What's happening everybody?? It's been a while since there's been a posting due to personal issues (always be sure to have your mental strength be as strong or stronger than your physical if possible), but we're back and here to give props to another influential album celebrating its twentieth birthday. This album in particular stands as one of the most left-brained releases the underground has ever delivered. From the mind of a former member of KMD-turned-reborn supervillain, this album was quirky, odd, and unorthodox, but was also quite lyrical and definitely had a feel of an emcee that was scientific with his approach to hip-hop. With animated samples aplenty throughout the album, this album laid the foundation to one of the most acclaimed repackaging moments in hip-hop history, and started a following that is still revered to this day. Ladies and gentlemen, this is MF DOOM (now just DOOM) and his debut, Operation: Doomsday.
Much like Daniel Dumille's alter ego, he based his life and career after the arch rival of the Fantastic Four, Victor Von Doom, Much like him, he was angry at an accident that disfigured him and he in turn donned a metal mask and plotted revenge against the world for his pain, DOOM lost his brother and fellow KMD member DJ Subroc, and he clearly was still in mourning, while growing disgusted with how commercialized and materialized hip-hop had become. As a result, Operation Doomsday was created. This was an album for those that needed something...different. In '99, the Bad Boy era was slowly declining, but more from No Limit and Cash Money, plus the hardcore stylings of the likes of DMX were starting to flood the airwaves. The underground, in the meantime, was starting to deliver some groundbreaking work. Acts such as Company Flow, El-P, Cannibal Ox, and Lone Catalysts were starting to pop up and delivered some truly breathtaking material. This was where DOOM could show his talent as the supervillain, and did he ever.
From the opening cut, the Sade-sampled "Doomsday", we hear a pretty subdued yet intriguing emcee with rhymes for days and a distinct delivery. From there, cuts like "Rhymes Like Dimes", "Red and Gold" (this was done by another alter ego, King Geedorah), "Gas Draws", and the melancholy "?" show his dexterity, yet all highlight how gifted of an emcee he is, even if some of his rhymes may go over some casual listeners heads at first. The same holds true for other cuts like the posse cut "Who You Think I Am", "Tick Tick" and "Go With The Flow" all fit in hand and glove with the flow of Operation Doomsday. There's a strange beauty within this album that takes a bit of unpacking in order to obtain the gift that is this album. That's actually part of the fun.
While most newer fans of his have heard a more razor sharp emcee with albums such as Born Like This, Mm...Food, and especially the landmark underground epic Madvillainy, DOOM has become a folk hero, yet much like comic book heroes such as Wolverine or Batman, there's an enigmatic appeal to him that keeps fans coming back to him. Lyrically, he's shown his entire worth over these span of albums. It's encouraged for these newer heads to peep his alter ego works of King Geedorah's Take Me To Your Leader and the two Viktor Vaughn albums, Vaudeville Villain and VV2, to get the meat of where Madvillainy was coming from. His vivid rhyme structure and ability to have you delve into the mad of a pissed off, yet highly intelligent, supervillain is enough to make you clamor for more, With Operation Doomsday, the door was opened for distinctive personalities with unique yet very highly decent, lyricism and a cult following that has increased due to the allure of hip-hop's most mysterious emcee. Happy twentieth to Operation Doomsday
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