MF DOOM

其實，中國的樂迷可能比美國人還熟悉MF DOOM和他的《Operation Doomsday》，這跟國內(nèi)的一股追求稀有的思潮是分不開的，《Operation Doomsday》被中國樂迷知曉應(yīng)該是在2004年之后，當(dāng)時美元還算硬挺，一塊能換八塊人民幣，Ebay和Amazon上80多$的天價自然也嚇到了第一批Ebay中國CD藏家，隨之這種由好奇和敬畏感共同驅(qū)動的熱潮便一發(fā)不可收拾——在今天，你會很容易碰到?jīng)]聽過3rd Bass卻對MF DOOM推崇備至的青少年。
 
這一段就講述這個大家都耳熟能詳?shù)墓适?，自?989年從3rd Bass的《The Cactus Album》出道后，倫敦出生的Zev Love X跟著其兄弟Subroc一起以K.M.D.的名義在華納完成了兩張專輯，1991年的《Mr.Hood》和1994年的《Black Bastards》，其中后者因為封面爭議太大沒能發(fā)表，Subroc不久以后不幸遭遇車禍去世，Zev Love X自身也陷入了潦倒，遭受了多重不幸的他離開紐約移居南方亞特蘭大，直到1998年才戴上面具化名漫畫英雄MF DOOM回到圈內(nèi)，這張《Operation Doomsday》就是MF DOOM的處子作。
 
前面說到這張專輯的唱片公司宣傳很差，事實上這張專輯幾乎沒有宣傳，因為出版專輯的Subverse Records根本在專輯發(fā)行后不久就倒閉了，這家公司為DOOM所做唯一做的好事就是把1994年沒能發(fā)表的《Black Bastards》給發(fā)了。
 
當(dāng)然，這張專輯日后能夠紅火絕不僅僅是靠DOOM那副面具，在專輯中還是有很多值得一提的地方，比如說采樣，在1999年，采樣已經(jīng)不能和1989年同日而語了，在這時候誰還采James Brown就會被看做過時，而且日益嚴(yán)格的法律也不容許肆意采樣，否則就等著吃官司吧，而采用更模糊（說白了就是更難讓那些想通過打官司賺養(yǎng)老費的前輩藝術(shù)家們抓到證據(jù)）的采樣方式也因為大氣候下群眾欣賞水平的轉(zhuǎn)變，伴隨著硬核說唱這一名詞被扔進了故紙堆，于是很多制作人就采取了自己編曲的方式，比較明顯的就是Bad Boy公司的那幫Hitmen，不過這樣也有一個問題那就是Rap和R&B之間的界限越來越淡。而我們的MF DOOM大大與眾不同之處就此凸顯，他采樣的是動畫片。
 
作為全球娛樂產(chǎn)業(yè)的霸主，美國的動漫產(chǎn)業(yè)因為價值觀的分歧等諸多原因一直不為我們所深切關(guān)注，事實上筆者自己也不甚了解。但《蜘蛛俠》、《蝙蝠俠》、《超人》等等個人英雄主義價值觀主導(dǎo)的動漫名作在中國青少年中還是耳熟能詳?shù)模珼OOM采樣的來源主要集中在另一部聞名遐邇的動漫《Fantastic Four》，中文叫《神奇四俠》，此F4的世界聲望明顯超過前些年的臺灣F4和后來衍生的波霸女F4們，他們是四個經(jīng)過核輻射后擁有超能力的奇人，雖然劇情比較低幼，但美國的青少年們一直樂此不疲，其中也包括DOOM這么一個粉絲。
 
在《Operation Doomsday》中，使用了大量來自《神奇四俠》的對白和配樂，MF DOOM還給自己創(chuàng)造了一個邪惡的aka叫Super Villain，即超級惡棍，但由于MF DOOM的歌詞壓根是抽象到看不懂的，這些邪惡主要體現(xiàn)在制作上，就算是優(yōu)美如“Rhymes Like Dimes”，也讓人感到清爽下面藏著一股充滿神經(jīng)質(zhì)的壓抑，“Doomsday”也是如此，和Kurious合作的“？”在第三段beat突變，只能用驚艷來形容。當(dāng)然，專輯中最搶眼的一曲還是DOOM和其導(dǎo)師MF Grimm合作的“Tick,Tick…”，聽到這首歌你能感覺到一股下水道里的腐臭味道，閃爍的鼓點和節(jié)奏配以MF Grimm和MF DOOM兩人連綿不斷的flow，在2000年Wu-Tang Clan的專輯《The W》中有首極其類似的“Careful（Click Click）”，算起來，同樣師出Prince Paul的兩人里，MF DOOM還是The RZA的師兄。
 
Patterning his persona and logo after the Marvel Comics supervillain Dr. Doom, the man behind MF (Metal Face) Dooms iron mask is actually Daniel Dumile, aka Zev Love X, a member of former Big Apple hip-hoppers KMD. First featured on the 3rd Bass single The Gas Face, the London-born, Long Island-raised Zev made his debut with KMD a couple of years later, along with his younger brother and musical partner DJ Subroc. The 1991 album Mr. Hood, released on Elektra Records, was part of a short-lived trend of Islamic Five Percent Nation hip-hop outings, along with efforts by groups like Poor Righteous Teachers and KMDs labelmates Brand Nubian. However, Subroc was fatally injured in 1993 when he was struck by a car, and when Zev and KMD returned the next year, it was with the even more serious and miltant Bl_ck B_st_rds, an album whose cover art alone (featuring a Little Black Sambo-ish cartoon character being hanged) spelled the end of the groups contract with Elektra. With the album in limbo, Zev went underground for five years, recovering from his wounds and swearing revenge against the industry that so badly deformed him, according to his official bio, a reworking of Dr. Dooms origin. Meanwhile, Bl_ck B_st_rds was heavily bootlegged and Zev Loves legend grew, but few knew at first that the rapper who began showing up at the Nuyorican Poets Café in 1998, freestyling with a stocking covering his face, was actually Zev. The imaginative MC finally ended the mystery in 1999, resurfacing in his new identity as MF Doom and making up for lost time with a critically praised new album, Operation: Doomsday, on indie label Fondle Em Records. The following year saw the long-awaited official release of Bl_ck B_st_rds (complete with Sambo-style cover art), as well as several singles and an EP with fellow rhymer MF Grimm. In 2001, SubVerse re-released Operation: Doomsday and Bl_ck B_st_rds. A wealth of bootlegs, compilation appearances, mixtapes, and instrumental albums (the beloved by DJs Special Herbs series) surfaced over the years but no follow-up full-length until Doom introduced his alter ego, Viktor Vaughan, in 2003 with Vaudeville Villain. His team-up with the multi-talented Madlib became Madvillain and their April 2004 release, Madvillainy drew rave reviews. Four months later Venomous Villain marked the return of Viktor Vaughan with the second MF Doom album, MM? Food?, appearing in November the same year. The formerly promo-only Live From Planet X got its aboveground release in March of 2005 with Special Herbs, Vol. 9-10 following in July.