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Blogarhythms 02 Apr 2007

Maybe if they wore masks you'd own some of their records? He's chubby, his face is made out of metal, and you suck if you don't like his music. He's MF Doom; the comic-book-inspired alias of producer/rapper Daniel Dumile, who old people like me remember as the bespectacled disciple of Dr. Malachi Z. York named Zevlove X. He also hasn't released an album since 2005's The Mouse and the Mask, which helped cement him and collaborator Danger Mouse as hipster media darlings. Sure, there's been random tracks like "Monkey Suite" from the Chrome Children comp, that "Angeles" track with Ghost, and that Hell Razah song with the "Damn Girl" sample. But it's been a pretty disappointing year-and-a-half for those of us who fiend for beats and rhymes from the "super motherfuckin' villain." Thanks to artists like Nashville-based emcee/producer Count Bass D and Chicago-based emcee Serengeti, our jones for Hip-Hop, filled with darkly-humorous, abstract-impressionist lyricism, colorful characters, and raw beats can be sated. An industry vet known as one of the first rappers to release an album produced solely with live instruments, you should already know who Count Bass D (that's his official site... he posts MP3s there) is. In recent years he's been a frequent Doom collaborator as he's explored the world of traditional sample-based (legend has it, Doom gave him his MPC) Hip-Hop production. His fourth full-length, Act Your Waist Size dropped, rather unceremoniously last year. As a beatmaker the Count has an ear for flipping smoothed out samples and re-programming familiar drums into choppy lo-fi masterpieces. While his microphone technique relies heavily on spitting autobiographical story raps that utilize odd metaphors and incorporate dated slang and pop-culture references. Both habits that are more than a little reminiscent of his boy Doom. Additionally, Act Your Waist Size was particularly grimy, with the same bedroom/basement style recording quality that lent Operation: Doomsday so much of it's grit and charm. However, despite the fact that he's using samples and loops, the Count's style retains much of his earlier work's sense of musicality, and his music frequently possesses a soulful quality that Doom's doesn't. Serengeti doesn't have quite the impressive, nor lengthy, legacy, even if he has dropped more LPs than the Count. But his music is no less a companion piece to that of Doom. His newest LPs are Dennehy, a concept album based around a stereotypical Chicago guy in the mold of George Wendt's infamous "Bob Swerski" from SNL back in the day, and Noticeably Negro, which is something of an examination of modern race politics. On Dennehy he performs songs under the guise of a handful of different characters, interweaving a number of stories throughout the album, while Noticabely Negro finds him flexing a more personal, observationist style. Other than his reliance on characters, engaging if unusual narratives, and pop-culture non-sequiters, his most striking similarity to Doom is actually his delivery, which at times takes on a lazy, Doom-like cadence. Setting him apart is an incredible ability to fully inhabit the characters he portrays in his songs, utilizing different voices, accents, affectations and speech-patterns that give the sense that a totally different person is rapping and it's not just a dude putting on a funny voice or rapping like a cartoon character. If you want to hear more of Count Bass D and Serengeti's metal-face-alternatives, visit the websites linked above for audio samples and more information on both artists and their various releases. -El Keter

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