Upon the announcement of his death, tributes from peers and admirers poured in. But in collaborations with Bishop Nehru, Czarface and Westside Gunn, you heard sparring partners in awe of the master, as old sparks found new sounds. MF DOOM released Key to the Kuffs as JJ DOOM, with producer Jneiro Jarel providing a far more spacious palette for DOOM to stretch out. His output continued, but at a slower pace. I have no friends here apart from the dudes at my record label, and I didn't go to school with no one. MF DOOM returned to London in 2010, explaining to The Guardian, "I spent 35 years growing up in the U.S., and it had its ups and downs, but this is a new place for me. You won't see me on the cover of an album with tattoos or a big gold chain none of that."
Throwing on the mask was just a good way to switch it up."īut mostly, as he told Day to Day in 2003, "The music first, then everything else. I though it'd be an easy way for people to see and differentiate between characters, sorta like when an actor gains weight for a role. I decided the mask would just add to the mystique of the character as well as make DOOM stand out. The DOOM thing is to be able to come at things with a different point of view. "Zev Love X was a character too, most people think that's me but he wasn't. "It's really just another character," he told writer David Ma around the release of 2009's Born Like This. Like the comic-book characters he emulated, MF DOOM disguised his identity by performing behind a mask.