Books of the Year 2024 - Number 13

Discover the full list on our blog.

The definitive biography of MF DOOM, charting the reclusive and revered hip-hop artist’s life, career, and eventual immortality. Packed with behind-the-scenes content, for fans of hip-hop biographies like Dilla Time.

On December 31, 2020, the world was shocked to learn about the death of hip-hop legend MF DOOM. Born in London and raised in the suburban enclave of Long Beach, New York, Daniel Dumile Jr.'s love of cartoons and comic books would soon turn him into one of hip-hop's most enigmatic, prolific, and influential figures.

The Chronicles of DOOM: Unraveling Rap’s Masked Iconoclast recounts the rise, fall, redemption, and untimely demise of MF DOOM. Broken down into five sections: The Man, The Myth, The Mask, The Music, and The Legend, journalist S. H. Fernando chronicles the life of Daniel Dumile Jr., beginning in the house he grew up in in Long Beach, NY, through to the mysterious, masked icon that he was to become. Centring the music, Fernando deftly lays out the history of east-coast rap against DOOM's life story and dissects the personas, projects, tracks, and lyrics that led to his immortality.

Including exclusive interviews with those who worked closely with him, the book provides an unknown, intimate, behind the scenes look into the life of MF DOOM, a supervillain on stage and hero to those who paid attention.