DOOM DOOM DOOM the supervillain

AHH DOOM ( aka Mf Doom aka Viktor Vaughn aka 90 other aliases) you make me happy. I don't know what it is about this guy but I love his albums more then I should. I think it's just the sense of fun he has in his music. Whatever it is his albums are always good if not great...and for the most part that goes for his new album Born Like This.

Ok history lesson cause i assume most people don't have the whole story on DOOM. DOOM is a rapper/producer/supervillain. He just recentlly changed his name from MF (metal face/metal finger) Doom to just DOOM. DOOM always wears a mask much like Dr. Doom in the fantastic four comic/terrible movie. Madvillainy His collaboration with producer Madlib is one of the best rap albums of the past decade if not ever.( a 93 on metacritic and #6 on it's highest reviewed albums ever) He also has some great work as Viktor Vaughn (Dr. Doom's pre crazy guy name) and just MF. Doom. Strangest of all he did an album with producer danger mouse, half of gnarles barkley, under the name DangerDoom which was released by cartoon networks adult swim and uses samples from it's classic shows...Yes it's as amazing and crazy as it sounds. 

Okay the point here is DOOM is an amazing rapper. In terms of flow and wordplay there's hardly anyone who's as good. He's got a laid back but quick attack. Almost all his albums use samples to create a background story in every album and Born Like This is similar though it creates more atmosphere than story. Born Like This is DOOM's first album since 2006 i think. It's been a long time coming though ( I have to say I'm anxiously awaiting the rumored Madvillainy 2). He seems a little strained here and the album does seem a bit forced. There were rumors that he'd died and someone else had simply put on his mask...hence the name change...and at first listen i kind of thought he sounded a bit different... slower and not as laid back. This isn't to say this is a bad album. There's a lot of great moments and some really good songs. I really liked the guest rappers Tony Stark (aka Ghostface Killer taking iron man's name) and Empress Sharrh on Angelz and Still Dope respectively. Angelz is supposed to be on a DOOM Ghostface collaboration, which from this song I hope is coming out. 

In the end this is an okay release...though an ok release from DOOM is still better then most. It's sort of like a comic book character who's story gets passed to a new writer and artist. It's a different comic and at first you long for the old writer to come back before you realize the characters themselves hold up a mediocre effort. If your a DOOM fan I'd suggest picking it up, if your not versed in his Supervillainy then you should start out with Madvillainy or DangerDoom. Either way DOOm is one of the premiere artist in underground hip hop and worth hearing.