MF DOOM
Hoe Cakes [prod. MF DOOM]
Hoe Cakes [prod. MF DOOM]
b/w
Potholders (feat. Count Bass D) [prod. Count Bass D]
November 30, 2025
The legend of Daniel Dumile, a/k/a MF DOOM, is a tale of triumph and tragedy.
Coming up in the late-80's via intrepid rap trio KMD, alongside his brother MC/producer Subroc, DOOM's musical career has gone through as many reinventions as he has crafted alter-egos.
Soon after the release of KMD's Mr. Hood in 1991, DOOM's personal life began to fall apart. Subroc was struck and killed by a motor vehicle prior to completing KMD's sophomore LP, Black Bastards. As a young Daniel Dumile mourned over his brother, his label, Elektra Records, shelved the unfinished Black Bastards album, ostensibly due to controversial cover art. Following these experiences of loss and betrayal, the artist formerly known as Zev Love X spiraled downward into depression. He began drifting around New York City to escape his troubles.
Around the mid-1990's, Dumile reappeared as the face-covered anti-hero of the burgeoning New York City underground hip-hop scene. Rocking a Gladiator-style mask during live performances, Daniel Dumile adopted the moniker MF DOOM, drawing parallels between his own life and the origin story of Marvel Comics character Dr. Doom-a brilliant and bitter scientist who became disfigured by the explosion of one of his unorthodox experiments.
As Victor Von Doom, who suffered the loss of his parents as a child, became ostracized by the scientific community and went into exile to dwell in his negative emotions, ultimately transforming into a tyrannical supervillain, Daniel Dumile reemerged from the death of his brother, insecure housing, and record industry treachery to take over the rap world.
Flipping hardcore beats and inimitably clever rhymes, Metal Face released several 12" singles on Fondle 'Em Records before unleashing his debut LP, Operation: Doomsday, upon the world in 1999. Accompanied by a crew of fantastical emcees known as Monsta Island Czars, including the likes of MF Grimm and Kurious (also of KMD's Constipated Monkeys crew), DOOM spliced monster-movie samples like RZA with kung-fu flicks to create themes of vengeance and disillusionment.
In the years following Operation: Doomsday, DOOM raised his profile with a collaborative EP featuring MF Grimm, and King Geedorah's cult-classic, Take Me To Your Leader. Between the early and mid-2000's, DOOM and Los Angeles producer extraordinaire Madlib turned a series of demos into a full-length album that would become acclaimed as one of hip-hop's most significant recordings.
After a five-year hiatus, MF DOOM returned for his second solo venture, Mm...Food. DOOM mediates on health and nutrition while relating various types of food to street life, the music industry, and everyday existence.
As the sole single released from Mm...Food, 'Hoe Cakes b/w Potholders' offers a taste of the full course DOOM prepared for the album.
On 'Hoe Cakes', DOOM describes his half-baked episodes with some lovely ladies over his own Metal Fingers production:
"I got this girl and she wants me to duke her
I told her I'd come scoop her around 8:00
She said ("Super!")
That sounds great...shorty-girl 's trooper
No matter what I need her to do
She be like ("Super!")".
Check how DOOM blesses the track with no hook.
Also, remember to "keep your hoes in check", 'cuz...:
"...better yet, get'em for the check off the record deal
Find out where the keep the 'tech and the blue steel
Make sure for extra wreck, let'em know how you feel
And while he's running down to All-Star Weekend to ball
I'm comin' with the U-Haul...("Super!")".
Metal Face will get your girl and goods got with the swiftness!
Longtime friend and collaborator Count Bass D continues the culinary craziness on 'Potholders', serving up a hot verse and a dope beat:
"Tyson is a foul holocaust
Hitler gas your whole head up
With poultry, I'm fed up
Ignore cordon bleu, stand up, get up
Lunge for your knife
Don't forget your potholders...".
Not to be cooked on his own track, DOOM follows up with some fire:
"...What, these old things?
I'm 'bout to throw'em away
With the gold rings that make'em don't fit like O.J.
Usually I take'em off with Oil of Olay
MC's is crabs in a barrel
Pass the Old Bay".
DOOM's wit and wordplay outclass all flavor-of-the-month industry acts.
He also relates positive messaging about the role of proper sustenance in our lives.
Supervillain, or what? ...Or to whom?
The B-Side of the 'Hoe Cakes b/w Potholder' vinyl single includes a dope remix of 'Hoe Cakes' by Ant of Atmosphere, as well as instrumentals for each joint on the plate.
Ascending to the indie rap zeitgeist around the early-2000's, DOOM's impact on hip-hop and pop culture remains evident. His work with artists like Danger Mouse, Sia, and Thom Yorke reflect his musical versatility, while crystallizing his place as of one of hip-hop's most creative artists.
Through the ups-and-downs, DOOM advanced his mission to destroy the record industry and all existential threats to the Black community.
Unfortunately, Daniel Dumile transcended this level on October 31, 2020. His wife Jasmine chose not reveal his date of passing until December 31, 2020, due to the questionable nature of his death at St. James University Hospital in Leeds, United Kingdom.
He's finally reunited with his beloved brother and younger son.
The legacy of DOOM will live on.
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