Review: MF DOOM – MM…Food

Rest in peace to one of the most influential and impactful rappers to the underground and general hip-hop/rap scene. I was never a huge fan of him, but always knew about his presence and heard enough of his tracks to know the essence of his music. The late metal-faced artist released a stream of seven landmark albums in the short span of two years from 2003 to 2005. Among those were four solo efforts and three collaborative projects, which included his collaborative magnum opus Madvilliany and his solo masterpiece MM…Food. I chose to review the latter album because it was more personally intriguing to me. The album starts with a late 20th-century cartoon audio backing a multi-phased skit that foreshadows themes of food and prison that follow DOOM’s own producer tag “metal fingers.” He continues rapping about nuances of food in prison life, food in general, and emphasis on listening to his bars instead of looking at his ugly appearance (that’s why he presumably wears a mask). Here’s my track-by-track analysis:

Hoe Cakes – Named after cheap pancakes made by black people in the 19th century. DOOM gives interesting insight on the prostitution scene as a pimp in the song saying that all his hoes followed his orders because of their attraction to him. He finishes the song with a skit from spiderman that references DOOM.

Potholderz – On a subtly groovy, jazzy beat, Count Bass D is featured on this track. They have great chemistry, trading great rap verses with an interesting Hitler allusion at the beginning.

One Beer – One of the most famous samples of Ethel Merman because of this song, Frank Sinatra, and I believe Kanye West. It starts with the idea of getting bored of alcohol, propelling the rest of the song into a story song of various personal experiences.

Deep Fried Frenz – A long single-verse song about DOOM’s multiple relationships in his life, questioning how genuine they are. The entire track is backed by a great saxophone riff. Using a Fantastic Four reference, DOOM describes himself as the most dangerous man.

Poo-Putt Platter – DOOM utilizes this minimal skit track to satirize the “platter of poo” that is being served to mainstream hip-hop listeners by mainstream rappers.

Fillet-O-Rapper – Another skit, but it’s sillier in nature.

Gumbo – The end of the sound collage he places right in the middle of the project. A discussion about wrappers in food.

Fig Leaf Bi-Carbonate – Distinct from the other skits, this is longer in length, posing as a serious composition of sound art. It’s highly interpretable with similar themes of food nuances and DOOM as a villain.

Kon Karne – Marking the end of track-long skits, DOOM comes in hard with a fast flow over a jazzy piano instrumental. Notably, he disses all listeners on this song, claiming that his lyrics are so cutting-edge that no one can understand nor get mad at it. Thus, listeners are too stupid to even comprehend is diss at them.

Guinnesses – Featuring Angelika and 4ize, they team up to produce commentary on a critique of DOOM, drugs, and details about romantic relationships that is surprisingly enlightening. Angelika performs very well on this track with her clever lyrics and double entendres.

Kon Queso – The title itself is a double entendre of the food cheese and “cheese” as in money. DOOM continues to talk about a broad array of topics from racial justice to his crew of “devils and angels.”

Rao Snitch Knishes – An extremely ahead-of-its-time track criticizing rappers who rap about their crimes as it can one day be used as evidence against them in court. Mr. Fantastik agrees with DOOM and they create a catchy chorus about rap snitches as they perform with perfect chemistry over a guitar beat.

Vomitspit – The best instrumental on the record, in my opinion, this track utilizes a synthesizer loop to accompany DOOM’s storytelling.

Kookies – Referencing multiple types of cookies, the double-meaning of the cookies are the cookies of online data, connecting it to porn and DOOM’s wife subsequently catching masturbating to it. Comedic, skillful, and groovy, a solid finish to the album.

A “culinary masterpiece” of sorts, MM…FOOD is one of the most unique rap albums not only in MF DOOM’s discography but in all of music. Without the food references, this album would be good regardless, so the skill put in to tie everything to food just makes it that much more meritorious. From the endless double entendres from him, the features, and the titles of the songs themselves to funny rap topics and clever commentary makes the LP that much more appealing. Hopefully, we get some sort of posthumous release under DOOM’s name, but he left a legendary discography for us to enjoy. This record undoubtedly deserves the critical acclaim it has received. RIP.

Favorite Tracks: Beef Rapp, Deep Fried Frenz, Poo-Putt Platter, and Guinnesses

Least Favorites: None

Score: 9.1