|
by Adrian Bankhead
I went the MF Doom concert at DNA Lounge the
day before yesterday. They confiscated
my buddy's $300 boom mike tho, with which we had planned to record the concert for you guys. It was pretty cool - except for
the fact that my friend with the mic got sick early on
and spent the whole concert throwing up his kidneys from WAY too
much Jaigermeister, and I felt vaguely guilty for staying inside, kinda like the guilt you felt for that guy in Spun who gets
high while he has his girlfriend
gagged and tied to his bed for days on end. But whatever - Doom didn't start his set until 1am. Before the show, the DNA MC
got into a real rap battle with the DJ, who was mad at him for interrupting his set with a bunch of unhelpful, whack freestyles.
Everybody in the audience was throwing shit at the MC, front row had turned their backs to him - real drama shit that shut
down the whole show for a few minutes. You got the feeling that Doom didn't want to come out with that kind of negative energy
in the room, so he just waited for another half hour until the whole crowd, exhausted from an entire night on hype mode for
him, started shouting "DOOM, DOOM, DOOM, DOOM..." He ran out wearing an orange t-shirt, sweats and his trademark
Doom mask, and proceeded to rock the mic for an hour in his inimitable style with all of his now classic but only months old
collection of "greatest hits".
I like Doom because I think of him as almost
the anti-rapper. Whereas most rap wants to speak in the collective voice of an imagined hip hop nation, Doom's rhymes, beats
and styles are intensely individual and idiosyncratic, as are his personality, style and
affect. His style, which borrows
as much from jazz rhythms as hip hop (especially on Madvillian, my favorite album) marks the ascendence of a true individual
personality in hip hop, the casting off of old ways, the possibility of something new...
But back to the show, I was really suprised
by how many people in the front row had memorized ALL of his rhymes, and spit them back to him verbatim. His tricky, "ogily,
bogily"
rhythms and stream of consciousness rhyme style seems fantastically hard to master, and I suddenly felt very humbled and dilettante-ish
in this crowd of Doom fanatics & devotees, who had obviously spent long hours mastering his repertoire. I had to finally
trade places with the rapturous, pre-orgasmic looking huge rapper dude standing next to me, who kept inadvertently humping
my leg - perhaps out of some misplaced, sublimated sexual desire for Doom, but more obviously from jumping up and down, trying
to get closer to his idol. The whole night, he screamed out, arms flailing in perfect timing, every Doom lyric with perfect
enunciation, and the look on his face one of release, and complete devotion. I was as much in awe of this guy as I was of
Doom!
I was also suprised by what a physically big
guy Doom is. Dude needs to lay off the Fritos. Except for the MC/DJ incident, it was a great, if overly long show, with a
really cool, diverse crowd. Standing right next to one of the stage speakers, I realized that I really want the
INSTRUMENTALS
to his albums. Does anybody know if these exist?
|
