Shadows of Tomorrow: Monster Rally Speaks On 2010 DOOM Remixes & His Resounding Influence (MF DOOM Tribute)
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.
"I owe a lot to DOOM & Madlib, for that matter, and, especially, to the MADVILLAINY record. MADVILLAINY was the first Hip-Hop record I ever purchased (aside from a [Will Smith] Big Willie Style CD when I was in grade school.) Back in the day when I was still playing in my old Screamo band and we were on tour, I would always go to the different local record stores and shop for cool records. I started becoming interested in vinyl and, ultimately, that's what led me starting Monster Rally. I had always had a love for Hip-Hop, I used to download instrumentals on Kazaa and very badly "freestyle" over them with friends. But, I had fallen out of that a bit in my later musical life, until I found the beautiful black-and-white 12-inch that is MADVILLAINY in a record store. After listening to it obsessively, I started to dig into other DOOM & Madlib records and productions."
"I think, this album really changed my mindset about what music and, specifically, Hip-Hop had to be. The production was grimey, there weren't any choruses and it was just generally strange—I loved it. That was really inspirational to me at the beginning of the Monster Rally. These DOOM remixes are some of the first tracks I made about 10 years ago; I had even made some plans to work on an entire album, which I called DOOM In Dreamland, but it wasn't meant to be. They remain some of my favorites tracks, though. The other aspect about DOOM that I find so interesting is the visual culture surrounding him and his persona. I think, because his music, both as an emcee and producer, is so popular among various creatives, many of them have been inspired to create DOOM-centric pieces. I particularly love all the Jason [Jägel] paintings, his print of the MM..FOOD album cover still hangs prominently in my studio."
- Monster Rally (@tedfeighan)