800/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/12/arts/music/mf-doom-influences.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=lester2012/>

Dumile was born in London and raised in [[Long Beach, New York]]. He began his career in 1988 as a member of the trio [[KMD]], performing as '''Zev&nbsp;Love&nbsp;X'''. The group disbanded in 1993 after the death of [[DJ Subroc]], Dumile's brother. After a hiatus, Dumile reemerged in the late 1990s. He began performing at [[open mic]] events while wearing a metal mask resembling that of the [[Marvel Comics]] supervillain [[Doctor Doom]], who is depicted on the cover of his 1999 debut solo album ''[[Operation: Doomsday]]''. He adopted the MF Doom persona and rarely made unmasked public appearances thereafter.

During Dumile's most prolific period, the early to mid-2000s, he released the acclaimed ''[[Mm..Food]]'' (2004) as MF Doom, as well as albums released under the pseudonyms '''King Geedorah''' and '''Viktor Vaughn'''. ''[[Madvillainy]]'' (2004), recorded with the producer [[Madlib]] under the name [[Madvillain]], is often cited as Dumile's ''[[magnum opus]]'' and is regarded as a landmark album in hip hop.<ref>{{cite web |last=Strauss |first=Matthew |date=December 31, 2020 |title=MF DOOM Dead at 49 |website=[[Pitchfork (magazine)|Pitchfork]] |url=https://pitchfork.com/news/mf-doom-dead-at-49/ |url-status=live |access-date=December 31, 2020 |archive-date=January 1, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210101051502/https://pitchfork.com/news/mf-doom-dead-at-49/}}</ref> ''Madvillainy'' was followed by another acclaimed collaboration, ''[[The Mouse and the Mask]]'' (2005), with the producer [[Danger Mouse (music producer)|Danger Mouse]], released under the name [[Danger Doom]].

Though he lived most of his life in the United States, Dumile never gained American citizenship. In 2010, he was denied reentry after returning from an international tour for his sixth and final solo album, ''[[Born Like This]]'' (2009). He moved to London before settling in [[Leeds]] and worked mostly in collaboration with other artists during his final years, releasing albums with [[Jneiro Jarel]] (as [[JJ Doom]]), [[Bishop Nehru]] (''[[NehruvianDoom]]''), and [[Czarface]] (''[[Czarface Meets Metal Face]]'', and the posthumous ''[[Super What?]]''). In 2020, he died in a Leeds hospital from [[angioedema]] following a reaction to a [[ACE inhibitor|blood pressure medication]]. After his death, ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' described him as one of hip hop's "most celebrated, unpredictable and enigmatic figures".<ref name=varietyobit>{{Cite web |last1=Barker |first1=Andrew |last2=Moreau |first2=Jordan |date=December 31, 2020 |title=Rapper MF Doom Dies at 49 |url=https://variety.com/2020/music/obituaries-people-news/mf-doom-dead-rapper-1234877295/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210101011234/https://variety.com/2020/music/obituaries-people-news/mf-doom-dead-rapper-1234877295/|archive-date=January 1, 2021|access-date=January 16, 2021 |website=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |language=en-US}}</ref>

==Early life==
Daniel Dumile was born Dumile Daniel Thompson in [[Hounslow]], London, on July 13, 1971,<ref name=yoo2021>{{Cite web |last=Yoo |first=Noah |date=June 22, 2021 |title=Untangling MF DOOM's Lifelong Struggle With the U.S. Immigration System |url=https://pitchfork.com/features/article/untangling-mf-dooms-lifelong-struggle-with-the-us-immigration-system/|access-date=September 17, 2021 |website=[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]] |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=bbc20201231>{{Cite news |date=December 31, 2020 |title=MF Doom: Hip-hop star dies aged 49 |work=[[BBC News]] |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-55504199|access-date=January 1, 2021|archive-date=January 1, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210101051505/https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-55504199|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=okp>{{Cite web |date=January 9, 2021 |title=Everyone, Including Us, Thought January 9th was MF DOOM's Birthday – It's Not |url=https://www.okayplayer.com/music/january-9-not-mf-doom-birthday.html|access-date=January 10, 2021 |website=[[Okayplayer]] |language=en-US|archive-date=January 10, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210110122553/https://www.okayplayer.com/music/january-9-not-mf-doom-birthday.html|url-status=live}}</ref> the son of a Trinidadian mother and Zimbabwean father.<ref name=lester2012>{{Cite news |last=Lester |first=Paul |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/aug/16/doom-key-to-the-kuffs |title=Doom: 'It's all new, all fun' |date=August 16, 2012 |work=[[The Guardian]]|access-date=February 25, 2020 |issn=0261-3077|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200225043806/https://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/aug/16/doom-key-to-the-kuffs|archive-date=February 25, 2020|url-status=live |id={{ProQuest|1033747721}}}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://thesource.com/2020/01/09/happy-48th-birthday-to-the-legendary-mf-doom/ |title=Happy 48th Birthday to the Legendary MF Doom |last=Allah |first=Sha Be |date=January 9, 2020 |website=[[The Source (magazine)|The Source]]|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200225043808/https://thesource.com/2020/01/09/happy-48th-birthday-to-the-legendary-mf-doom/|archive-date=February 25, 2020|access-date=February 25, 2020}}</ref> He said he was conceived in the United States, where his parents lived, and was born in London when his mother was visiting family.<ref name="Mlynar">{{Cite web |last=Mlynar |first=Phillip |date=August 16, 2012 |title=A Revealing DOOM Q&A: Supervillain on Nas' Pool Parties, His Rap-Hating Mom |url=https://www.spin.com/2012/08/a-revealing-doom-qa-supervillain-on-nas-pool-parties-his-rap-hating-mom/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112034236/https://www.spin.com/2012/08/a-revealing-doom-qa-supervillain-on-nas-pool-parties-his-rap-hating-mom/|archive-date=November 12, 2020|access-date=January 1, 2021 |website=[[Spin (magazine)|Spin]]}}</ref> He had four younger siblings, including the rapper [[DJ Subroc]] (1973–1993), with whom he formed the rap group [[KMD]] until Subroc was struck and killed by a car at the age of 19.<ref>{{Cite web |date=January 9, 2021 |title=A candid interview with DOOM from 2014 {{!}} Sampleface |url=https://sampleface.co.uk/candid-interview-doom-2014/ |access-date=November 18, 2022 |website=sampleface.co.uk |language=en-GB}}</ref>

As a child, Dumile moved with his family to [[Long Beach, New York]],<ref>{{Cite book |last=Levine |first=Mike |chapter=MF Doom |title=The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians|title-link=The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians |date=September 3, 2014 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |language=en |doi=10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.a2267192}}</ref> where he grew up in a [[Black nationalism|black nationalist]] [[Islam|Muslim]] household as part of the [[Five-Percent Nation|{{nowrap|Five-Percent}} Nation]].{{sfn|Hsu|2005|p=48}} He said he had no memory of his London childhood and defined himself as a "New York nigga",<ref name="Mlynar" /> but remained a British citizen his entire life and never gained American citizenship.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Morrison |first=Sean |date=December 31, 2020 |title=Rapper and producer MF Doom dies aged 49 |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/world/mf-doom-death-rapper-and-producer-dies-aged-49-b603297.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210101172341/https://www.standard.co.uk/news/world/mf-doom-death-rapper-and-producer-dies-aged-49-b603297.html|archive-date=January 1, 2021|access-date=January 1, 2021 |website=[[Evening Standard]] |language=en}}</ref> He began DJing during third grade.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Paine |first=Jake |date=November 28, 2018 |title=This 2003 Conversation With MF DOOM Is The Interview Of His Career |url=https://ambrosiaforheads.com/2018/11/mf-doom-interview-audio-metalface/|access-date=December 31, 2020 |website=Ambrosia For Heads|archive-date=December 31, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201231234057/https://ambrosiaforheads.com/2018/11/mf-doom-interview-audio-metalface/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2011 |title=DOOM |url=https://www.redbullmusicacademy.com/lectures/doom-lecture|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201231234133/https://www.redbullmusicacademy.com/lectures/doom-lecture/|archive-date=December 31, 2020|access-date=December 31, 2020 |publisher=[[Red Bull Music Academy]]}}</ref> As a child, he was a fan and collector of comic books and earned the nickname "Doom" (a phonetic play on the name Dumile) among friends and family.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Coleman |first=Brian |date=April 10, 2016 |title=Check The Technique: The Birth of MF Doom |url=https://medium.com/cuepoint/check-the-technique-kmds-black-bastards-and-the-birth-of-mf-doom-1849f4c0a6f4|access-date=January 14, 2021 |website=Medium |language=en|archive-date=November 15, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191115100709/https://medium.com/cuepoint/check-the-technique-kmds-black-bastards-and-the-birth-of-mf-doom-1849f4c0a6f4|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Allen">{{Cite web |last=Allen |first=Ryan |title=MF Doom |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/mf-doom|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210101172407/https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/mf-doom|archive-date=January 1, 2021|access-date=January 1, 2021 |website=Contemporary Musicians}}</ref>

==Career==
===1988–1997: KMD, brother's death, and hiatus===
[[File:KMD Elektra.jpg|thumb|right|Dumile as Zev Love X (left) with fellow [[KMD]] members [[DJ Subroc]] and Onyx the Birthstone Kid in 1991]]
Under the name Zev Love X,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Sanneh |first=Kelefa|author-link=Kelefa Sanneh |date=April 7, 2004 |title=That Man in a Mask, With Labyrinthine Rhymes to Cast |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/07/arts/hip-hop-review-that-man-in-a-mask-with-labyrinthine-rhymes-to-cast.html|access-date=January 1, 2021 |issn=0362-4331|archive-date=January 1, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210101051537/https://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/07/arts/hip-hop-review-that-man-in-a-mask-with-labyrinthine-rhymes-to-cast.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Dumile formed the hip hop group [[KMD]] in 1988 with his younger brother [[DJ Subroc]] and Rodan, who was later replaced by Onyx the Birthstone Kid.<ref name=ALLMUSIC>{{cite web |last1=LeRoy |first1=Dan |url={{AllMusic |class=artist |id=p300089/biography|pure_url=yes}}|title=Artist Biography|work=[[AllMusic]]|access-date=September 28, 2010}}</ref> [[Artists and repertoire|A&R]] representative Dante Ross learned of KMD through the hip hop group [[3rd Bass]] and signed them to [[Elektra Records]].<ref name="wax poetics">{{cite journal |title=Turn Up the Phonograph: Dante Ross |journal=[[Wax Poetics]] |volume=9 |date=2004 |isbn=9780307494429 |issn=1537-8241 |oclc=48433218 |last1=Coleman |first1=Brian}}</ref> Their recording debut came on 3rd Bass's song "The Gas Face" on ''[[The Cactus Album]]'',<ref name="ALLMUSIC"/> followed in 1991 by their debut album ''[[Mr. Hood]]''. Dumile performed the last verse on "The Gas Face"; according to [[Pete Nice]]'s verse on the track, Dumile created the phrase.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Chick |first=Stevie |date=January 1, 2021 |title=MF Doom: a hip-hop genius who built his own universe of poetry |url=http://www.theguardian.com/music/2021/jan/01/mf-doom-a-hip-hop-genius-who-built-his-own-universe-of-poetry|access-date=January 3, 2021 |work=[[The Guardian]] |language=en|archive-date=January 3, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210103041103/https://www.theguardian.com/music/2021/jan/01/mf-doom-a-hip-hop-genius-who-built-his-own-universe-of-poetry|url-status=live}}</ref>

On April 23, 1993, just before the release of the second KMD album, ''[[Black Bastards]]'',<ref name="ALLMUSIC"/> Subroc was struck by a car and killed while crossing the [[Long Island Expressway]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Turner-Williams |first=Jaelani |date=November 15, 2019 |title=Impending DOOM: 'MM...FOOD' Warned You 15 Years Ago |url=https://www.complex.com/pigeons-and-planes/2019/11/mf-doom-mm-food-anniversary|url-status=live|access-date=May 2, 2021 |website=[[Complex Networks|Complex]] |language=en|archive-date=November 18, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201118163300/https://www.complex.com/pigeons-and-planes/2019/11/mf-doom-mm-food-anniversary}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Fortune |first=Drew |date=January 28, 2021 |title=The Unknowable MF DOOM |url=https://www.vulture.com/article/mf-doom-wake.html|url-status=live|access-date=May 2, 2021 |website=[[New York (magazine)#Digital|Vulture]] |language=en-us|archive-date=February 25, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225015537/https://www.vulture.com/article/mf-doom-wake.html}}</ref> Dumile completed the album alone over the course of several months, and it was announced with a release date of May 3, 1994.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Coleman |first=Brian |date=April 10, 2016 |title=Check The Technique: The Birth of MF Doom |url=https://medium.com/cuepoint/check-the-technique-kmds-black-bastards-and-the-birth-of-mf-doom-1849f4c0a6f4|access-date=February 5, 2021 |website=Medium |language=en|archive-date=November 15, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191115100709/https://medium.com/cuepoint/check-the-technique-kmds-black-bastards-and-the-birth-of-mf-doom-1849f4c0a6f4|url-status=live}}</ref> KMD was dropped by Elektra and the album went unreleased due to its controversial cover art,<ref name="wax poetics"/> which featured a cartoon of a stereotypical [[pickaninny]] or [[Sambo (racial term)|sambo]] character being hanged.<ref name=ducker2014>{{Cite news |last=Ducker |first=Eric |date=November 6, 2014 |title=A Rational Conversation: The 20-Year-Old Album That's MF DOOM's Missing Link |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/therecord/2014/11/06/361216399/a-rational-conversation-the-20-year-old-album-thats-mf-dooms-missing-link|access-date=January 1, 2021 |work=[[NPR]]|archive-date=January 1, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210101051538/https://www.npr.org/sections/therecord/2014/11/06/361216399/a-rational-conversation-the-20-year-old-album-thats-mf-dooms-missing-link|url-status=live}}</ref>

After his brother's death, Dumile retreated from the hip hop scene from 1994 to 1997, living "damn near homeless, walking the streets of [[Manhattan]], sleeping on benches".{{sfn|Hsu|2005|p=48}} In the late 1990s, he settled in [[Atlanta]]; he had moved to Georgia in the mid-90s.<ref name="yoo2021" /> According to Dumile, he was "recovering from his wounds" and vowing revenge "against the industry that so badly deformed him".<ref name="ALLMUSIC" /> ''Black Bastards'' had been [[Bootleg recording|bootlegged]] by that time,<ref name=ducker2014/> but was not officially released until 2000.{{Sfn|Bradley|DuBois|2010|p=606}}

===1997–2001: ''Operation: Doomsday'' and production work===
In 1997 or 1998,{{efn|Sources differ on when precisely Dumile first performed with his face obscured.}} Dumile began freestyling incognito at [[Open mic|open-mic]] events at the [[Nuyorican Poets Café]] in Manhattan, obscuring his face by putting tights over his head.<ref name="bbc20201231"/><ref>{{Cite web |last=Nemtusak |first=Brian |date=August 12, 2004 |title=MF Doom |url=https://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/mf-doom/Content?oid=916369|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210101051505/https://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/mf-doom/Content?oid=916369|archive-date=January 1, 2021|access-date=January 1, 2021 |website=[[Chicago Reader]]}}</ref> He turned this into a new identity, MF Doom, with a mask similar to that of [[Marvel Comics]] supervillain [[Doctor Doom]].{{sfn|Young|2014|p=59}} He later adopted a mask based on the one worn by Maximus, the protagonist of the 2000 film ''[[Gladiator (2000 film)|Gladiator]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.okayplayer.com/music/mf-doom-2009-interview-born-like-this.html |title=MF DOOM Discusses Origins Of His Mask, Changing His Name To DOOM And More In Resurfaced Interview |work=okayplayer.com |last=Watson |first=Elijah C. |date=January 10, 2019 |access-date=March 14, 2022}}</ref>

[[Bobbito Garcia]]'s [[Fondle 'Em Records]] released ''[[Operation: Doomsday]]'', Dumile's first full-length [[LP record|LP]] as MF Doom, in 1999.<ref name="Caramanica-2000" /><ref name=allah2020>{{Cite web |last=Allah |first=Sha Be |date=April 20, 2020 |title=MF DOOM's Debut Album 'Operation Doomsday' Dropped 21 Years Ago |url=https://thesource.com/2020/04/20/today-in-hip-hop-history-mf-dooms-debut-album-operation-doomsday-dropped-21-years-ago/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201231231935/https://thesource.com/2020/04/20/today-in-hip-hop-history-mf-dooms-debut-album-operation-doomsday-dropped-21-years-ago/|archive-date=December 31, 2020|access-date=January 30, 2021 |website=[[The Source (magazine)|The Source]] |language=en-US}}</ref> Dumile's collaborators on ''Operation: Doomsday'' included fellow members of the [[Monsta Island Czars]] collective, for which each artist took on the persona of a monster from the [[Godzilla (franchise)|''Godzilla'']] films. Dumile went by the alias "King Geedorah",{{efn|Also spelled "Ghidora"<ref>{{Cite AV media notes |title=Greenbacks / Go With the Flow |others=MF DOOM |year=1997 |type=liner notes |publisher=[[Fondle 'Em Records]] |id=FE-0082 |location=New York, New York}}</ref> or "Ghidra".<ref>{{Cite AV media notes |title=Operation: Doomsday |others=MF DOOM |year=1999 |type=liner notes |publisher=[[Fondle 'Em Records]] |id=FE-86 |location=New York, New York}}</ref>}} a three-headed golden dragon space monster modeled after [[King Ghidorah]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Adams |first=Jacob |date=January 30, 2012 |title=Rediscover: King Geedorah: Take Me to Your Leader |url=https://spectrumculture.com/2012/01/30/rediscover/|access-date=January 1, 2021 |website=Spectrum Culture|archive-date=January 1, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210101051529/https://spectrumculture.com/2012/01/30/rediscover/|url-status=live}}</ref> The album's productions sampled cartoons including [[Fantastic Four (1967 TV series)|''Fantastic Four'']], something that became a staple of his music later on.<ref name=allah2020/> [[Jon Caramanica]], in a review of ''Operation: Doomsday'' for ''[[Spin (magazine)|Spin]]'', emphasized the contrast between Dumile's [[Rapping#Flow|flow]] as Zev Love X in KMD and his revised approach as a solo artist: "Doom's flow is muddy, nowhere near the sprightly rhymes of KMD's early days, and his thought process is haphazard."<ref name="Caramanica-2000">{{Cite journal |last=Caramanica |first=Jon|author-link=Jon Caramanica |title=Operation: Doomsday |journal=[[Spin (magazine)|Spin]] |date=August 2000 |language=en |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=50Phz-C_VzIC&pg=PA152 152]}}</ref> Caramanica revisited ''Operation: Doomsday'' in ''[[The New York Times]]'' in 2021, calling it "one of the most idiosyncratic hip-hop albums of the 1990s, and one of the defining documents of the independent hip-hop explosion of that decade".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Caramanica |first=Jon|author-link=Jon Caramanica |date=January 14, 2021 |title=MF Doom, Magician of Memory |language=en-US |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/14/arts/music/mf-doom-operation-doomsday.html|access-date=January 15, 2021 |issn=0362-4331|archive-date=January 15, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210115183140/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/14/arts/music/mf-doom-operation-doomsday.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Cyril Cordor, in a review for ''[[AllMusic]]'', described ''Operation: Doomsday'' as Dumile's "rawest" lyrical effort.<ref>{{cite web |last=Cordor |first=Cyril |title=Operation: Doomsday – MF Doom |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/operation-doomsday-mw0000068448 |website=[[AllMusic]] |language=en|access-date=January 30, 2021|archive-date=January 4, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210104101624/https://www.allmusic.com/album/operation-doomsday-mw0000068448|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2001, Dumile began releasing his ''[[Special Herbs]]'' instrumentals series under the pseudonym Metal Fingers.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hughes |first=Josiah |date=January 14, 2011 |title=DOOM Compiles Special Herbs on LP Box Set |url=https://exclaim.ca/music/article/doom_compiles_special_herbs_on_lp_box_set|access-date=January 3, 2021 |website=[[Exclaim!]] |language=en-ca|archive-date=January 31, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210131163304/https://exclaim.ca/music/article/doom_compiles_special_herbs_on_lp_box_set|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Harvell-2011">{{Cite web |last=Harvell |first=Jess |date=February 25, 2011 |title=Metal Fingers / DOOM: Special Herbs: The Box Set Vol. 0–9 |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/15114-special-herbs-the-box-set-vol-0-9/|access-date=January 3, 2021 |website=[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]] |language=en|archive-date=August 8, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210808053802/https://pitchfork.com/cne-player/player.html?autoplay=false&video=5a09fc8c148bb036f9000017|url-status=live}}</ref> In a review of a 2011 box set containing ten volumes of the ''Special Herbs'' series, ''[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]]'' observed that the instrumentals stand on their own without vocal tracks: "most of these tracks sound plenty 'finished' even in rhyme-less form".<ref name="Harvell-2011" />

===2002–2004: King Geedorah, Viktor Vaughn, and ''Madvillainy''===
[[File:Madlib in 2003.jpg|thumb|alt=Photo of a man with a short goatee and mustache wearing a durag|[[Madlib]] in late 2003, around the time he was working on ''[[Madvillainy]]'' with Dumile]]In 2003, Dumile released the album ''[[Take Me to Your Leader (King Geedorah album)|Take Me to Your Leader]]'' under his King Geedorah moniker.<ref name="martellitmtyl"/><ref>{{Cite web |date=April 29, 2013 |title=MF DOOM's classic King Geedorah album Take Me To Your Leader re-pressed for 2013 |url=https://www.factmag.com/2013/04/29/mf-dooms-classic-king-geedorah-album-take-me-to-your-leader-re-pressed-for-2013/|access-date=January 1, 2021 |website=[[Fact (UK magazine)|Fact]]|archive-date=January 1, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210101051505/https://www.factmag.com/2013/04/29/mf-dooms-classic-king-geedorah-album-take-me-to-your-leader-re-pressed-for-2013/|url-status=live}}</ref> In ''Pitchfork'', Mark Martelli described ''Take Me to Your Leader'' as close to a [[concept album]], noting how it lays out the "mythos" of the eponymous King Geedorah.<ref name="martellitmtyl">{{Cite web |last=Martelli |first=Mark |date=July 7, 2003 |title=King Geedorah: Take Me to Your Leader |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/4443-take-me-to-your-leader/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210101051505/https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/4443-take-me-to-your-leader/|archive-date=January 1, 2021|access-date=January 29, 2021 |website=Pitchfork |language=en}}</ref> Martelli praised the album, particularly tracks such as "One Smart Nigger" which, in his view, were superior to other artists' attempts at [[political hip hop]].<ref name="martellitmtyl" /> ''[[Fact (UK magazine)|Fact]]'', in a brief notice for a 2013 [[reissue]] of ''Take Me to Your Leader'', called it "arguably the most cinematic" of Dumile's albums from the turn of the 21st century.<ref>{{Cite web |date=April 29, 2013 |title=MF DOOM's classic King Geedorah album Take Me To Your Leader re-pressed for 2013 |url=https://www.factmag.com/2013/04/29/mf-dooms-classic-king-geedorah-album-take-me-to-your-leader-re-pressed-for-2013/|access-date=January 29, 2021 |website=[[Fact (UK magazine)|Fact]] |language=en-US|archive-date=January 1, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210101051505/https://www.factmag.com/2013/04/29/mf-dooms-classic-king-geedorah-album-take-me-to-your-leader-re-pressed-for-2013/|url-status=live}}</ref> Later in 2003, Dumile released the LP ''[[Vaudeville Villain]]'' under the moniker Viktor Vaughn (another play on Doctor Doom, who is also known as Victor von Doom). ''[[NME]]'' described the Viktor Vaughn persona as "a time travelling street hustler".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Saleh |first=Oumar |date=January 11, 2021 |title=Why 'Vaudeville Villain' is MF DOOM's undersung masterpiece |url=https://www.nme.com/en_asia/features/vaudeville-villain-viktor-vaughn-mf-dooms-undersung-masterpiece-2854152|access-date=January 28, 2021 |website=[[NME]] |language=en|archive-date=January 25, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210125111811/https://www.nme.com/en_asia/features/vaudeville-villain-viktor-vaughn-mf-dooms-undersung-masterpiece-2854152|url-status=live}}</ref> ''Pitchfork'' named ''Vaudeville Villain'' the week's best new album and highlighted its lyricism, writing that Dumile was one of the best writers in rap.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Pemberton |first=Rollie |date=September 15, 2003 |title=Viktor Vaughn: Vaudeville Villain |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/8514-vaudeville-villain/|access-date=January 28, 2021 |website=[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]] |language=en|archive-date=August 8, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210808053752/https://pitchfork.com/cne-player/player.html?autoplay=false&video=5a09fc8c148bb036f9000017|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Sylvester |first=Nick |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/5255-mmfood/ |title=MF DOOM: Mm..Food? Album Review |website=[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]] |date=November 15, 2004 |access-date=September 4, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160912101627/http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/5255-mmfood/ |archive-date=September 12, 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Dumile's breakthrough came in 2004 with the album ''[[Madvillainy]]'', created with producer [[Madlib]] under the group name [[Madvillain]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=March 23, 2015 |title=MF DOOM and Madlib Drop 'Madvillainy' Album 15 Years Ago Today |url=https://www.xxlmag.com/today-hip-hop-mf-doom-madlib-dropped-madvillainy/|access-date=January 3, 2021 |website=[[XXL (magazine)|XXL]] |language=en|archive-date=January 26, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126121341/https://www.xxlmag.com/today-hip-hop-mf-doom-madlib-dropped-madvillainy/|url-status=live}}</ref> They recorded the album in a series of sessions over two years before a commercial release on March 23, 2004.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Thurm |first=Eric |date=March 11, 2014 |title=A decade on, Madvillainy is still a masterpiece from hip-hop's illest duo |url=https://www.avclub.com/a-decade-on-madvillainy-is-still-a-masterpiece-from-hi-1798267017|access-date=January 3, 2021 |website=[[The A.V. Club]] |language=en-us|archive-date=January 26, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126164711/https://music.avclub.com/a-decade-on-madvillainy-is-still-a-masterpiece-from-hi-1798267017|url-status=live}}</ref> ''Madvillainy'' was a critical and commercial success,<ref name="Allen" /> and has since become known as Dumile's masterpiece.<ref name=guardianobit/> Also in 2004, Dumile released ''[[VV:2]]'', a follow-up LP under the Viktor Vaughn moniker. [[Nathan Rabin]] noted in ''[[The A.V. Club]]'' that ''VV:2'', coming as it did after the commercial and critical success of ''Madvillainy'', represented an unusual career choice for Dumile whereby he went "deeper underground" instead of embracing wider fame.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rabin |first=Nathan|author-link=Nathan Rabin |date=July 26, 2004 |title=Viktor Vaughn: VV:2 Venomous Villain |url=https://www.avclub.com/viktor-vaughn-vv-2-venomous-villain-1798199792|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191124013843/https://music.avclub.com/viktor-vaughn-vv-2-venomous-villain-1798199792|archive-date=November 24, 2019|access-date=January 31, 2021 |website=[[The A.V. Club]] |language=en-us}}</ref>

Later in 2004, the second MF Doom album ''[[Mm..Food]]'' was released by [[Rhymesayers Entertainment]].<ref name="guardianobit">{{Cite news |last=Beaumont-Thomas |first=Ben |date=December 31, 2020 |title=MF Doom, iconic masked hip-hop MC, dies aged 49 |url=http://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/dec/31/mf-doom-iconic-masked-hip-hop-mc-dies-aged-49|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210101172359/https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/dec/31/mf-doom-iconic-masked-hip-hop-mc-dies-aged-49|archive-date=January 1, 2021|access-date=January 1, 2021 |website=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref> ''Pitchfork'' gave the album a positive review.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sylvester |first=Nick |date=November 15, 2004 |title=MF DOOM: Mm..Food? |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/5255-mmfood/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160912101627/http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/5255-mmfood/|archive-date=September 12, 2016|access-date=January 31, 2021 |website=[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]] |language=en}}</ref> Nathan Rabin described it as a "crazy pastiche" but argued that it grew more coherent on repeated listening. Around this time, he also appeared in a voice role in the [[Adult Swim]] animated series ''[[Perfect Hair Forever]]'' as Sherman the [[giraffe]].

===2005–2009: Danger Doom, ''Born Like This'', and Ghostface collaboration===
Although still an independent artist, Dumile took a bigger step towards the mainstream in 2005 with ''[[The Mouse and the Mask]]'', a collaboration with the producer [[DJ Danger Mouse]] under the group name [[Danger Doom]]. The album, released on October 11, 2005, by [[Epitaph Records|Epitaph]] and [[Lex Records|Lex]], was developed in collaboration with [[Cartoon Network]]'s [[Adult Swim]] and featured voice actors and characters from its programs (mostly ''[[Aqua Teen Hunger Force]]''). ''The Mouse and the Mask'' reached No. 41 on the [[Billboard 200|''Billboard'' 200]].<ref>{{Cite magazine |title=Danger Doom Hopes To Make Second CD |url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/61003/danger-doom-hopes-to-make-second-cd |date=October 19, 2005|access-date=January 2, 2021 |magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]] |language=en|archive-date=December 31, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201231223633/https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/61003/danger-doom-hopes-to-make-second-cd|url-status=live}}</ref> Critic Chris Vognar, discussing the role of comedy in hip hop, argued that "Doom and Danger exemplify an absurdist strain in recent independent hip-hop, a willingness to embrace the nerdy without a heavy cloak of irony".{{sfn|Vognar|2011|p=120}} <ref>{{Cite web |last=Rabin |first=Nathan|author-link=Nathan Rabin |date=November 29, 2004 |title=MF Doom: Mm.. Food? |url=https://www.avclub.com/mf-doom-mm-food-1798200165|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201231230759/https://music.avclub.com/mf-doom-mm-food-1798200165|archive-date=December 31, 2020|access-date=January 31, 2021 |website=[[The A.V. Club]] |language=en-us}}</ref> In the same year, Dumile appeared on the second [[Gorillaz]] album, ''[[Demon Days]].''<ref name="bbc20201231" />

Dumile produced tracks for both of [[Ghostface Killah]]'s 2006 albums ''[[Fishscale]]''<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Partridge |first=Kenneth |date=March 29, 2016 |title=Ghostface Killah's 'Fishscale' at 10: Classic Track-by-Track Album Flashback |url=https://www.billboard.com/music/rb-hip-hop/ghostface-killah-fishscale-classic-track-by-track-album-flashback-10th-anniversary-7311563/|access-date=January 1, 2021 |magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]|archive-date=January 1, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210101051555/https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/hip-hop/7311563/ghostface-killah-fishscale-classic-track-by-track-album-flashback-10th-anniversary|url-status=live}}</ref> and ''[[More Fish]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dombal |first=Ryan |date=December 14, 2006 |title=Ghostface Killah: More Fish |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/9721-more-fish/|access-date=January 1, 2021 |website=[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]]|archive-date=January 1, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210101051533/https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/9721-more-fish/|url-status=live}}</ref> In February 2013, Ghostface Killah said that he and Dumile were in the process of choosing tracks for a collaborative album.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Harling |first=Danielle |date=February 14, 2013 |title=Ghostface Killah Offers An Update On His Project With MF DOOM, Tells Fans To "Prepare" Themselves |url=https://hiphopdx.com/news/id.22924/title.ghostface-killah-offers-an-update-on-his-project-with-mf-doom-tells-fans-to-prepare-themselves|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210101051536/https://hiphopdx.com/news/id.22924/title.ghostface-killah-offers-an-update-on-his-project-with-mf-doom-tells-fans-to-prepare-themselves|archive-date=January 1, 2021|access-date=January 1, 2021 |website=[[HipHopDX]]}}</ref> In 2015, Ghostface Killah announced that the album, ''Swift & Changeable'', would be released in 2016, and later posted promotional artwork for the collaboration.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Weinstein |first=Max |date=February 11, 2016 |title=Ghostface Killah Teases 'DOOMSTARKS' Album With DOOM |url=https://www.xxlmag.com/ghostface-doomstarks/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210101172345/https://www.xxlmag.com/ghostface-doomstarks/|archive-date=January 1, 2021|access-date=January 1, 2021 |website=[[XXL (magazine)|XXL]] |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Goddard |first=Kevin |date=December 28, 2015 |title=Ghostface Killah Says Joint Project with Doom Could Be Dropping in February |url=http://www.hotnewhiphop.com/ghostface-killah-says-joint-project-with-doom-could-be-dropping-in-february-news.19378.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151231063638/http://www.hotnewhiphop.com/ghostface-killah-says-joint-project-with-doom-could-be-dropping-in-february-news.19378.html|archive-date=December 31, 2015|access-date=December 30, 2015 |website=HotNewHipHop |ref=HotNewHipHop}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Hughes |first=Josiah |date=February 11, 2016 |title=Is This The Cover for Ghostface and DOOM's Collaborative Album? |url=https://exclaim.ca/music/article/is_this_the_cover_for_ghostface_and_dooms_collaborative_album|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210101172431/https://exclaim.ca/music/article/is_this_the_cover_for_ghostface_and_dooms_collaborative_album|archive-date=January 1, 2021|access-date=January 1, 2021 |website=[[Exclaim!]] |language=en-ca}}</ref> It remains unreleased.

Dumile's ''[[Born Like This]]'' was released on Lex Records on March 24, 2009. The album was Dumile's first solo album to chart in the US.<ref name=lex>{{cite web |last=Paine |first=Jake |title=Hip Hop Album Sales: The Week Ending 3/29/2009 |url=http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/news/id.8879/title.hip-hop-album-sales-the-week-ending-3-29-2009 |website=[[HipHopDX]]|access-date=May 31, 2012 |date=April 1, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090423033248/http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/news/id.8879/title.hip-hop-album-sales-the-week-ending-3-29-2009|archive-date=April 23, 2009|url-status=dead}}</ref> In a largely favorable review for ''Pitchfork'', Nate Patrin cast the album as a return to form for Dumile, following a period of limited output.<ref name=patrinbornlikethis>{{Cite web |last=Patrin |first=Nate |date=April 6, 2009 |title=DOOM: Born Like This |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/12869-born-like-this/|access-date=January 3, 2021 |website=[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]] |language=en|archive-date=January 1, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210101142627/https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/12869-born-like-this/|url-status=live}}</ref> He observed that Dumile's lyrics and flow—"a focused rasp that's subtly grown slightly more ragged and intense"—were darker than on earlier records.<ref name="patrinbornlikethis" /> He also highlighted the overtly homophobic "Batty Boyz", a [[Diss (music)|diss track]] against unnamed rappers.<ref name=patrinbornlikethis/> Steve Yates, reviewing the album in ''The Guardian'', likewise saw ''Born Like This'' as hearkening back to Dumile's earlier output.<ref name=yatesbornlikethis>{{Cite news |last=Yates |first=Steve |date=March 15, 2009 |title=Urban review: DOOM, Born Like This |url=http://www.theguardian.com/music/2009/mar/15/doom-born-like-this-review|access-date=January 3, 2021 |work=[[The Guardian]] |language=en|archive-date=December 31, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201231224123/https://www.theguardian.com/music/2009/mar/15/doom-born-like-this-review|url-status=live}}</ref>  Yates felt it presented Dumile at "his scalpel-tongued, scatter-mouthed best".<ref name=yatesbornlikethis/> Both Patrin and Yates noted the influence of [[Charles Bukowski]] on ''Born Like This'': the first line of Bukowski's poem "Dinosauria, We" gives the album its title.<ref name=patrinbornlikethis/><ref name=yatesbornlikethis/>

===2010–2021: Move to the UK and later collaborations===
[[File:MF Doom - 23 July 2011 03.jpg|thumb|MF Doom in July 2011]]
In early 2010, Dumile released the EP ''[[Gazzillion Ear]]'' on Lex, a compilation of remixes of "Gazzillion Ear" from ''Born Like This,'' including a remix by [[Thom Yorke]] and two mixes by [[Jneiro Jarel]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Patrin |first=Nate |date=January 7, 2010 |title=Reviews: DOOM Gazzillion Ear EP |url=http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/13800-gazzillion-ear-ep/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130121195452/http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/13800-gazzillion-ear-ep/|archive-date=January 21, 2013|access-date=January 1, 2021 |website=[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]] |publisher=}}</ref> A further remix by Madvillain featuring a voicemail message from [[Kanye West]] was released online.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Breihan |first=Tom |date=December 17, 2009 |title=DOOM Links Up With Kanye, Mos Def |url=https://pitchfork.com/news/37415-doom-links-up-with-kanye-mos-def/|access-date=January 1, 2021 |website=[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]]|archive-date=January 1, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210101051613/https://pitchfork.com/news/37415-doom-links-up-with-kanye-mos-def/|url-status=live}}</ref> The EP coincided with Dumile's first performances outside North America. On March 5, 2010, Lex and [[Sónar]] presented the first Doom show in London, at the [[Roundhouse (venue)|Roundhouse]] in Camden.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/6music/news/20100306_doom.shtml |title=Review: Doom, Enigmatic rapper lifts Sonar curtain |publisher=BBC 6Music |first=Rodrigo |last=Davies |date=March 6, 2010|access-date=December 23, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100424022640/http://www.bbc.co.uk/6music/news/20100306_doom.shtml|archive-date=April 24, 2010|url-status=live}}</ref> ''[[Expektoration]]'', Dumile's second live album, was released on September 14, 2010, through Gold Dust.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Henderson |first=Stuart |date=September 13, 2010 |title=MF Doom: Expektoration... Live (featuring Big Benn Klingon) |url=https://www.popmatters.com/mf-doom-expektoration-live-featuring-big-benn-klingon-2496151645.html|access-date=January 2, 2021 |website=[[PopMatters]] |language=en|archive-date=January 31, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210131163336/https://www.popmatters.com/mf-doom-expektoration-live-featuring-big-benn-klingon-2496151645.html|url-status=live}}</ref> In a review of ''Expektoration'', ''Pitchfork'' noted that Dumile's vocal performance was more energetic than on his recordings, which it characterized as "laidback" by comparison.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Patrin |first=Nate |date=September 17, 2010 |title=MF DOOM: Expektoration Live |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/14629-expektoration-live/|access-date=January 28, 2021 |website=Pitchfork |language=en|archive-date=November 27, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201127035614/https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/14629-expektoration-live/|url-status=live}}</ref>

After completing his European tour, Dumile was refused re-entry into the United States.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/jun/24/doom-hip-hops-great-pretender |title=Doom: hip-hop's great pretender poised for another reinvention |date=June 24, 2015|access-date=June 28, 2020 |first=Ben |last=Westhoff |work=[[The Guardian]]|archive-date=June 29, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200629193207/https://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/jun/24/doom-hip-hops-great-pretender|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=faceddeportation>{{cite web |last1=Coleman |first1=C. Vernon |date=February 5, 2019 |title=7 Rappers Who Have Faced Deportation |url=https://www.xxlmag.com/rappers-deportation/|url-status=live|access-date=January 1, 2021 |website=[[XXL (magazine)|XXL]]|archive-date=June 30, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200630064248/https://www.xxlmag.com/rappers-deportation/}}</ref> He settled in the UK in 2010.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Fletcher |first=Lily |date=January 18, 2021 |title=MF Doom: Rapper whose work continues to have far-reaching influence |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/mf-doom-rapper-obituary-hip-hop-b1788554.html|access-date=May 2, 2021 |work=[[The Independent]] |language=en|archive-date=January 18, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210118133549/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/mf-doom-rapper-obituary-hip-hop-b1788554.html|url-status=live}}</ref> ''[[Key to the Kuffs]]'', an album Dumile made in collaboration with the producer [[Jneiro Jarel]] as [[JJ Doom]], was released on August 20, 2012, and included guest features from [[Damon Albarn]], [[Beth Gibbons]] of Portishead, [[Khujo]] Goodie of [[Goodie Mob]] and [[Dungeon Family]], and Boston Fielder.<ref name="complex">{{cite magazine |url=http://www.complex.com/music/2012/07/jj-doom-reveal-key-to-the-kuffs-release-date-tracklist |title=JJ DOOM Reveal "Key To The Kuffs" Release Date, Tracklist |magazine=Complex |first=Andrew |last=Martin |date=July 5, 2012|access-date=January 20, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120714024750/http://www.complex.com/music/2012/07/jj-doom-reveal-key-to-the-kuffs-release-date-tracklist|archive-date=July 14, 2012|url-status=live}}</ref> Reviews of ''Key to the Kuffs'' in ''Pitchfork'' and ''[[Fact (UK magazine)|Fact]]'' emphasized its references to Dumile's "exile" in the United Kingdom,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Patrin |first=Nate |date=August 29, 2012 |title=JJ DOOM: Key to the Kuffs |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/16916-key-to-the-kuffs/|access-date=January 2, 2021 |website=[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]] |language=en|archive-date=November 28, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201128153418/https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/16916-key-to-the-kuffs/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Morpurgo |first=Joseph |date=September 6, 2012 |title=Keys to the Kuffs |url=https://www.factmag.com/2012/09/06/jj-doom-review/|access-date=January 2, 2021 |website=[[Fact (UK magazine)|Fact]] |language=en-US|archive-date=January 25, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210125183959/https://www.factmag.com/2012/09/06/jj-doom-review/|url-status=live}}</ref> while ''[[Resident Advisor]]'' noted its play on Britishisms in tracks like "Guv'nor".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lawrence |first=James |date=September 11, 2012 |title=Review: JJ DOOM – Key to the Kuffs |url=https://www.residentadvisor.net/reviews/11594|access-date=January 2, 2021 |website=[[Resident Advisor]]|archive-date=February 24, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170224212011/https://www.residentadvisor.net/reviews/11594|url-status=live}}</ref>

''[[NehruvianDoom]]'', Dumile's collaboration with the rapper [[Bishop Nehru]], was released on October 7, 2014.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.factmag.com/2014/04/04/bishop-nehru-and-doom-are-now-releasing-an-album-nehruviandoom/ |title=Bishop Nehru and DOOM are now releasing an album, NehruvianDOOM |work=[[Fact (UK magazine)|Fact]] |date=April 4, 2014|access-date=December 19, 2017|archive-date=October 12, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201012035513/https://www.factmag.com/2014/04/04/bishop-nehru-and-doom-are-now-releasing-an-album-nehruviandoom/|url-status=live}}</ref> Dumile produced all the tracks on ''NehruvianDoom'', often using beats developed in the ''Special Herbs'' series; vocals are primarily Nehru's, with some contributions from Dumile.<ref name="Patrin-2014">{{Cite web |last=Patrin |first=Nate |date=September 29, 2014 |title=NehruvianDOOM: NehruvianDOOM |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/19809-nehruviandoom-nehruviandoom/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210103171953/https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/19809-nehruviandoom-nehruviandoom/|archive-date=January 3, 2021|access-date=January 3, 2021 |website=[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]] |language=en}}</ref> The album was Nehru's major label debut.<ref name="Charity-2014">{{Cite web |last=Charity |first=Justin |date=September 30, 2014 |title=Bishop Nehru and MF DOOM's "NehruvianDOOM" Is the Beginning of Something Great |url=https://www.complex.com/music/2014/09/bishop-nehru-mf-doom-album-review-nehruviandoom|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126121339/https://www.complex.com/music/2014/09/bishop-nehru-mf-doom-album-review-nehruviandoom|archive-date=January 26, 2021|access-date=January 3, 2021 |website=[[Complex Networks|Complex]] |language=en}}</ref> The limitations of Nehru's artistic achievement on the album were stressed by critics due to his relative youth (he was still in his teens when the album was produced) and the album's briefness, lasting just over 30 minutes.<ref name="Charity-2014" /><ref name="XXL-2014">{{Cite web |date=October 6, 2014 |title=Bishop Nehru And MF Doom Tap Into Their Strengths On 'NehruvianDOOM' |url=https://www.xxlmag.com/bishop-nehru-mf-doom-nehruviandoom-album-review/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210131163330/https://www.xxlmag.com/bishop-nehru-mf-doom-nehruviandoom-album-review/|archive-date=January 31, 2021|access-date=January 3, 2021 |website=[[XXL (magazine)|XXL]] |language=en}}</ref> Dumile's contributions were also seen as limited: ''Pitchfork'' wrote that he often seemed on "autopilot",<ref name="Patrin-2014" /> and [[XXL (magazine)|''XXL'']] suggested that neither he nor Nehru were able to "push the envelope".<ref name="XXL-2014" />

In August 2017, Adult Swim announced a Doom compilation, ''[[The Missing Notebook Rhymes]]'', that would consist of songs from his upcoming projects and featured appearances on other artists' songs. The Adult Swim website was to release one new song per week over the course of 15 weeks.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Weinstein |first=Max |url=https://www.xxlmag.com/mf-doom-adult-swim-15-new-songs/ |title=MF DOOM to Drop 15 New Songs With Adult Swim |website=[[XXL (magazine)|XXL]] |date=August 7, 2017|access-date=August 8, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170807210414/http://www.xxlmag.com/news/2017/08/mf-doom-adult-swim-15-new-songs/|archive-date=August 7, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> However, the arrangement was canceled in September after the release of only seven tracks.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ross |first=Alex Robert |date=September 27, 2017 |title=DOOM and Adult Swim Abruptly End Their Relationship |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/doom-and-adult-swim-abruptly-end-their-relationship/|access-date=January 1, 2021 |website=[[Vice (magazine)|Vice]]|archive-date=January 1, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210101051558/https://www.vice.com/en/article/pakzny/doom-and-adult-swim-abruptly-end-their-relationship|url-status=live}}</ref>

In February 2018, Dumile and [[Czarface]] released "Nautical Depth", the first single from their collaborative album ''[[Czarface Meets Metal Face]]''.<ref>{{cite web |last=Gordon |first=Arielle |date=February 8, 2018 |title=MF Doom & Czarface – "Nautical Depth" |url=https://www.spin.com/2018/02/mf-doom-czarface-nautical-depth-stream/ |website=[[Spin (magazine)|Spin]]|access-date=February 8, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180208210805/https://www.spin.com/2018/02/mf-doom-czarface-nautical-depth-stream/|archive-date=February 8, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> The album was released on March 30, 2018. In a lukewarm review for ''Pitchfork'', Mehan Jayasuriya compared verses by [[Open Mike Eagle]] favorably to Dumile's, but noted that Dumile's contribution to "Nautical Depth" exhibited his "once razor-sharp lyricism".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Jayasuriya |first=Mehan |title=Czarface / MF DOOM: Czarface Meets Metal Face |date=April 2, 2018 |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/czarface-mf-doom-czarface-meets-metal-face/|access-date=January 2, 2021 |website=[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]] |language=en|archive-date=January 4, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210104005545/https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/czarface-mf-doom-czarface-meets-metal-face/|url-status=live}}</ref> Ben Beaumont-Thomas, in ''[[The Guardian]]'', was more positive, noting Dumile's "stoner surrealism" in "Captain Crunch".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Beaumont-Thomas |first=Ben |date=March 30, 2018 |title=Czarface & MF Doom: Czarface Meets Metal Face review – action-filled hip-hop supersquad |url=http://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/mar/30/czarface-mf-doom-czarface-meets-metal-face-review-action-filled-hip-hop-supersquad|access-date=January 2, 2021 |work=[[The Guardian]] |language=en|archive-date=January 1, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210101173818/https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/mar/30/czarface-mf-doom-czarface-meets-metal-face-review-action-filled-hip-hop-supersquad|url-status=live}}</ref>

Aside from the album with Czarface, Dumile's musical output in the final three years of his life was limited to one-off guest appearances on other artists' tracks.<ref name="Sayles 2021" /> Posthumous releases included appearances on two songs for the video game ''[[Grand Theft Auto Online]]'': "Lunch Break", with [[Flying Lotus]];<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gregory |first=Allie |date=December 16, 2020 |title=Listen to Flying Lotus and MF DOOM's 'GTA V' Radio Song "Lunch Break" |url=https://exclaim.ca/music/article/listen_to_flying_lotus_and_mf_dooms_gta_v_radio_song_lunch_break|url-status=live|access-date=May 2, 2021 |website=[[Exclaim!]] |language=en-ca|archive-date=January 27, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210127073852/https://exclaim.ca/music/article/listen_to_flying_lotus_and_mf_dooms_gta_v_radio_song_lunch_break}}</ref> and "The Chocolate Conquistadors", with [[BadBadNotGood]], made for the game's content update ''The Cayo Perico Heist.''<ref>{{Cite web |last=Minsker |first=Evan |date=December 18, 2020 |title=MF DOOM and BADBADNOTGOOD Share New Song From Grand Theft Auto |url=https://pitchfork.com/news/mf-doom-and-badbadnotgood-share-new-song-from-grand-theft-auto-listen/|url-status=live|access-date=May 2, 2021 |website=[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]] |language=en-US|archive-date=February 3, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210203003145/https://pitchfork.com/news/mf-doom-and-badbadnotgood-share-new-song-from-grand-theft-auto-listen/}}</ref> Shortly after Dumile's death was announced, Flying Lotus revealed that they had been working on an EP.<ref>{{cite web |last=Waite |first=Thom |date=January 2, 2021 |title=Flying Lotus was working on an EP with MF Doom prior to the rapper's death |website=[[Dazed]] |url=https://www.dazeddigital.com/music/article/51551/1/flying-lotus-was-working-on-an-ep-with-mf-doom-prior-to-the-rapper-s-death |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102135548/https://www.dazeddigital.com/music/article/51551/1/flying-lotus-was-working-on-an-ep-with-mf-doom-prior-to-the-rapper-s-death |archive-date=January 2, 2021}}</ref> Dumile's second album with Czarface, ''[[Super What?]]'', was released in May 2021. It was completed in early 2020 but delayed due to the [[COVID-19 pandemic]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Darville |first=Jordan |date=May 5, 2021 |title=A new Czarface/MF DOOM album is out this week |url=https://www.thefader.com/2021/05/05/czarface-mf-doom-super-what-album |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210505175258/http://www.thefader.com/2021/05/05/czarface-mf-doom-super-what-album |archive-date=May 5, 2021 |access-date=May 5, 2021 |website=[[The Fader]]}}</ref>

In January 2021, the [[Stones Throw Records]] founder [[Peanut Butter Wolf]] said that Dumile had been recording ''[[Madvillainy 2]]'' at the time of his death.<ref name="NME: PBWMadvillainy2">{{cite web |last1=Reilly |first1=Nick |title=MF DOOM was close to completing ‘Madvillainy’ sequel before his death |url=https://www.nme.com/news/music/mf-doom-was-close-to-completing-madvillainy-sequel-before-his-death-2853691 |website=[[NME]] |access-date=October 16, 2025 |date=January 11, 2021}}</ref> Dumile and Madlib began working on it shortly after ''Madvillainy''{{'s}} release, but Dumile would only record a few times a year;<ref name="NME: MadlibMadvillainy2" /> by the time of his death, Dumile estimated it was "85% done".<ref name="NME: PBWMadvillainy2" /> Peanut Butter Wolf said he had permission from Dumile's family to release 11 songs Dumile submitted in 2009, though he was unsure if he would.<ref name="NME: PBWMadvillainy2" /> In April 2023, Madlib said he planned to finish ''Madvillainy 2''.<ref name="NME: MadlibMadvillainy2">{{cite web |last1=Qureshi |first1=Arushi |title=Madlib and MF DOOM‘s long-awaited ‘Madvillainy 2’ is still on the way |url=https://www.nme.com/news/music/madlib-and-mf-dooms-long-awaited-madvillainy-2-is-still-on-the-way-3428317 |website=[[NME]] |access-date=October 16, 2025 |date=April 10, 2023}}</ref>

== Style and artistry ==
[[File:MF Doom (2011 portrait illustration from tour poster).jpg|thumb|upright=0.7|alt=Portrait illustration of a man with thinning hair wearing a metal mask and T-shirt|Portrait illustration of Dumile from a poster promoting his 2011 ''Born Like This'' tour of the UK]]

Dumile's lyrics are known for [[Word play|wordplay]].<ref name="McMahon-2021">{{Cite web |last=McMahon |first=James |date=January 1, 2021 |title=MF DOOM, 1971 – 2020: rap hero who styled himself as a supervillain |url=https://www.nme.com/features/mf-doom-obituary-tribute-rip-2847241|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210104151951/https://www.nme.com/features/mf-doom-obituary-tribute-rip-2847241|archive-date=January 4, 2021|access-date=January 3, 2021 |website=[[NME]] |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref name="nytobit">{{Cite news |last=Jacobs |first=Julia |date=December 31, 2020 |title=MF Doom, Masked Rapper With Intricate Rhymes, Is Dead at 49 |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/31/arts/music/mf-doom-dead.html|url-status=live|access-date=January 1, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201231232008/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/31/arts/music/mf-doom-dead.html|archive-date=December 31, 2020 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Bradley and DuBois, describing Dumile as "among the most enigmatic figures in hip-hop", wrote that Dumile's "raspy baritone weaves an intricate web of allusions drawn from comic books and metaphysics along with seeming nonsense and non sequiturs".{{sfn|Bradley|DuBois|2010|p=606}} According to an obituary in ''[[The Ringer (website)|The Ringer]]'', his [[Rapping#Flow|flow]] was "loose and conversational, but delivered with technical precision", and his use of rhyme and meter eclipsed that of [[Big Pun]] and [[Eminem]].<ref name="Sayles 2021">{{Cite web |last=Sayles |first=Justin |date=January 1, 2021 |title=MF Doom and the Mask That Left Hip-Hop Forever Changed |url=https://www.theringer.com/2021/1/1/22209728/mf-doom-daniel-dumile-obituary|access-date=January 3, 2021 |website=[[The Ringer (website)|The Ringer]] |language=en|archive-date=January 3, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210103212025/https://www.theringer.com/2021/1/1/22209728/mf-doom-daniel-dumile-obituary|url-status=live}}</ref> Dumile's production work frequently incorporated samples and quotations from film.<ref name="McMahon-2021" /><ref name="nytobit" /> A review of ''Special Herbs'' volumes 5 and 6 in [[CMJ#CMJ New Music Monthly|''CMJ New Music Monthly'']] compared Dumile's beats to "[[soul jazz]]".<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Gladstone |first=Neil |date=2004 |title=MF Doom: Special Herbs Vols. 5 & 6 |journal=[[CMJ#CMJ New Music Monthly|CMJ New Music Monthly]] |volume=123 |pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=SCoEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA42 42] |issn=1074-6978}}</ref>

===MF Doom persona===
Dumile created the MF Doom character as an [[alter ego]] with a backstory he could reference in his music.<ref name="NEWYORKER2">{{Cite magazine |last=Coates |first=Ta-Nehisi|author-link=Ta-Nehisi Coates |date=September 21, 2009 |title=The Mask of Metal Face Doom |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2009/09/21/the-mask-of-doom|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170508235115/http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2009/09/21/the-mask-of-doom/|archive-date=May 8, 2017|access-date=December 31, 2020 |magazine=[[The New Yorker]]}}</ref> The character combines elements from the [[Marvel Comics]] supervillain [[Doctor Doom]], [[Destro]], and the [[Erik (The Phantom of the Opera)|Phantom of the Opera]];<ref name=Lyons2019>{{Cite web |last=Lyons |first=Patrick |date=April 19, 2019 |title='Operation: Doomsday' Turns 20 |url=https://www.stereogum.com/2040515/mf-doom-operation-doomsday-turns-20/reviews/the-anniversary/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126121339/https://www.stereogum.com/2040515/mf-doom-operation-doomsday-turns-20/reviews/the-anniversary/|archive-date=January 26, 2021|access-date=January 30, 2021 |website=[[Stereogum]] |language=en}}</ref> like Doctor Doom and Phantom, Dumile [[Illeism|referred to himself in the third person]] while in character.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Jenkins |first1=Craig |title=Hip-Hop Needs No Other Supervillain After MF DOOM |url=https://www.vulture.com/article/mf-doom-obituary.html |work=Vulture |date=January 4, 2021 |language=en-us |access-date=March 7, 2021 |archive-date=January 30, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210130082127/https://www.vulture.com/article/mf-doom-obituary.html |url-status=live}}</ref> His signature mask was similar to that of Doctor Doom,{{sfn|Young|2014|p=59}} who is depicted rapping on the cover of Dumile's 1999 debut album ''[[Operation: Doomsday]]''.<ref>{{Cite news |date=December 31, 2020 |title=Masked rapper MF Doom dead at 49 |work=[[CBC News]] |agency=[[Associated Press]] |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/mf-doom-obit-rapper-1.5858947|url-status=live|access-date=January 1, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210101172309/https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/mf-doom-obit-rapper-1.5858947|archive-date=January 1, 2021}}</ref>

Dumile wore the mask while performing, and would not be photographed without it, except for short glimpses in videos and in earlier photos with KMD.<ref name="ALLMUSIC2">{{cite web |last1=LeRoy |first1=Dan |title=Artist Biography |url={{AllMusic |class=artist |id=p300089/biography|pure_url=yes}}|access-date=September 28, 2010|work=[[AllMusic]]}}</ref> Later versions of the mask were based on a prop from the 2000 film ''[[Gladiator (2000 film)|Gladiator]]''.<ref>{{cite web |last=Ryon |first=Sean |date=July 27, 2012 |title=Graffiti Writer KEO Discusses Origin And Creation Of MF DOOM's Mask |url=http://hiphopdx.com/news/id.20591/title.graffiti-writer-keo-discusses-origin-and-creation-of-mf-dooms-mask|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160127101419/http://hiphopdx.com/news/id.20591/title.graffiti-writer-keo-discusses-origin-and-creation-of-mf-dooms-mask|archive-date=January 27, 2016|access-date=August 14, 2016 |website=[[HipHopDX]]}}</ref> Academic Hershini Bhana Young argued that, by appropriating the Doctor Doom mask, Dumile "positions himself as enemy, not only of the music industry but also of dominant constructions of identity that relegate him as a black man to second-class citizenship".{{sfn|Young|2014|p=59}}

Dumile sometimes sent stand-ins to perform in the mask, which he saw as a "logical extension" of the concept but angered audiences.<ref name="NEWYORKER2" /> Dumile initially claimed that he had lost weight and thus looked and sounded different.<ref>{{cite web |last=Ortiz |first=Edwin |date=October 21, 2008 |title=MF DOOM Addresses Rumors Of Fake Performances |url=https://hiphopdx.com/news/id.7938/title.mf-doom-addresses-rumors-of-fake-performances|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110703053230/http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/news/id.7938/title.mf-doom-addresses-rumors-of-fake-performances|archive-date=July 3, 2011|access-date=January 1, 2021 |website=[[HipHopDX]]}}</ref> At a 2010 show in Toronto, an imposter was booed off stage before being replaced by Dumile.<ref name="intentionalimpostor2">{{cite web |last=Tardio |first=Andres |date=March 9, 2010 |title=Promoter Says DOOM Impostors Are "Intentional" |url=https://hiphopdx.com/news/id.10799/title.promoter-says-doom-impostors-are-intentional|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170708063330/http://hiphopdx.com/news/id.10799/title.promoter-says-doom-impostors-are-intentional|archive-date=July 8, 2017|access-date=December 19, 2017 |website=[[HipHopDX]]}}</ref> In an interview with ''[[The New Yorker]]'', Dumile described himself as the "writer and director" of the character and that he "might send a white dude next ... Whoever plays the character plays the character."<ref name="NEWYORKER2" />

In November 2019, during his performance at the [[Adult Swim]] Festival, the electronic artist [[Flying Lotus]] announced that he would be joined onstage by Dumile. Instead, the masked figure who appeared on stage was revealed as the comedian [[Hannibal Buress]]. Dumile's involvement in the prank was not confirmed.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Minsker |first=Evan |date=November 17, 2019 |title=Hannibal Buress Was an MF DOOM Imposter at Adult Swim Festival: Watch |url=https://pitchfork.com/news/hannibal-buress-was-an-mf-doom-imposter-at-adult-swim-festival-watch/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191118050418/https://pitchfork.com/news/hannibal-buress-was-an-mf-doom-imposter-at-adult-swim-festival-watch/|archive-date=November 18, 2019|access-date=November 18, 2019 |website=[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]]}}</ref>

==Legacy and influence==
[[File:MF DOOM Tribute Deptford Creekside.jpg|thumb|Mural depicting MF Doom in [[Deptford]], London]]
Dumile was celebrated in independent hip hop.<ref name=varietyobit/><ref name="Gottsegen-2021">{{cite web |last=Gottsegen |first=Will |date=January 2, 2021 |title=MF Doom, Masked Mythmaker |url=https://www.complex.com/music/2021/01/mf-doom-in-memory|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102223047/https://www.complex.com/music/2021/01/mf-doom-in-memory|archive-date=January 2, 2021 |website=[[Complex (magazine)|Complex]]}}</ref> After his death, the producer Flying Lotus wrote of ''Madvillainy'': "All u ever needed in hip-hop was this record. Sorted. Done. Give it to the fucking aliens."<ref name="Gottsegen-2021" /> The English musician [[Thom Yorke]], who twice collaborated with Dumile, wrote: "He was a massive inspiration to so many of us, changed things... For me the way he put words was often shocking in its genius, using [[stream of consciousness]] in a way I'd never heard before."<ref>{{Cite magazine |last1=Kreps |first1=Daniel |date=January 2, 2021 |title=Thom Yorke Pays Tribute to MF DOOM: 'A Massive Inspiration to So Many of Us' |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/thom-yorke-mf-doom-tribute-1109166/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102161547/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/thom-yorke-mf-doom-tribute-1109166/|archive-date=January 2, 2021|access-date=January 2, 2021 |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |language=en-US}}</ref> ''[[Stereogum]]'', reviewing ''Operation: Doomsday'' on its 20th anniversary, noted Dumile's "formative" influence on younger rappers.<ref name="Lyons2019" /> [[El-P]] of [[Run the Jewels]] described him as a "writer's writer",<ref name="pfork remembered">{{cite web |last=Strauss |first=Matthew |date=December 31, 2020 |title=MF DOOM Remembered by Tyler, the Creator, Flying Lotus, El-P, and More |url=https://pitchfork.com/news/mf-doom-remembered-by-tyler-the-creator-flying-lotus-el-p-and-more/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210101051805/https://pitchfork.com/news/mf-doom-remembered-by-tyler-the-creator-flying-lotus-el-p-and-more/|archive-date=January 1, 2021|access-date=December 31, 2020 |website=[[Pitchfork (magazine)|Pitchfork]]}}</ref> while [[Q-Tip (musician)|Q-Tip]] called him "your favorite rapper's favorite rapper".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Bennett |first1=Jessica |title=Rapper MF DOOM dead at 49 |url=https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/celebrity-life/celebrity-deaths/rapper-mf-doom-dead-at-49/news-story/f1202e71c981d0611a13c0b8674dd949 |website=news.com.au |publisher=NYPost |access-date=May 18, 2021 |language=en |date=January 1, 2021 |archive-date=May 18, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210518115837/https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/celebrity-life/celebrity-deaths/rapper-mf-doom-dead-at-49/news-story/f1202e71c981d0611a13c0b8674dd949 |url-status=live}}</ref> A biography by S.H. Fernando, ''The Chronicles of Doom: Unraveling Rap's Masked Iconoclast'', was released on October 29, 2024.<ref>{{cite web |last=Slingerland |first=Calum |title=MF DOOM's Life and Work Explored in New Biography |website=Exclaim |url=https://exclaim.ca/music/article/mf-doom-explored-in-new-biography |date=April 4, 2024|access-date=April 4, 2024}}</ref>

== Personal life ==

=== Family ===
Dumile was married to his wife, Jasmine, for an unknown period until his death in October 2020. They had five children together.<ref name="leedslive">{{cite web |last1=Robinson |first1=Andrew |title=Heartbroken wife of famous musician has unanswered question after sudden death in Leeds |url=https://www.leeds-live.co.uk/news/leeds-news/heartbroken-wife-famous-musician-unanswered-27246887 |website=[[Leeds Live]]|access-date=July 4, 2023 |date=July 4, 2023}}</ref> In late 2017, his son Malachi died from unspecified causes at the age of 14.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rose |first=Sandra |date=January 1, 2021 |title=Rapper MF DOOM's cause of death revealed |url=https://sandrarose.com/2021/01/rapper-mf-dooms-cause-of-death-revealed/ |access-date=September 11, 2022 |website=sandrarose.com |language=en-US}}</ref>

=== Views ===
Dumile's worldview was informed by Islam and the [[Afrocentrism]] espoused by [[African-American Muslims]]. His parents raised him and his brother as Muslims in the [[Five-Percent Nation]], a religious [[Black nationalism|black nationalist]] movement influenced by Islam.{{sfn|Hsu|2005|p=48}} Dumile's father taught him about [[Pan-Africanism|pan-African]] history, including historical figures such as [[Marcus Garvey]] and [[Elijah Muhammad]], which he strove to impart on his peers.{{sfn|Pappademas|2004|p=97}} 

By the early 1990s, Dumile and the other members of KMD identified as a member of the Ansaar Allah Community, later known as the [[Nuwaubian Nation]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Fuertes-Knight |first=Jo |date=June 14, 2013 |title=The Evolution of MF Doom |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/the-evolution-of-mf-doom/|access-date=January 1, 2021 |website=vice.com|archive-date=January 31, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210131163335/https://www.vice.com/en/article/6adpe5/the-evolution-of-mf-doom|url-status=live}}</ref> In their music, the members of KMD professed a religious message based on tenets of Nuwaubianism, which Dumile distinguished from Five-Percent beliefs in an early interview.{{sfn|Wilder|1991|p=37}} In the music video for "Peachfuzz", Dumile and the other members of KMD wear [[kufi]] caps.{{sfn|Pappademas|2004|p=96}} By 2000, though he was no longer as strictly observant, Dumile still participated in Nuwaubian events such as the Savior's Day celebration at the [[Tama-Re]] compound in Georgia and held a positive opinion of the community.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Heimlich |first=Adam |date=November 8, 2000 |title=Black Egypt: A Visit to Tama-Re |magazine=New York Press |volume=13 |issue=45|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051109152729/http://www.nypress.com/print.cfm?content_id=3036|archive-date=November 9, 2005 |url=http://www.nypress.com/print.cfm?content_id=3036|url-status=dead}}</ref>

=== Citizenship ===
Although Dumile lived in the United States for most of his life, he never gained citizenship and remained solely a British citizen.<ref name="faceddeportation" /><ref>{{cite news |last=Suarez |first=Gary |date=February 7, 2019 |title=21 Savage's ICE Detention Spotlights Hip-Hop's History With Deportation |website=[[Vibe (magazine)|Vibe]] |url=https://www.vibe.com/2019/02/21-savage-ice-detention-hip-hop-deportation-history |id={{ProQuest|2176981232}}}}</ref> He acquired a British passport prior to his 2010 European tour, and was refused re-entry to the United States after completing the tour later that year.<ref name="Yates2012">{{cite magazine |last=Yates |first=Steve |date=April 2012 |title=The Exile Factor |magazine=[[Q (magazine)|Q]] |issue=309 |url=https://i1092.photobucket.com/albums/i416/charliepaton/a28f71c3.jpg |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112015012/http://i1092.photobucket.com/albums/i416/charliepaton/a28f71c3.jpg |archive-date=November 12, 2020 |via=Photobucket (scan of original print article)}}</ref> It was only his second international tour, and he had previously avoided leaving the United States; he had believed he would be able to secure re-entry based on his [[permanent residency|long-term residency]] and family connections.<ref name="Yates2012" /> The denial of re-entry forced him apart from his wife and children, and for nearly two years,he saw them only via video calls or during their brief visits to the United Kingdom. His family moved to London in 2012,<ref name="lester2012" /> after which he declared himself "done with the United States".<ref name="Yates2012" /> He spent years living in [[Yorkshire]],<ref>{{Cite news |last=Empire |first=Kitty |date=November 24, 2024 |title=The Chronicles of Doom review – unmasking hip-hop's peerless prankster |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2024/nov/24/the-chronicles-of-doom-review-sh-fernando-unmasking-hip-hops-peerless-prankster |access-date=November 24, 2024 |work=[[The Observer]] |language=en-GB |issn=0029-7712}}</ref> and was living in [[Leeds]] at the time of his death.<ref name="leedslive" />

==Death==
In October 2020, Dumile was admitted to [[St James's University Hospital]] in [[Leeds]] with respiratory problems.<ref name="Dunworth-2023">{{Cite web |last=Dunworth |first=Liberty |date=July 5, 2023 |title=MF Doom's cause of death revealed |url=https://www.nme.com/news/music/mf-dooms-cause-of-death-revealed-3464958 |access-date=July 5, 2023 |website=[[NME]] |language=en-GB}}</ref> On October 31, he died from [[angioedema]], an adverse reaction to [[ACE inhibitor|blood pressure medication]] he had recently been prescribed. He had suffered from [[hypertension|high blood pressure]] and [[kidney disease]].<ref name="Dunworth-2023" /> Due to the [[COVID-19 lockdown in the United Kingdom|COVID-19 lockdown]], his wife, Jasmine, was not allowed to visit him in the hospital until the day of his death.<ref name="Dunworth-2023" /> His death was unknown to the public for two months until Jasmine announced it on December 31.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Atkinson |first=Katie |date=December 31, 2020 |title=Masked Rapper MF Doom Dies at 49 |url=https://www.billboard.com/music/rb-hip-hop/mf-doom-dead-9506021/|access-date=May 2, 2021 |magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]] |language=en|archive-date=January 26, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126232926/https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/hip-hop/9506021/mf-doom-dead|url-status=live}}</ref> The cause of death was not revealed until July 2023.<ref name="Dunworth-2023" />

Dumile's family criticized his medical treatment. Jasmine said his [[nurse call button]] was placed out of reach and that hospital staff had failed to check on him frequently. Dumile's lawyers said it had taken them two hours to medicate his swollen throat, a symptom of angioedema.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mouriquand |first=David |date=May 7, 2023 |title=MF Doom's cause of death revealed: widow accuses UK hospital of negligence |url=https://www.euronews.com/culture/2023/07/05/mf-dooms-cause-of-death-revealed-widow-accuses-uk-hospital-of-negligence |access-date=November 1, 2025 |website=[[Euronews]] |language=en}}</ref> An inquest by the [[Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust|Leeds Teaching Hospital NHS Trust]] found that the hospital's care plan was not sufficiently detailed and that doctors were misled when Dumile's health appeared into improve. Dr. Hamish McLure, the chief medical officer of the trust, released an apology, saying Dumile's treatment had been substandard.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Badshah |first=Nadeem |date=2023-07-06 |title=Leeds hospital trust apologises after rapper MF Doom died in its care |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/jul/06/leeds-hospital-trust-apologises-after-rapper-mf-doom-died-in-its-care |access-date=2025-11-01 |work=[[The Guardian]] |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>

Many musicians paid tribute to Dumile.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Here's How The World Reacted To MF DOOM's Passing |url=https://www.coolaccidents.com/news/mf-doom-tributes |access-date=April 27, 2022 |website=Cool Accidents Music Blog |date=January 3, 2021 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=December 31, 2020 |title=Tributes paid to legendary rapper MF DOOM, who has died aged 49 |url=https://www.nme.com/en_au/news/music/mf-doom-dies-age-29-cause-tributes-fmaily-2847194 |access-date=April 27, 2022 |website=NME |language=en-AU}}</ref> His 2004 instrumental track "[[Rapp Snitch Knishes|Coffin Nails]]" was included on U.S. president [[Joe Biden]]'s [[Inauguration of Joe Biden|inauguration]] playlist in January 2021,<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Kaufman |first=Gil |date=January 15, 2021 |title=Official Biden/Harris Inauguration Playlist Features Kendrick Lamar, Bob Marley, MF Doom, Led Zeppelin |url=https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/biden-harris-inauguration-playlist-9512094/ |access-date=December 9, 2022 |magazine=Billboard}}</ref> which was criticized by fans of Dumile, as Biden was the [[VPOTUS|vice president]] in 2010 when Dumile was refused re-entry to the United States.<ref>{{Cite web |date=January 18, 2021 |title=MF DOOM fans hit out at his inclusion on Joe Biden's inauguration playlist |url=https://www.nme.com/en_au/news/music/mf-doom-fans-hit-out-at-his-inclusion-on-joe-bidens-inauguration-playlist-2859533 |access-date=April 27, 2022 |website=NME |language=en-AU}}</ref>

==Selected discography==
{{Main|MF Doom discography|MF Doom production discography}}
{{See also|KMD#Discography}}

=== Solo albums ===
* ''[[Operation: Doomsday]]'' (1999)
* ''[[Take Me to Your Leader (King Geedorah album)|Take Me to Your Leader]]'' (2003, as King Geedorah)
* ''[[Vaudeville Villain]]'' (2003, as Viktor Vaughn)
* ''[[VV:2]]'' (2004, as Viktor Vaughn)
* ''[[Mm..Food]]'' (2004)
* ''[[Born Like This]]'' (2009, as Doom)

=== Collaborative albums ===
* ''[[Madvillainy]]'' (2004, with [[Madlib]] as [[Madvillain]])
* ''[[Special Herbs + Spices Volume 1]]'' (2004, with [[MF Grimm]])
* ''[[The Mouse and the Mask]]'' (2005, with [[Danger Mouse (musician)|Danger Mouse]] as [[Danger Doom]])
* ''[[Key to the Kuffs]]'' (2012, with [[Jneiro Jarel]] as JJ Doom)
* ''[[NehruvianDoom]]'' (2014, with [[Bishop Nehru]] as NehruvianDoom)
* ''[[Czarface Meets Metal Face]]'' (2018, with [[Czarface]])
* ''[[Super What?]]'' (2021, with Czarface)

'''KMD studio albums'''
* ''[[Mr. Hood]]'' (1991, as Zev Love X with [[KMD]])
* ''[[Black Bastards]]'' (2000, as Zev Love X with KMD)

==Footnotes==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

===Sources===
* {{Cite book|editor-last1=Bradley|editor-first1=Adam|editor-last2=DuBois|editor-first2=Andrew Lee |title=The Anthology of Rap |date=2010 |publisher=[[Yale University Press]] |isbn=978-0-300-14190-0 |oclc=601348010}}
* {{Cite magazine |last=Hsu |first=Hua |author-link=Hua Hsu |date=March 2005 |title=The Mask of Sorrow |pages=44–49 |magazine=[[The Wire (magazine)|The Wire]] |number=253 |url=https://reader.exacteditions.com/issues/34953/spread/44 |url-access=subscription |via=[[Exact Editions]] {{subscription required}} }}
* {{Cite magazine |last=Pappademas |first=Alex |date=December 2004 |title=Imminent Doom |magazine=[[Spin (magazine)|Spin]] |pages=94–97 |volume=20 |number=12 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_jMs8xO7QE4C&pg=PA94 |via=[[Google Books]]}}
* {{Cite book |last=Young |first=Hershini Bhana |chapter=Twenty-First-Century Post-Humans: The Rise of the See-J |title=Black Performance Theory |date=2014 |publisher=[[Duke University Press]] |isbn=978-0-8223-5607-3|editor-last1=DeFrantz|editor-first1=Thomas F. |doi=10.1215/9780822377016|editor-last2=Gonzalez|editor-first2=Anita |jstor=j.ctv11cvzpk}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Vognar |first=Chris |date=2011 |title=This Ain't Funny So Don't You Dare Laugh |journal=Transition |number=104 |pages=102–120 |publisher=[[Indiana University Press]] |doi=10.2979/transition.2011.-.104.102 |doi-access=free}}
* {{Cite magazine |last=Wilder |first=Chris |date=August 1991 |title='I'm is a God' |magazine=[[The Source (magazine)|The Source]] |pages=36–37 |issue=23 |url=https://babylonfalling.com/images/tumblr/isagod_2500.jpg |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102055441/https://babylonfalling.com/images/tumblr/isagod_2500.jpg |archive-date=January 2, 2021 |via=babylonfalling.com}}

==Further reading==
* {{Cite book |last=Allen |first=Ryan |chapter=MF Doom|editor-last=Pilchak|editor-first=Angela M. |title=Contemporary Musicians |volume=54 |date=2006 |publisher=[[Gale (publisher)|Thomson Gale]] |isbn=978-1-4144-0557-5 |oclc=728679037 |pages=[[iarchive:contemporarymusi0054unse/page/141/mode/1up|141–143]]|chapter-url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/mf-doom}}
* {{cite journal |last=Callahan-Bever |first=Noah |date=January 9, 2012 |title=International God of Mystery: An M.F.'n Look Back With M.F. Doom |journal=Ego Trip |volume=12 |url=http://www.egotripland.com/egotrip-interview-mf-doom-noah-callahan-bever/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120201075019/http://www.egotripland.com/egotrip-interview-mf-doom-noah-callahan-bever/|archive-date=February 1, 2012}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Hess |first=Mickey |date=July 2005 |title=Metal Faces, Rap Masks: Identity and Resistance in Hip Hop's Persona Artist |pages=297–311 |journal=Popular Music and Society |volume=28 |number=3 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |doi=10.1080/03007760500105149 |s2cid=191570328}}
* {{Cite book |last=Hess |first=Mickey |author-mask=6 |year=2007 |chapter=The Rap Persona |pages=69–88 |title=Is Hip Hop Dead? The Past, Present, and Future of America's Most Wanted Music |isbn=978-1-56720-721-7 |publisher=[[Greenwood Publishing Group|Praeger]] |oclc=181163529 |url=https://archive.org/details/ishiphopdeadpast00hess_0| url-access=registration |via=the [[Internet Archive]]}}
* {{Cite encyclopedia |last=Levine |first=Mike |date=September 3, 2014 |title=MF Doom [Dumile, Daniel] |chapter=MF Doom |encyclopedia=[[Grove Music Online]] |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |doi=10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.A2267192 |doi-access=free}}
* {{cite journal |last=Ramirez |first=J. Jesse |date=December 28, 2020 |title=Keeping It Unreal: Rap, Racecraft, and MF Doom |journal=[[Humanities (journal)|Humanities]] |volume=10 |issue=5 |page=5 |publisher=[[MDPI]] |doi=10.3390/h10010005 |doi-access=free}}
* {{Cite news |last=Westhoff |first=Ben |date=November 8, 2006 |title=Private Enemy |newspaper=[[The Village Voice]] |pages=14–16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26 |id={{ProQuest|232270364}}}}

==External links==
<!-- per [[WP:ELMINOFFICIAL]], choose one official website only -->
* {{Official website}}
* {{AllMusic}}
* {{Discogs artist}}
* {{MusicBrainz artist}}

{{MF Doom|state=expanded}}
{{Subject bar|commons=yes|commons-search=Category:MF Doom|q=yes|d=yes|d-search=Q304675}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Doom, MF}}
[[Category:Doctor Doom]]
[[Category:1971 births]]
[[Category:2020 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century American rappers]]
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[[Category:20th-century British rappers]]
[[Category:21st-century British rappers]]
[[Category:African-American male rappers]]
[[Category:21st-century American male rappers]]
[[Category:African-American Muslims]]
[[Category:American hip-hop record producers]]
[[Category:Black British male rappers]]
[[Category:British hip-hop record producers]]
[[Category:East Coast hip-hop musicians]]
[[Category:English male rappers]]
[[Category:British expatriates in the United States]]
[[Category:English people of Trinidad and Tobago descent]]
[[Category:English people of Zimbabwean descent]]
[[Category:English record producers]]
[[Category:Five percenters]]
[[Category:Lex Records artists]]
[[Category:Illeists]]
[[Category:Masked musicians]]
[[Category:People from Long Beach, New York]]
[[Category:Rappers from the London Borough of Hounslow]]
[[Category:Record producers from New York (state)]]
[[Category:Rhymesayers Entertainment artists]]
[[Category:Underground rappers]]
[[Category:21st-century African-American rappers]]
[[Category:People from Hounslow]]
[[Category:Muslims from New York (state)]]
[[Category:Deaths from edema]]
[[Category:KMD members]]