If music is to be thought provoking, detailed and metaphorical, one should have no problem feeding their mind a diet of questions. During these evolving times, people are called upon to search for archive-worthy music, given the innumerable platforms at ones disposal.
Music isn't to be taken literally all of the time, even though there's an impenetrable fix in the image of your favorite artist -- or any mainstream artist. And with the abundance of material being released on any given day, it's hard to see the other side. If you have heard MF DOOM, chances are you have familiarized yourself with his mask or his subterranean aura. But have you tested your own creativity by actually listening to him? Anyone can hear music and claim that they understand it; listening takes work. The 2004 album, "MM.. FOOD" (which is an anagram of the emcee's stage name) has been an aural comestible to fill the mind, tirelessly.
On the opening track, "Beef Rapp," after a montage of sound bytes fill the first one and a half minutes, DOOM begins to introduce a running dichotomy between the actuality of consuming beef and its shortcomings (heart attack, heart disease, high blood pressure, etc.) with the hip-hop token of having "beef" with someone. He eloquently teeters on the rope of obvious exposure and cunning lyricism, but he never falls. This is the genius at work, toying with a brilliant double entendre.
The second and third tracks are "Hoe Cakes" and "Potholders," with the latter featuring Bronx native Count Bass D, who also produced the track.
A thunderous track then appears, as the Madlib-produced "One Beer" (which exactly samples Cortex's "Huit Octobre 1971") begins with DOOM candidly saying that he doesn't get a kick from champagne. One could encapsulate all of DOOM's stultifying, superhero poetry in a book, but beyond his words lies his unparalleled flow. When speaking about paying for a drink, DOOM rattles off this: "...It's on me. Put it on my tab kid. However you get there, foot it, cab it, iron horse it. You're leaving on your face, forfeit."
All of these lyrics may have tenfold meanings, but, on the surface, the rapper who holds 35 monikers encodes meanings about being the only real rapper left. He encourages it by comparing a microphone to a shotgun, and saying to bring heat.
DOOM realizes he can spit, and doesn't feel the need to give away the monetary impact rapping has made on his life. Throughout the album, their are many dialogue cuts from specific superhero television shows, such as "The New Fantastic Four," of which sample encounters between heroes and villains (like Doctor Doom himself, of whom the rapper gets his alias from).
Many of the cuts signify the quirks and aloneness of MF DOOM, transmitted via popularized television shows. The intricate mash-ups preach uniqueness.
On "Deep Fried Frenz," the English rapper notes how individualistic some friendships can become, while noting the many stereotypical friends.
Skits like "Poo-Putt Platter" and "Fillet-O-Rapper" heavily sample cartoons ("The Herculoids") and movies ("Hell Up In Harlem"). "Gumbo" deftly samples Frank Zappa's "Would You Like A Snack?" to underlie a skit from The Electric Company. "Fig Leaf Bi-Carbonate" shines light, using myriad, non-DOOM cuts, on artificial colorings approved by the FDA.
Unquestionably, MF DOOM illuminates and advocates pro-health, while metaphorically unpacking this concept into tales of bravado, heroic encryption, loneliness (such as "Kon Karne," which is a tribute to his brother) and social justice and more.
On the last track that doesn't feature DOOM, "Guinnesses," rapper Angelika outlines how social anxiety provokes alcoholism. "Kon Queso" takes its instrumental from Christian Chevallier's "Newcast One." Again, there are plentiful entendre, but the listener shouldn't be given nuggets.
"Rapp Snitch Knishes" features Mr. Fantastik and talks about the fallacy of rapper's preaching illegal activities on a mainstream platform. The penultimate track, "Vomitsmit" shows DOOM in his "oratory glory" that is reminiscent of a "horror story".
"Kookies" associates a prolonged sexual fetish and the cookies that are found on the internet with actual cookies.
DOOM is inconclusive. DOOM is ambiguously defined. DOOM is an enigma who proudly dwells on his social conscience.
This album can be relatable at times, while, at other times, it can make you feel incomplete. In a genre in which styles mesh very closely, if one is to excavate MF DOOM's prolific canon, one has the chance to be presented with a compassionate poet who breathes through the unique in life.
You can never be full.
