Shadows of Tomorrow: Shaquan Young's First MF DOOM Interview In A Major Mainstream Publication (The Source, MAR 2001 #138)
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.
"Shaquan Young is my real name. I met Daniel Dumile in October, 2000 (when I was 22-years-old,) as he had just transitioned from Fondle 'em Records to Sub Verse Music. At the time, my editor at The Source, Aliyah S. King, had no clue who MF DOOM was. Very few people, outside of devout Hip-Hop heads who listened to Underground artists, were familiar with The Metal-faced Villain. There was no press release that I was tending to. No big promo. This article was strictly my idea. Nobody made me do it. I did this interview because I wanted to. Plain and simple. Back then, if you weren't JAY-Z, The Neptunes, Ludacris, Dr. Dre, OutKast, Mystikal, Eminem, or Ja Rule... nobody cared. It wasn't like today (where everybody wants to be the authority on Indie rappers.) It was not cool to be a "Backpack" Underground head."
"This was the [first] interview I had EVER done for The Source Magazine. Before this, I was writing obituaries for a small town newspaper. Just moved to NYC, after graduating from college. I had been listening to Operation: Doomsday for a year, up to this point, before I met Dumile. I called Bobbito Garcia, from the phone number that was on the original CD pressing of Doomsday. He put me in touch with Fiona Bloom, [one-third] owner of Sub Verse Music. Really hospitable young lady. She even gave me a free CD from another group under her roster. I can tell that she really loved the music. Me & Dumile went outside and sat on the loading ledge of the office building, looking out into the West Village landscape of Lower Manhattan. I spent about two hours chatting with him. He did not wear The Mask."
"Dumile was comfortable with being "regular" during our meet-up, but with good faith that I wasn't going to take a picture of him. Kurious dropped by for a quick minute and drove to the store to buy us some beers. I had to get all my fandom out the way before I started asking Dumile serious questions from memory lane. Talked about how MF Grimm financed the album with drug money. Dumile mentioned that he slept in Bobbito's apartment the whole time he recorded his album. A lot of what we talked about got edited out of this article by Ms. King. You'll see some inconsistencies. Some inaccuracies. Subroc died in '93, not '94. Not sure why they changed it. His real government name was left out and I don't know why. You might, also, spot some typos. But I'm not mad at her. It's a business."
"A major print publication, such as The Source, has to make money by targeting their audience in the least amount of time possible. Besides, not many people in the mainstream even knew who DOOM was. After our conversation, Dumile went to The Source's main office for a photo shoot, which is what you see in the article. Back then, he wore the Phantom of The Opera mask, before gradually donning the Gladiator mask that he is most famous for. Ms. King made me bug him about his age, which he was not too ecstatic about revealing. He said to me, "your editor is mad nosey, yo. But f**k it. It don't matter." This article hit newsstands in February of 2001 and I was extremely proud to see DOOM get shine. Later on that year, Sub Verse released a re-mastered version of his debut with the track "I Hear Voices" as an added bonus. I never saw Dumile (in person) again after that. His career took off far beyond I could ever imagine. I will never forget him. #RIP #DanielDumile #MFDOOM"
- Originally Shared By: Shaquan Young (Attila Steele on YouTube)
