The Underground Rap Scene and Its King
Underground rap has been a hotbed of innovation and a home for what a lot of people label as “intellectual” rap. What people tend to gloss over or just not understand is that true underground rap has always been about pushing the limits of the sound and aesthetic of hip hop as a genre. For the last two decades it has been a place of experimentation and forward thinking, with modern examples like rap group Death Grips causing contention among many fans of hip hop, as well as groups like Brockhampton that have seemingly taken over the underground scene by storm. But no one gives credit to the absolute king of the underground, MF DOOM.
MF DOOM, aka the Metal Faced Villain, aka DOOM, aka one half of Madvillain, aka the Vaudeville Villain, aka King Geedorah, etc. etc. etc. He has more monikers and personalities than you can count on both hands, and he puts them all to great use. And just like he says on one of his songs, he has rhymes like dimes, which is what makes him the king of the underground scene. His lyrical abilities are absolutely unmatched by anyone else to ever touch a microphone, and I honestly doubt that this will ever change. One project in particular, titled Madvillainy, is what solidified his standing in the underground and turned him into the icon that he is. The album was a collaboration between him and the legendary underground producer Madlib, and it completely shook the underground world to its core.
The immaculate display of flow and lyricism that were sprinkled over light, heavily jazz-infused beats combined to make an extraordinary display of technical ability and passion for the genre’s development. The album was released in 2004, 13 years ago as of writing this, and you still hear it’s influence on artists that are just now starting to get big. The album was revolutionary, and MF DOOM became the man to look up to if you wanted to be known for lyrical or technical ability. Artists today like Joey Badass and Earl Sweatshirt would never have become rappers if it weren’t for MF DOOM supplying them with a base to stand on and build on, and you can see it so easily when you just compare their sounds side by side. While Joey’s production leans more towards boom bap rap from the nineties, his flow is near identical to DOOM’s on countless songs, and even rapped over DOOM beats early in his career. Earl is even more similar to DOOM in flow and production quality, but Earl has seen a lot less mainstream success than Joey because, like DOOM, he tends to be a lot more cryptic with his words and prides himself on his ability to weave layered meanings into what he says.
Not only has DOOM had major influence on the artists in the underground rap scene, but he’s become a cultural phenomenon as well. Madvillainy is a cult classic album on the level of movies like Blade Runner, except everyone that listens to underground rap puts Madvillainy up as a top five rap album of all time. It has had a permanent impact on the people that seek out new and exciting ways to listen to rap, and it will continue to do so whenever someone ventures into the vast and mysterious scene of underground rap.
