#Madvillainy album artist series

But it doesnвЂ™t involve a mystical Gypsy heritage and a long-standing rivalry with Reed Richards. He even comes with his own secret identity and mysterious origin. (Even more amazingly, before his premature retirement Jay-Z managed the near impossible trick of turning Jay-Z back into Sean Carter.) MF Doom took these two tenets of postmodern hip-hop and flips one step further by appropriating an entire preexisting (albeit fictional) identity. Mild-mannered and asthmatic Sean Carter transforms himself by sheer force of will into the kingpin of worldwide hip-hop, Jay-Z. DJs and producers take bits and pieces from all over the musical spectrum to construct brand new compositions, and MCs adopt new identities in order to transcend the mundane realties of everyday life.

MF DoomвЂ™s career is built on two of the most essential elements of hip-hop: appropriation and masquerade.

#Madvillainy album artist series

His Special Herbs series doesnвЂ™t just swipe DoomвЂ™s image and attitude, but actual panels from Lee & KirbyвЂ™s long Fantastic Four run adorn the album covers. I wondered then, and I still wonder now, how in the hell he managed to get away with that without being sued by the erstwhile House of Ideas - and my amazement continued unabated as Operation: Doomsday was subsequently re-released to wider acclaim in 2001, and as Doom continuously adhered to the outlandish conceit through a series of blisteringly hot underground releases. It caught my eye because of the Jack Kirby homage/swipe that forms the backbone of DoomвЂ™s career: the image of Marvel Comics archvillain Dr. I first became aware of MF Doom at the turn of the last century, when his independently released Operation: Doomsday first appeared in Bay Area record stores.