DOOM surprises at 'Common & Friends' show

Over the weekend DOOM made a surprise appearance at the second annual 'Common & Friends' event at the Hollywood Palladium.

De La Soul opened the show, and DOOM joined them to rip apart his verse on “Rock Co.Kane Flow”.



- Subroc, The Hip Hop Hendrix

Mos Def gets receives some assistance with "Meat Grinder"

- Subroc, The Hip Hop Hendrix

First single from 'BORN LIKE THIS.' is coming soon

I'm not sure why now, 6 months later, Lex is deciding to release a single from DOOM's 'BORN LIKE THIS.'; seems like a waste of time.

Hopefully the single release includes remixes of the track from notable producers.

I'm going to go out on a limb and guess the single will be "GAZZILLION EAR".


- Subroc, The Hip Hope Hendrix

Madvillain scheduled to perform at We The People Festival in Los Angeles

First heard from the mouth of reader Machiventa, and now confirmed on the villain's official MySpace, as well as Stones Throw, Madviallian will indeed be performing in Los Angeles on November 21.

Their performace will be at the 4th annual "We The People Festival"

(We The People issued a Tweet confirming the appearance)

Stones Throw is also selling a new Madvillain "ALL CAPS!" tee in white and black.



- Subroc, The Hip Hop Hendrix

Monolith performance Recap & Photos

This past Saturday DOOM performed at the Monolith Festival in Colorado. Reader/contributor Machiventa attended, and forwarded this great recap of the performance to me to share with you all...

Aight so I ended up going to Monolith and saw DOOM! Here's a detailed and personal account of the show (which was fucking dope by the way!).


I decided to go early to get a good spot and found one right up front and waited for quite a while with people chanting the occasional DOOM, DOOM, DOOM!! After which seemed like forever Ben Grimm and surprisingly Jneiro Jarel (from Shape Of Broad Minds) hit the stage, thank god because I knew right away it would be the real Doom. The stage crew had previously set up 2 Technics and a mixer and I thought to myself that was kind of weird since Doom hasn't had a DJ since the MM FOOD tour but thought it was a good sign after all the controversy of him using his own MPC with supposed prerecorded vocals on it. But sure enough Jneiro and Ben brought out some of their own equipment damn it!! One piece was a transmitter for wireless mics and I immediately thought "here we go, he's gonna fucking lip sync again". It took quite a while for Jneiro and the soundmen to get the wireless mics set up and sound checked. We were all starting to get anxious waiting for so long that Jneiro eased the crowd with an acapella and a statement that it would be worth the wait and the show was going to be something special. He also announced for the first time a possible collaboration between him, DOOM and some other DJ (I couldn't catch the name), he also said to put it on YouTube haha. Finally after being at least 15 minutes late (and having only a 45 minute set) Doom says something from behind the stage like "ya'll ready for the Villain?".

DOOM comes out with a 100% chrome mask decked out with ruby stones on the 3rd eye and studded all around the head band! I happen to know a friend of Doom's who had told me just days before the show that Doom had recently bought a custom made chrome mask for a lot of money. Anyway so as the first song comes on (Hoe Cakes) and as I hear the first line "I got this girl, and she wants me to duke her" the music and Doom's vocals get kind of quiet and of course I think it sounds like he's lip syncing but immediately both come right back to normal and in fact even louder. All of a sudden I couldn't tell if he was lip syncing or not because he sounds almost too good but I was right up front so I could at least tell he was moving his mouth exactly with the words. The next song was Rhymes Like Dimes and I've heard him do this song like 5 times live and he sounded much better than I've ever heard before so of course I'm thinking he's totally lip syncing. I was very aware to listen for any words said to the crowd in between songs and there were several to convince me this was the real deal. After careful observation and a few more tracks in I came to the conclusion that this was a different DOOM in front of me. Not an imposter DOOM but a man who had changed his live performance from a more interactive, funny, sometimes slightly drunk one to a clear headed, focused, and in control one. Gone were the crowd interactions, missed or wrong lyrics, hand on the belly mannerisms, beer drinking, and slightly strained vocals. But instead we were treated to Doom almost in a trance, eyes closed half of the time, drinking water, spitting his rhymes in a concise, fluid, laid back familiar monotone way that we've come to love. About half way through the set I finally felt I could let go and enjoy the show. Boy was I given a rewarding and special performance, Jneiro Jarel was right and I was excited, almost giddy with joy. The Villain is back! MADVILLAIN LIVE IN LOS ANGELES
NOVEMBER 21, 2009.

Photos: (Click to enlarge) [Courtesy of Metromix Denver]





- Subroc, The Hip Hop Hendrix

DOOM compilation scheduled for October release

Let me start off by stating that pictures of DOOM performing at Monolith this past Saturday will be up on the blog later today.

Now, the real news.

Back at the beginning of the year, we heard straight from Dumile himself that he'd have more releases later on this year. Well, the year has blinked by, and with only a few months left, we've received nothing.

Yesterday, an official DOOM compilation album was announced. The album will be comprised of collaboration tracks, and an unheard live version of "I Hear Voices". The compilation, cleverly titled 'Unexpected Guests', is slated for an October 27 release.


Official press release:

DOOM gathers Unexpected Guests

DOOM: Unexpected Guests (10/27, Gold Dust)

A collection of non-album tracks, guest features & exclusives selected and mixed by the Super Villain himself.

DOOM is one of the most original and uncompromising voices in hip-hop. From his work in the 90's with the seminal KMD to his legendary releases under a variety of aliases including MF Doom, Madvillain, King Geedorah, Viktor Vaughn, Dangerdoom & more, his prolific body of work has always valued artistic integrity and creativity over anything else. As numerous and varied as his albums are, DOOM also has a thick catalog of guest appearances, remixes, non-album tracks, & vinyl only singles. For the first time, Unexpected Guest presents many of these hard to find tracks as a mix CD, executed and overseen by the Super Villain himself.

With a list of co-conspirators which includes marquee level names such as Talib Kweli, Ghostface & GZA as well as underground heroes Vast Aire, CountBass D & Kurius, the music on this disc highlights DOOM's ever-present trademark wit and taste for raw and ominous beats. On "Trap Door," he spits couplets like "No curse words / DOOM the worst church nerd verse heard" over a plucked bass and guitar line from producer Jake One that sounds like the funkiest spy movie soundtrack imaginable. "Sniper Elite" sees the emcee united with the late J Dilla, and is one of the many tracks featured that has yet to see an official CD release. The album will also feature a never before heard live version of DOOM's classic "I Hear Voices" from the Operation Doomsday album.

Peppered with his signature comic book dialogue and vintage sound clips, Unexpected Guests presents a treasure trove of DOOM obscurities which should shed light on material that even some hardcore fans may have missed. It's a frenetic, virtuosic look at a true hip-hop original.

Tracklist (Final tracks and running order TBA)
1. Get 'Er Done feat. DOOM - Jake One
2. Fly That Knot feat. DOOM - Talib Kweli
3. Sniper Elite feat. DOOM - Dilla Ghostface DOOM
4. Trap Door feat. DOOM - Jake One
5. Sorcerers feat. DOOM & Invizible Handz - John Robinson
6. Da Supafriendz - Vast Aire
7. Quite Buttery - Count Bass D feat DOOM
8. ? - DOOM featuring Kurious
9. All Outta Ale - DOOM
10. E.N.Y. House - Masta Killa
11. Bells of DOOM - DOOM
12. My Favorite Ladies - DOOM
13. Street Corners (Remix) - Masta Killa, Inspectah Deck & GZA

For More Information, Check Out:
http://www.doom-unexpectedguests.com/
http://www.golddust-media.com
http://www.myspace.com/mfdoom

Stephen Bolles
!K7 • Strut • Gold Dust • Rapster
stephen@k7.com - 718-722-9935x11
17 Old Fulton St. 2nd Floor, Brooklyn, NY 11201

- Subroc, The Hip Hop Hendrix