The famous facemask of dead rapper MF DOOM.

Cover Image © eyeohdice

RIP, MF DOOM & My Other Favorite Dead Rappers

01/04/2021

MF DOOM’s passing (on Halloween 2020) was announced at the close of 2020. As a fan – I’m still processing his unexpected death. To address it, and as my tribute, I made a playlist of great music by DOOM and other dead rappers that I’d like to share. Join me in celebrating a beloved musician with a curated soundtrack.

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Some Things About This Listing…

This list is NOT FOR KIDS. Cursing abounds on this one.
This is NOT a list of the greatest rappers ever (please don’t come for me).
This list isn’t inclusive of ALL dead rappers. There are too many.
This list ONLY includes rappers I listened to/liked (even if it was postmortem).
Some people only have one song or are on here for hot features – THAT’S OK.
Rappers on this list are listed in their order of death (in reverse).
DOOM is the only one who gets any commentary (his death motivated this post, after all).
DOOM is the only one who gets all of the videos for his tracks I’m highlighting posted.
EVERYONE ELSE shows my favorite song of theirs followed by other top tracks I like.

For those who want the TL;DR of the list (how could you NOT love videos!?), here’s a link to the Spotify playlist of all of the songs mentioned.

Links to Hop Around this List of Dead Rappers…

Skip all of the DOOM videos
Jump to 2011
Straight to Big & Pac

Let’s get to it.

2020: MF DOOM

(Metal Face/The Villain)

I have to start with my personal favorite MF DOOM track. It is actually a song from the 2005 Gorillaz album Demon Days.

I know there are some people who may have never come across that one if you don’t follow Gorillaz, and if I just introduced you to that for the first time — you’re welcome! I mean – look at how his the rhymes in his verse hit in that song!

Alright, enough of that – onto the next one.

I can’t leave out THE CLASSIC!

He was in so many solid animated music videos (like this next one).

And DOOM stayed consistent. He’d blessed different tracks all the way through 2020.

And I’ll stop calling out individual pieces with this…

…Before I just say, “Listen to the entire Madvillainy record if you have time.”

DOOM represented many things to his fans, but we all agree that he was one of the best lyricists out there (from a technical sense & in terms of originality and composition).

His charismatic demeanor on every track that he brought his vocals to immediately improved every project I’ve heard that featured him. And while I wasn’t fortunate enough to ever actually see him perform live – I can only imagine it was quite a show to see (especially for those who caught him before he blew up).

As a Marvel Comics fan (like of the actual comic books – even before the movies), his stage name, presentation, and oft-used subject matter and nicknames didn’t hurt either.

I recommend the following to anyone who wants to dig a little deeper into this legend who, at the age of 49, was taken from us far too soon…