Daniel Dumile, best known as hip-hop star MF Doom, passed away at the age of 49 back on October 31, with his wife Jasmine recently making the announcement in a social media post.
As of this writing, his cause of death has not been publicized. In addition to his involvement in numerous songs, albums, and other projects, Doom became associated with wearing a mask as part of his look, similar to a comic book supervillain.
Upon learning of the news of Dumile’s passing, many fans and hip-hop stars paid tribute to the late hip-hop star.
MF Doom’s wife shares an Instagram post about her husband’s death
On Friday, December 31, an Instagram post appeared on MF Doom’s official page, including a letter to Daniel Dumile from his wife, Jasmine.
“The greatest husband, father, teacher, student, business partner, lover and friend I could ever ask for. Thank you for all the things you have shown, taught and given to me, our children and our family. Thank you for teaching me how to forgive beings and give another chance, not to be so quick to judge and write off,” Jasmine Dumile wrote in part of the IG post’s caption.
It also reveals at the end of the post, “Transitioned October 31, 2020″ regarding Daniel Dumile’s date of death.
View this post on Instagram
The Instagram post received a lot of comments from confused fans wondering if the announcement was real. However, Rolling Stone confirmed Dumile’s passing with his agent Richie Abbott.
Dumile was born in London, England, on January 9, 1971, to a Trinidadian mother and Zimbabwean father. As a child, he moved with his family to New York and grew up in the Freeport area. As of 2009, he started to live in London again.
However, his music spanned the globe and included several major collaborations over the years.
The announcement of his passing has clearly come as a shock to many people due to the influence he’s had on the music world.
MF Doom’s catalog includes Madvillainy, collaborative projects
Over the course of his career, MF Doom released numerous albums either as a solo artist, in collaboration with other artists, or as a producer. His style was considered different but helped push hip-hop boundaries, influencing others with his unique wordplay and persona.
That included his 1999 debut Operation: Doomsday, where he first donned his masked persona as MF Doom. The metallic mask was an homage to comic book supervillain Doctor Doom, made famous in the pages of Fantastic Four and other Marvel comic books.
Being a masked rapper allowed Doom to use “imposters” for some of his performances, but he would also do shows as himself at times.
His other solo albums included 2004’s Mm.. Food and 2009’s Born Like This. He also released albums under other aliases, including King Geedorah and Viktor Vaughn.
Dumile’s collaborative projects included 2004’s Madvillainy with Madlib, The Mouse and the Mask with Danger Mouse, and his more recent collaboration, Czarface Meets Metal Face. On the latter, he collaborated with the hip-hop supergroup Czarface consisting of rap group 7L & Esoteric and Inspectah Deck of Wu-Tang Clan.
He first began in rap music as part of the three-member group KMD formed in Long Island, New York, in 1988.
The group consisted of Dumile as Zev Love X alongside his younger brother DJ Subroc. The original third member was Rodan, who left before KMD signed a deal with Elektra Records. Onyx the Birthstone Kid replaced Rogan as the group’s third member.
Their debut album was Mr. Hood in 1991. Before the group’s second album release in 1993, KMD member Subroc was killed as he was trying to cross the 878 Nassau Expressway. The same week, the record label dropped KMD, which ultimately resulted in Dumile, aka Zev Love X disappearing until 1997. That’s the year his MF Doom persona was born.
Doom premiered a new KMD song called True Lightyears in 2017, which featured newer rap star Jay Electronica.
Tributes pour in for iconic rapper
With the news of MF Doom’s death, many fans and hip-hop stars posted tributes or memories on social media. That included DJ Premier, Tyler the Creator, Q-Tip from A Tribe Called Quest, Jay Electronica, and others.
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“RIP to another Giant your favorite MC’s MV .. MF DOOM!! crushing news…,” Q-Tip tweeted.
Jay Electronica, who appeared on the 2017 KMD track, True Lightyears, also tweeted a message upon learning of Dumile’s passing.
“Safe travels villain,” wrote hip-hop’s Tyler the Creator in a tweet on Thursday evening.
Streaming music platform Spotify tweeted their RIP message, reminding fans of a famous saying from one of MF DOOM’s songs.
All caps when you spell the man name.
R.I.P. MF DOOM ? pic.twitter.com/F5jyj02o9p
— Spotify (@Spotify) December 31, 2020
Rapper Danny Brown shared an older CSPAN video clip featuring Dumile in his KMD days, speaking about politics and trying to spread a message to help others understand the voter registration process.
— Danny Brown (@xdannyxbrownx) December 31, 2020
Others who shared posts in memory of MF Doom included Questlove, Stones Throw Records, El-P, Flying Lotus, and Wu-Tang Clan’s Ghostface Killah.
In addition to MF Doom, other hip-hop stars who passed away in 2020 have included King Von, Pop Smoke, and Malik B.