Courtesy Photo

MF Doom

Mm .. Food?

Kinda like: Kool Keith, RJD2, Free Association

Daniel Dumile has had a fairly prolific career. London-born and New York-raised, Dumile started as Zev Love X in righteous ’90s collective KMD. After KMD’s second album was shelved, he was reborn as M.F. (Metal Face / Fingers) Doom in 1999, modeled after the Marvel character Dr. Doom. The hip-hop critics for No Ripcord and Pitchfork idolize him, and I was fairly eager to stick Mm .. Food? in my Walkman. This record was far from a disappointment.

Mm .. Food? reminds me of a couple of names (Dr. Octagon and RJD2 in particular), but there’s an originality present here – in fact a whole persona – that dominates proceedings. It’s rare I review something with monster-movie samples and cartoon super-villains obsessed with foodstuffs. It’s even more rare for these albums to make me smile with funny lyrics too preoccupied with surreal, everyday banality to be “social commentary.” The opening, “Beef Rap,” finds Doom talking about the dangers of fried meat, proclaiming there’s “… no starting back when arteries start to squeeze.” “Hoe Cakes” has warm sub-disco production and a lyrical flow that distracts me from typing. “One Beer” finds Doom doing his best Sinatra impression, then asking, “How is there only one love, the packs come in six?”

The instrumental trio of “Fillet O-Rapper,” “Gumbo” and “Fig Leaf Bicarbonate” sound a bit too good to be as funny as they are. A cantankerous old man and the culinary term “wrap,” are misused to brilliant effect. “Kon Karne” is simply brilliant – I’ve never heard jazz piano sampled so well. Dumile’s lyrics are great, and quoting doesn’t do them requisite justice. The pen-ultimate “Vomitspit” sounds like Gil Scott Heron and Method Man playing chicken with Monster trucks and “Monty Python.” This is a genuinely great record – it’s a hip hop album in as much as Joy Division’s Unknown Pleasures is a post-punk album. In any case, forget about the labels and press “Play.”

-Thomas Lee