"Flow so weird, his own peers couldn’t follow it/"
-- MF Doom, No Names (Black Debbie), Danger Doom (2005).

"… His flow is drowned in Lowry seasoning/"
With micro-power, he’s sound and right reasoning/"
-- Madvillainy, Great Day, Madvillain (2004).

From the outset, I think it’s obligatory that I confess I’m not a reviewer. In that case, the reader will not be treated to flowery metaphors or colorful puns, to describe the taste of a track. All the pretentiousness and literary-overkill, contained in many music reviews, will not be found in this body of work. What follows, however, is an appreciation for one of the greatest MCs of all time: DOOM (formerly known as MF Doom). The all-caps MC has consistently blessed listeners, critics, and avid supporters (of which I’m all three) with classic material, since his breakout of KMD in 1998. His solo debut, Doomsday, solidified him as lyrical force to be reckoned with. Ever since, the metal-face lyricist has been unwavering in his commitment to quality music that enriches the soul, and enhances the mind of the listener.

His outlandish and, yes, weird narratives have become nothing short of landmark and monumental in the Hip-Hop community. Fans have acknowledged him as the greatest ever, while detractors find themselves in an uncomfortable spot, due to his dedication and uncensored uniqueness. Any skilled listener would acknowledge that all DOOM’s projects drip the sweat of quality, with a profound scent of value. His ability to blend candid critique with political humor are found in songs like Strange Ways (Madvillain), where he renders a stinging rebuke of terrorism, because "all you get is lost children." Though, as he sees it, imperialism plays a part, in its defense of a philosophy whereby "only one side is allowed to have bombs." MF Doom described this as akin to "making a soldier drop his weapon/ Shooting him, and telling him to get to steppin’."

Anyone familiar with DOOM’s music also notices his distaste of commercial Hip-Hop. His audience has been blessed, over the last decade, with a healthy dose of criticism of pop-sponsored Rap:

"I tell off the bat, from science to pure facts/
Which nig**z is wack ‘til they last two tracks/"
-- MF Doom, The Finest, Operation: Doomsday (1998).

"To all rappers shut up with your shutting up/
And keep your shirt on, at least a button up/
Yuck, is they rhymers or stripping males?/
Outta work jerks since they shut down Chippendales/"
-- MF Doom, Beef Rapp, MF Doom - MM.. Food? (2004).

"If I had a dime for every rhymer who bust guns/
I’ll have a cool mill for my sons in trust funds/"
-- MF Doom, Kon Queso, MF Doom - MM.. Food? (2004).

"Scared of a bunch of water, then get out the rain/
Order a rapper for lunch and spit out the chain/"
-- MF Doom, Sofa King, Danger Doom (2005).

"Rappers suck, when they spit I doubt ‘em/
The crap they sing about make you wanna slap the f**kin sh** out ‘em’/"
-- MF Doom, El Chupa Nibre, The Mouse and the Mask (2005).

The wit captured above is what converted contemporary greats like Mos Def and Talib Kweli, into the Doom camp. "I bet a million dollars on DOOM, against Lil’ Wayne," Brooklyn MC, Mos Def declared, in a 7-minute tribute clip last week. "This guy is…incredible," he concluded. Talib Kweli was more direct, in his verse on "Old School Rules" (Danger Doom), where he describes getting "chills," upon hearing "how Doom flipped the Scooby Doo." DOOM is, in the truest sense, an "MC’s MC," and it’s from this womb of distinction, that his latest project was conceived.

Featuring top-notch production from the inimitable J Dilla, Madlib, Jake One, and DOOM himself, Born Like This was a confirmed hit at face value. It will, undoubtedly, come to be regarded as one of the best albums released in ’09.

From the intro, we are informed that "DOOM’s got a plan that’s gonna shake the heavens." Without giving the listener a chance to marinate on the warning, "Gazzilion Ear" is pounding through the speakers. 1/4ths in, DOOM appears to confess to some of the rumors clouding his career last year, with a subtle acknowledgment: "… Yeah, ya boy had drama/ Got ‘em on a mental plane, avoided bad karma." In true DOOM fashion, Gazzilion Ear is laced with unmistakably cultural and racial references: "Once sold a inbred skinhead a nigga joke/… For your info when he’s not practicing Jim Crow/… Heads up, talk white and thought niggerish." Somewhere in between, DOOM doesn’t fail to mention that his "fan base know the brotha man’s dope." In his own words, "DOOM leave the competition steaming like a pile."

"Ballskin,"his first single, comes next. Beating its way through the listener’s ear-drum, it quickly clarifies the brewing controversy over his decision to shorten "MF Doom" to "DOOM." Ballskin is used, in a way, as a re-introduction: "Villain always been, feel real genuine ballskin/… Disappear, reappear and disappear again." For the man who owns more aliases than any other in the rap game, the name-change wasn’t so surprising to his many fans. "All big letters, but it isn’t no acronym," DOOM contends.

On "Absolutely," the famous phrase, "Absolute power corrupts absolutely," coined by historian John Dalberg-Acton, is explored with a variety of themes, which include POW’s, Snitches, War-combat, Law and Order, etc. Through his exceptional narration, DOOM asserts that "Our species is in danger." He examines the trials of unfair prosecution, through the story of "A fake judge who many years on the bench/ Who sent some good cats to the chair, who erred in the trench." DOOM interweaves the denial of clemency for political prisoner & former Gangbanger Tookie Williams, by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, in his narrative: "It’s real spooky like a real trife movie/ Remember the part where Terminator killed Tookie.." This example validates the claim that "Absolute power corrupts absolutely," according to DOOM.

Two steps down, the question is asked: "What is the magic that makes one’s eyes, sparkle and gleam, light up the skies?" It doesn’t remain unanswered for long: "The name of the game is, lightworks." Most Hip-Hop listeners recognize this tune, from J Dilla’s Donuts—"Lightworks." As one of the most remarkable beats ever produced by the late musical genius, Lightworks has, unfortunately, been recycled by several rappers, who have failed to resurrect it to life—in a way Dilla would approve. Thankfully, DOOM isn’t one of those, as he rips and flips it into a linguistic ballad: "Watch your mouth jaw, south paw, out floor/ Doubt your clout more, bout raw, out score/ Off the leash like UFC/ Off the beat, off your feet, like two lefties."

"Cellz" turns out to be the most thought-provoking track on the album. Through the eloquence of "The Poet Laureate of Skid Row," Charles Bukowski, the concept of "Born Like This" is finally explained. As he informs, we are born into "hospitals which are so expensive, that it’s cheaper to die; into lawyers who charge so much, it’s cheaper to plead guilty; into a country where the jails are full, and the madhouse is closed." They are "born into this," he says. "Walking and living through this. Dying because of this... The fingers reach toward an unresponsive God." He continues with a series of doom tales, including the possibility of "open and unpunished murder in the streets," coupled with "guns and roving mobs," where land is "useless" and food becomes "a diminishing return." DOOM channels his inner-Prophet of Doom and Gloom, with predictions consisting of: "Revelations in brail/ Respiration, inhale/ View nations failing." Tales of the blind leading the blind are also regarded. Cellz is incomplete without a final word for "squirts posing as thuggers and hustlers."

"Microwave Mayo" is the 12^th and most lyrically vicious track. It shares a striking resemblance to "Get ‘Er Done," from producer Jake One’s debut LP, White Van Music. Expectedly, DOOM is back on the backs of "rapper jocks," who, as he advises, "need to put a sock in they chatter box." DOOM concedes to the strangeness of his "ways," but contends that it "matters not." He brags of the ability to "squeeze blood from a penny in a recession/ Keep guessing/ It gets deeper than depression/ The power of suggestion awake a sleeper, peep the lesson." DOOM then outlines the lesson: "Hardcore porn - did his own stunts/ Read his own rhymes, and split his own blunts/ Once in a while, every other minute/ Eyes pop out, Popeye, heavy on the spinach."But DOOM’s not done yet. Rappers, according to him, are "like the gay club strip tease/ With hippies on the yip saying ‘hey, bub grip these’." He takes a final dig in: "They screaming for attention."

"That’s That," his second single, is a highly personal record, with some autobiographical potential: "Mama was a hole hopper, papa was a Rollin’ Stone/ Star like Obama, pull a card like ‘Oh Drama’!" "What you expect to get for free?" he asks. DOOM finds the need to address some of the recent brouhaha surrounding his concert performances (with allegations that he, on more than one occasion, lip-synched his way through, and even featured an imposter on stage), by insisting that "the rumors are not true." DOOM interrogates his audience with a series of questions: "Can it be I stayed away too long?/ Did you miss these rhymes when I was gone?" In an assuring tone, he offers some sound—yet declarative—counsel: "As you listen to these crazy tracks/ Check them stats then you know where I’m at/ And that’s that."

That’s that.

Whether DOOM was born like this (a villain), or created into one by the music industry, is a theory debated, vigorously, on the record. Ever since KMD lost its recording contract, for blurring the line between political engagement and Hip-Hop artistry, DOOM has been on a quest to slaughter ventriloquist-controlled rappers, and enact a successful revenge on the industry which forced his face into hiding. Aware of his concern, expressed on "Rhymes Like Dimes" (Operation: Doomsday), that a lot of rappers "sound like they’re in a talent show," Born Like This is another down-payment on his promise to "give ‘em something to remember like the Alamo."