Honestly, it doesn't even feel like there's a proper way to elegize an eccentric and extremely talented artist such as MF DOOM, who meant so much to so many of us for so many years for so many different reasons as truly unique as DOOM himself. So, what better way to pay tribute to The Man, The Myth, THE MASK himself than by speaking to those closest to him? With a heavy heart, I proudly present Shadows of Tomorrow; a new recurring column in tribute to DOOM in an effort to re-tell the tall tales, strange stories, and lesser-known tidbits of The Metal Face Villain himself. R.I.P. Daniel "MF DOOM" Dumile Thompson.


"MF DOOM is easily the most inspirational act in Indie Hip-Hop. His voice, flow, production, character development, story-telling, and his ability to piece a cohesive album together were all extraordinary. Even in the early 90's in his KMD days, he was way ahead of his time. Going from a bright-eyed youth in his high school/KMD days—who wouldn't let his record label tell him how to make music or sacrifice his vision—to a villain after tragedy struck. All around, an incredible artist unabashedly true to themselves. I can't remember a tour that didn't involve some form of in-depth conversation about DOOM ranging from your favorite tracks, favorite albums, and favorite lines."


"Conversations would, also, be followed up with conspiracy theories about his absence and wonder if indeed he was deported or if, maybe, he had some kind of health issues that [weren't] public knowledge. Some people would be p*ssed off that they had bought tickets to his show and were severely disappointed by an awful performance and the other half thought it was brilliant. Every city you visit, people might share a rare occasion in which they met him. You'd hear stories were he was, actually, a really nice guy [or about] this one time he came by without his mask on to further the mystery and the mindset of this absolute legend."


"Deciding to work on a DOOM mix was a no-brainer; he's everybody's favorite rapper's favorite rapper. In order to make sure I made the mix as thorough as possible, I had asked my friends billy woods, Open Mike Eagle & Serengeti for a list of their favorite MF DOOM tracks to make sure they were included. Even so, in listening to some playlists in the month since his passing, I still think, "wow, how did this track not make the cut?" like his collab with the Gorillaz and I don't think The Avalanches album [Wildflower] was out yet when I put this mix together just kind of makes you realize how gigantic his reach was."

- Les Dimes (@moniklz)