Doom's Day
A celebration of the rapper MF Doom's enduring contribution to visual culture.
On the last day of 2020, MF Doom's family announced his death. An Instagram post on the rapper's account shows a picture of him flexing his muscles wearing a white Patrick Ewing New York Knicks jersey and camouflage pants. A Knicks cap sits atop his head, a camouflage mask concealing his face. In the photo's caption, the rapper's wife, Jasmine, expresses gratitude and appreciation for her husband, writing, "thank you for all the things you have shown, taught and given to me, our children and our family." In the last line of the caption, she reveals Doom, born Daniel Dumile, "transitioned October 31, 2020." The consensus in the comments section seemed to be: "Wait...he died two months ago?!"
Cultural commentators assign words like enigmatic and mysterious to describe artists and creative types who don't court fame. An artist's desire for anonymity gets presented as an act of rebellion instead of a mechanism for maintaining privacy. MF Doom didn't eschew attention altogether; he knew that was impossible given his line of work. He did, however, wear a mask.
The Marvel Comics' supervillain, Doctor Doom, inspired MF Doom's metal mask. Doom took on the villain persona in the early 2000s marking his return as a rapper. His rap career first began in the late 1980s and early 1990s as a member of the group KMD (kause in a much damaged society) alongside his brother, Dingilizwe. During the recording of the group's second album, Dingilizwe died after being hit by a car. This death set off a chain of events that eventually led to Dumile getting dropped from his label. At times Doom referenced The Phantom of the Opera when speaking about his mask, blaming the music industry for leaving him scarred. Doom's mask, like Slick Rick's eye patch, became a versatile visual signature. However, as Slick Rick's eye patch covers a physical injury, Doom attempted to conceal something invisible.
The mask did allow Doom to pull off some hip-hop high jinks. His live shows became a game of "guess who's coming to the stage," with the rapper giving the mask to other performers in his place. For Doom, the mask was a certificate of authenticity; whoever had it was MF Doom, at least for that moment. I was reminded of this element of Doom's work while reading Sarah Thornton's book 33 Artists in 3 Acts. Thornton's book offers an up-close look at how some well-known contemporary artists create their work and themselves. In her section on Maurizio Cattelan, an Italian conceptual artist, she mentions that early in his career, the artist would have a friend impersonate him for museum talks. Thornton notes that even now, he doesn't give lectures about his work.
On the first day of 2021, my boyfriend showed me a picture of MF Doom without his mask. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but I was surprised by how "normal" he looked, this man who'd spent much of his career taking on colorful alter egos. Seeing his face reminded me of the first time I saw the artist Cindy Sherman.
Sherman makes photographs where she is always present. Her works are often described as self-portraits but they’re not because she's not posing as herself. Sherman transforms her appearance into different personas like 1950s film heroines, society women, and centerfolds to investigate identity. I enjoyed her work for years, having no idea what she looked like underneath the wigs, makeup, and costumes, no idea what lay beneath her masks.
Creating art of any kind is an exercise in vulnerability. Sharing what you've made is a risky relinquishing of control. As MF Doom, Dumile accomplished something many artists seek but few achieve; his music spoke for him. His mask created a boundary between the man and the artist, protecting the man. It allowed him to transition in peace. And even when he was alive, the mask allowed him to rest in peace.
If you're reading this on Saturday, January 9th, today Daniel Dumile would have celebrated his 50th birthday. Long live MF Doom.
MUSIC
If you’ve never listened to MF Doom but you’re curious, I’d suggest starting with MM…FOOD, a perfect conceptual album. Almost every bar contains a reference to food and showcases Doom’s boundless capabilities as a rapper.
COMMUNITY CORNER
On occasion my adventurous friend India wears a Doom-like mask while posing for non self-portrait photographs.
QUESTION OF THE WEEK
Is there an artist whose work you admire without knowing much about them as a person? Feel free to share your responses in a comment on this newsletter, email or text me, whatever you’d like.
Thank you for reading.
I know I have an answer to this question but I have been sitting with it on the tip of my tongue all weekend! I also have to preface this with the fact that I don't really seek out that info about artists I like (which I guess is kind of weird but I don't...), SO it's entirely possible the information is out there and I just haven't done the work. Or maybe these people are kind of enigmatic:
Daft Punk. I saw Interstella 5555 randomly at like 1 am one night as a kid, it was like a fever dream and took me YEARS to eventually figure out what it was I saw, BUT it was love at first sight. They also employ the mask tactic of hiding themselves and it is certainly thrilling to keep the mystery alive.
FKA Twigs. Absolutely love her as an artist but aside from her famous relationships don't know anything about her as a person. And I feel like she isn't SUPER forthcoming about her life (aside from dating famous actors)?
Hedi Slimane. Love love love his black and white portraits. But never really hear about who he is outside of seeing models share pictures he's taken of them. I will admit that I'm slightly scared to delve too deeply into him, especially after the Alexander Wang expose.
And as the self designated resident Tik Tok correspondent I'd like to briefly mention The Rangerz, a dance crew who exploded onto the scene with identities hidden behind Power Ranger costumes right before Halloween. For a while their identities were a big secret, but they did recently unmask themselves.
Here: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMJvD9tNf/
But Honorable Mention to that time Lizzo saw them on the street and made a cameo: https://www.tiktok.com/@lizzo/video/6887052404450266374
What a thought-provoking question. Are architects considered artists? If so, probably a lot of New Orleans house's architects. I feel that most of the artists' work I admire, I have looked them up (aka watched a YouTube video or Social Media deep dived) or read the bio-y wall text at an exhibit. Oh! There are a couple of artists I found on Instagram that I don't know much about. Not even enough to write their names here. And of course there are the Etsy crafters ;) ... don't know them.