Daniel Dumile, whose legendary career spanned over two decades and gained his biggest success under the mysterious MF Doom persona, has died at the age of 49, his family confirmed.
The news was broken on Doom’s Instagram from his wife Jasmine, who disclosed that her husband passed on October 31.
Thank you for showing how not to be afraid to love and be the best person I could ever be. My world will never be the same without you. Words will never express what you and Malachi mean to me…
Tributes have flooding in from social media, with many artists confirming the news and sharing their admiration for his work.
Under the name Zev Love X, Dumile formed the group KMD with his younger brother DJ Subroc and fellow emcee Rodan. The group would later lose Rodan and add Onyx the Birthstone Kid to round out the trio. The group made their debut on the classic 3rd Bass single “The Gas Face” and would release their critically-acclaimed debut, Mr. Hood, in 1991.
The 1993 release of their sophomore project, Black Bastards, was shelved by Elektra Records due to concerns with the controversial cover art of a Sambo figure being lynched. DJ Subroc was killed after being struck by a car in Long Island, prompting Dumile to take a sabbatical from the Hip-Hop scene during the mid to late 90s.
Re-emerging under the masked Doom persona, the rapper went on his greatest creative period, releasing the heralded Operation Doomsday in 1999, several more well-received persona albums (King Geedorah’s Take Me to Your Leader and Viktor Vaughn’s Vaudeville Villain and Venomous Villain) and the iconic Madvillainy project with Madlib (as Madvillain) before returning to the solo Doom persona for Mm… Food in late 2004.
In addition, Doom has produced for such notable artists as Ghostface Killah, Masta Killa, Nishop Nehru, MF Grimm and Joey Badass.
At press time, a cause of death has not been revealed.
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