WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.599 Imagine an artist who who basically single handedly 00:00:04.599 --> 00:00:07.559 reshaped modern hip hop. Right. Someone universally 00:00:07.559 --> 00:00:11.220 revered as a genius by his peers. Now now imagine 00:00:11.220 --> 00:00:14.279 that same artist completely refuses to show his 00:00:14.279 --> 00:00:17.519 face like ever. Yeah. Performing a literal metal 00:00:17.519 --> 00:00:20.239 mask. Exactly. And sometimes he doesn't even 00:00:20.239 --> 00:00:23.000 show up at all. He regularly sends imposters 00:00:23.000 --> 00:00:25.460 to perform his concerts while fans are literally 00:00:25.460 --> 00:00:29.339 rioting in the crowd. It's wild. It is. And ultimately, 00:00:29.480 --> 00:00:32.119 despite shaking the very sound of American underground 00:00:32.119 --> 00:00:35.380 music, this artist dies in exile from the country 00:00:35.380 --> 00:00:37.500 he helped culturally define. I mean, if you wrote 00:00:37.500 --> 00:00:39.719 that in a script, it sounds entirely like the 00:00:39.719 --> 00:00:42.060 plot of a comic book. Oh, 100%. But today we 00:00:42.060 --> 00:00:44.159 are talking about a real person. We are. We are 00:00:44.159 --> 00:00:47.079 diving deep into the life of Daniel Dumyle, globally 00:00:47.079 --> 00:00:49.719 known as the underground hip -hop supervillain 00:00:49.719 --> 00:00:52.899 MF Doom. Villain himself. Our mission today is 00:00:52.899 --> 00:00:55.780 to unpack the massive stack of sources on Dumiel's 00:00:55.780 --> 00:00:58.320 life. We really want to understand how profound 00:00:58.320 --> 00:01:00.979 tragedy birthed the character that forever changed 00:01:00.979 --> 00:01:03.820 music and, you know, what his journey teaches 00:01:03.820 --> 00:01:06.540 us about identity, resilience, and the rigid 00:01:06.540 --> 00:01:09.239 systems of both the music industry and immigration. 00:01:10.030 --> 00:01:12.230 It really is a modern myth, and it's a story 00:01:12.230 --> 00:01:15.049 that requires looking far past the surface level 00:01:15.049 --> 00:01:17.430 of the mask. Yeah, so whether you are a lifelong 00:01:17.430 --> 00:01:20.489 hip -hop head who can spot every obscure cartoon 00:01:20.489 --> 00:01:23.510 sample on his albums, or you're just insanely 00:01:23.510 --> 00:01:26.030 curious about enigmatic musical figures. You 00:01:26.030 --> 00:01:28.269 want to know how a masked supervillain conquered 00:01:28.269 --> 00:01:30.890 the underground. Exactly. This deep dive is for 00:01:30.890 --> 00:01:33.489 you. We are going to connect the dots of Doom's 00:01:33.489 --> 00:01:36.159 labyrinthine life. But to understand the villain, 00:01:36.359 --> 00:01:38.379 we have to start with the man. Where does the 00:01:38.379 --> 00:01:40.540 origin story actually begin? It starts across 00:01:40.540 --> 00:01:42.579 the Atlantic, actually. Daniel DeMille was born 00:01:42.579 --> 00:01:46.180 in 1971 in Hounslow, London. His mother was Trinidadian 00:01:46.180 --> 00:01:48.579 and his father was Zimbabwean. But that UK chapter 00:01:48.579 --> 00:01:51.340 was incredibly brief. Very brief. As a child, 00:01:51.400 --> 00:01:53.379 his family moved to Long Beach, New York. Right. 00:01:53.480 --> 00:01:56.959 But they moved on a non -immigrant B visa. Correct. 00:01:57.370 --> 00:02:00.250 And a B visa is typically a temporary visitor 00:02:00.250 --> 00:02:02.689 visa, you know, usually for business or tourism. 00:02:02.790 --> 00:02:05.269 It doesn't grant permanent residency. No, it 00:02:05.269 --> 00:02:07.709 doesn't. And that legal technicality might seem 00:02:07.709 --> 00:02:09.669 minor when you're just a kid running around Long 00:02:09.669 --> 00:02:12.789 Beach. But it sets a precarious foundation that 00:02:12.789 --> 00:02:15.849 becomes absolutely pivotal decades later. Wow. 00:02:15.969 --> 00:02:18.430 Yeah. And his childhood environment was also. 00:02:19.080 --> 00:02:21.879 super foundational to his worldview, right? Because 00:02:21.879 --> 00:02:24.060 I know his family was highly political. Very 00:02:24.060 --> 00:02:27.159 much so. He grew up in a household deeply influenced 00:02:27.159 --> 00:02:30.419 by black nationalism and the Islamic faith, specifically 00:02:30.419 --> 00:02:33.560 as part of the 5 % Nation. Can you break that 00:02:33.560 --> 00:02:35.419 down a bit for someone who might not be familiar? 00:02:35.639 --> 00:02:38.000 Sure. So the 5 % Nation is a socio -religious 00:02:38.000 --> 00:02:40.500 movement. It branched off from the Nation of 00:02:40.500 --> 00:02:44.039 Islam, and it places a massive emphasis on self 00:02:44.039 --> 00:02:46.810 -knowledge, black empowerment, and the idea that 00:02:46.810 --> 00:02:48.430 the original people of the world are divine. 00:02:48.650 --> 00:02:51.110 Okay, got it. Plus, his father was actively teaching 00:02:51.110 --> 00:02:53.370 him Pan -African history, making sure he knew 00:02:53.370 --> 00:02:55.430 about figures like Marcus Garvey. So from day 00:02:55.430 --> 00:02:58.629 one, DeMille is steeped in this hyper -awareness 00:02:58.629 --> 00:03:02.110 of systemic racial dynamics. But at the same 00:03:02.110 --> 00:03:03.930 time, he's also just a kid in New York in the 00:03:03.930 --> 00:03:06.550 70s and 80s. Exactly. He was just a regular kid 00:03:06.550 --> 00:03:09.750 who obsessed over comic books. In fact, his childhood 00:03:09.750 --> 00:03:12.030 nickname among his friends and family was simply 00:03:12.030 --> 00:03:15.219 Doom. Just doom. Yeah, it's just a phonetic play 00:03:15.219 --> 00:03:18.300 on his last name, Dumail. And he was completely 00:03:18.300 --> 00:03:21.120 drawn to music early on. He started to DJ all 00:03:21.120 --> 00:03:23.199 the way back in the third grade. Which naturally 00:03:23.199 --> 00:03:26.280 leads us to his first real run at the music industry. 00:03:26.419 --> 00:03:30.240 We hit 1988, and Dumail forms a hip -hop group 00:03:30.240 --> 00:03:34.020 called KMD. And he didn't do it alone. He formed 00:03:34.020 --> 00:03:37.080 KMD with his younger brother, who went by DJ 00:03:37.080 --> 00:03:40.599 Subrock. Dumail took on the stage named Zev. 00:03:40.939 --> 00:03:43.680 Love X. Zev Love X. I mean, that feels so far 00:03:43.680 --> 00:03:45.939 removed from the supervillain persona he'd eventually 00:03:45.939 --> 00:03:49.060 adopt. It sounds so... Optimistic. Yeah, optimistic. 00:03:49.460 --> 00:03:51.939 It really was. They were young, they were ambitious, 00:03:52.159 --> 00:03:54.080 and they were gaining real traction. They actually 00:03:54.080 --> 00:03:56.759 got signed to Elektra Records. Dumail made his 00:03:56.759 --> 00:03:59.419 recording debut on a track by the group 3rd Bass. 00:04:00.110 --> 00:04:01.889 Oh, wait, this is the track where he coined the 00:04:01.889 --> 00:04:04.009 phrase the gas face, right? That's the one. And 00:04:04.009 --> 00:04:05.849 for anyone wondering, giving someone the gas 00:04:05.849 --> 00:04:08.569 face basically meant giving them a look of disrespect 00:04:08.569 --> 00:04:11.849 or dismissal. Yeah, it caught on quickly. KMD 00:04:11.849 --> 00:04:14.810 released their debut album, Mr. Hood, in 1991, 00:04:15.090 --> 00:04:18.430 and the future looked incredibly bright. They 00:04:18.430 --> 00:04:20.350 were working on their highly anticipated sophomore 00:04:20.350 --> 00:04:23.509 album, Black Bastards. Things were looking so 00:04:23.509 --> 00:04:26.449 incredibly promising for them, but right on the 00:04:26.449 --> 00:04:29.170 verge of that breakout moment, tragedy strikes. 00:04:29.759 --> 00:04:32.560 Okay, let's unpack this because this is the moment 00:04:32.560 --> 00:04:35.660 Duhamel's world completely shatters. Yeah. In 00:04:35.660 --> 00:04:38.300 1993, just before Black Bastards was supposed 00:04:38.300 --> 00:04:41.879 to drop, Duhamel's younger brother and main collaborator, 00:04:41.959 --> 00:04:45.660 DJ Subrock, was struck and killed by a car while 00:04:45.660 --> 00:04:48.160 crossing the Long Island Expressway. God. He 00:04:48.160 --> 00:04:50.579 was only 19 years old. It's hard to even fathom 00:04:50.579 --> 00:04:52.699 that kind of loss. Your creative partner, your 00:04:52.699 --> 00:04:55.540 sibling, just gone in an instant. And Dumeel 00:04:55.540 --> 00:04:57.740 had to finish that album completely alone over 00:04:57.740 --> 00:05:00.560 the next several months. He was entirely enveloped 00:05:00.560 --> 00:05:02.360 in grief. But the industry didn't give him space 00:05:02.360 --> 00:05:04.879 to grieve, did they? Not at all. Almost immediately, 00:05:04.939 --> 00:05:07.120 the industry turned its back on him. Elektra 00:05:07.120 --> 00:05:09.519 Records dropped KMD and completely shelved the 00:05:09.519 --> 00:05:12.250 Black Bastards album. Just flat out refused to 00:05:12.250 --> 00:05:14.610 release it. And the label stated reason was the 00:05:14.610 --> 00:05:17.790 controversial cover art. Yes. The cover featured 00:05:17.790 --> 00:05:20.910 a cartoon of a stereotypical Sambo caricature, 00:05:21.050 --> 00:05:24.509 a deeply racist historical trope being hanged. 00:05:25.209 --> 00:05:28.329 KMD's intention was to subvert and destroy that 00:05:28.329 --> 00:05:31.290 racist imagery. Right. But Elektra panicked over 00:05:31.290 --> 00:05:34.610 potential backlash, cut their ties and walked 00:05:34.610 --> 00:05:37.750 away. So Dumiel loses his brother, his record 00:05:37.750 --> 00:05:40.709 deal, and his livelihood in one devastating swoop. 00:05:41.009 --> 00:05:44.110 He went from being a rising star to, in his own 00:05:44.110 --> 00:05:46.550 words, damn near homeless, walking the streets 00:05:46.550 --> 00:05:48.490 of Manhattan and sleeping on benches. He was 00:05:48.490 --> 00:05:50.449 completely adrift. And then he just vanishes. 00:05:50.790 --> 00:05:54.689 From roughly 1994 to 1997, Daniel Dumiel is a 00:05:54.689 --> 00:05:57.189 ghost in the hip -hop scene. He eventually retreats 00:05:57.189 --> 00:05:59.189 down to Atlanta, Georgia. What's fascinating 00:05:59.189 --> 00:06:02.110 here is how Demille processed this dual trauma 00:06:02.110 --> 00:06:04.649 during that exile. He wasn't just grieving the 00:06:04.649 --> 00:06:07.250 immense personal loss of Subrock. He felt deeply 00:06:07.250 --> 00:06:09.649 deformed by the music industry. Deformed in what 00:06:09.649 --> 00:06:12.389 way? In the sense that they took his art, capitalized 00:06:12.389 --> 00:06:14.149 on his youthful energy, and then threw him away 00:06:14.149 --> 00:06:16.769 the second things got complicated. Yeah. And 00:06:16.769 --> 00:06:18.980 all while he was mourning his brother. He was 00:06:18.980 --> 00:06:21.399 in Atlanta recovering from his wounds, but he 00:06:21.399 --> 00:06:23.819 was also actively vowing revenge against the 00:06:23.819 --> 00:06:26.639 business. This combination of deep personal grief 00:06:26.639 --> 00:06:29.920 and intense institutional betrayal set the absolute 00:06:29.920 --> 00:06:32.540 perfect stage for his reinvention. He couldn't 00:06:32.540 --> 00:06:35.360 come back as Zevlovex. That kid was gone. Exactly. 00:06:36.019 --> 00:06:38.480 Zevlovex died on the Long Isle Expressway along 00:06:38.480 --> 00:06:41.000 with his brother. He needed a new vehicle. And 00:06:41.000 --> 00:06:43.660 what a vehicle he built. Let's fast forward to 00:06:43.660 --> 00:06:45.620 the late 90s. We're at the New York and Poets 00:06:45.620 --> 00:06:47.959 Cafe in Manhattan. It's a legendary spot for 00:06:48.040 --> 00:06:50.060 underground hip -hop. It's an open mic night. 00:06:50.199 --> 00:06:52.600 And a guy steps up to the mic to freestyle. Wearing 00:06:52.600 --> 00:06:55.160 pantyhose over his head. Literally pantyhose. 00:06:55.620 --> 00:06:57.980 Completely obscuring his face. The crowd must 00:06:57.980 --> 00:07:00.420 have been so confused. But he starts spitting 00:07:00.420 --> 00:07:03.160 and the talent is undeniable. This is the very 00:07:03.160 --> 00:07:06.180 beginning of the transformation. Slowly, the 00:07:06.180 --> 00:07:09.620 pantyhose evolves. He formally adopts a new identity. 00:07:10.519 --> 00:07:14.100 MF Doom. And he crafts a physical mask to match 00:07:14.100 --> 00:07:16.899 the name. At first, he used a literal replica 00:07:16.899 --> 00:07:19.800 of the Marvel Comics supervillain Dr. Doom. If 00:07:19.800 --> 00:07:22.079 you look at the cover of his 1999 debut solo 00:07:22.079 --> 00:07:25.139 album, Operation Doomsday, you can clearly see 00:07:25.139 --> 00:07:27.279 the Marvel character. Right, but you can't just 00:07:27.279 --> 00:07:30.139 use a Disney -owned trademark forever. True. 00:07:30.560 --> 00:07:33.160 So he eventually updates the look. He gets a 00:07:33.160 --> 00:07:36.180 customized metal mask modeled after a prop helmet 00:07:36.180 --> 00:07:38.990 from the movie Gladiator. And from that point 00:07:38.990 --> 00:07:42.209 onward, Daniel DeMille rarely, if ever, made 00:07:42.209 --> 00:07:44.490 an unmasked public appearance again. But the 00:07:44.490 --> 00:07:46.370 mask wasn't just a gimmick to get attention, 00:07:46.649 --> 00:07:48.790 was it? Not at all. It was a profound artistic 00:07:48.790 --> 00:07:51.910 statement. Academic Hirshini Bani -Young points 00:07:51.910 --> 00:07:54.529 out something brilliant here. By putting on a 00:07:54.529 --> 00:07:57.810 supervillain mask, DeMille was leaning into the 00:07:57.810 --> 00:08:00.170 role society had already assigned to him. How 00:08:00.170 --> 00:08:02.550 do you mean? The music industry had treated him 00:08:02.550 --> 00:08:05.420 as disposable. And historically, the dominant 00:08:05.420 --> 00:08:07.639 constructs of identity in the U .S. relegating 00:08:07.639 --> 00:08:10.139 him as a black man to second class citizenship. 00:08:10.560 --> 00:08:13.399 He was already viewed by the system as a problem. 00:08:13.560 --> 00:08:16.279 Right. So by taking on the supervillain persona, 00:08:16.639 --> 00:08:18.740 he was basically saying, you want a villain, 00:08:18.860 --> 00:08:21.060 I'll give you the ultimate villain. That's incredibly 00:08:21.060 --> 00:08:23.560 powerful. He's weaponizing the very stereotypes 00:08:23.560 --> 00:08:26.860 used against him. Precisely. He combined elements 00:08:26.860 --> 00:08:29.959 of Dr. Doom, the G .I. Joe villain Destro, and 00:08:29.959 --> 00:08:32.320 the Phantom of the Opera. He even began referring 00:08:32.320 --> 00:08:34.620 to himself entirely in the third person while 00:08:34.620 --> 00:08:37.940 in character. The mask became a literal and figurative 00:08:37.940 --> 00:08:41.039 barrier between his true, vulnerable self and 00:08:41.039 --> 00:08:43.740 a world that had caused him immense pain. I want 00:08:43.740 --> 00:08:45.779 you to think about that for a second. Imagine 00:08:45.779 --> 00:08:48.480 going through something so devastating that the 00:08:48.480 --> 00:08:50.700 only way you can step back out into the world... 00:08:50.860 --> 00:08:52.519 The only way you can protect yourself from a 00:08:52.519 --> 00:08:54.980 system that burned you is to build a literal 00:08:54.980 --> 00:08:57.899 metal shield, a shield that protects your vulnerability 00:08:57.899 --> 00:09:00.519 but also becomes an incredibly potent creative 00:09:00.519 --> 00:09:03.220 weapon. And he utilized that weapon masterfully. 00:09:03.759 --> 00:09:07.419 Moving into the early 2000s, Doom enters this 00:09:07.419 --> 00:09:09.399 golden era, creating a whole web of characters. 00:09:09.600 --> 00:09:11.639 It wasn't just MF Doom anymore. No, it was a 00:09:11.639 --> 00:09:14.840 massive interconnected mythology. Under the moniker 00:09:14.840 --> 00:09:17.519 King Ghidorah, which he based on a three -headed 00:09:17.519 --> 00:09:19.539 golden space dragon from the Godzilla films, 00:09:19.700 --> 00:09:22.080 he released the album Take Me to Your Leader 00:09:22.080 --> 00:09:24.840 in 2003. A three -headed space dragon making 00:09:24.840 --> 00:09:26.940 underground hip -hop beats. You really can't 00:09:26.940 --> 00:09:29.720 make this up. And that same year, he released 00:09:29.720 --> 00:09:32.320 vaudeville villain under the name Victor Vaughn. 00:09:33.010 --> 00:09:35.629 Critics described Victor as a time -traveling 00:09:35.629 --> 00:09:38.149 street hustler. He was world -building on a scale 00:09:38.149 --> 00:09:40.509 rarely seen in music. And it all culminates in 00:09:40.509 --> 00:09:43.389 2004 with what is widely considered his absolute 00:09:43.389 --> 00:09:46.490 masterpiece, Mad Villainy. Yes, recorded with 00:09:46.490 --> 00:09:49.149 the legendary producer Madlib. And then the following 00:09:49.149 --> 00:09:51.649 year, in 2005, he drops the mouse and the mask 00:09:51.649 --> 00:09:54.710 with producer Danger Mouse, heavily featuring 00:09:54.710 --> 00:09:57.070 characters from Cartoon Network's Adult Swim. 00:09:57.320 --> 00:09:59.600 And that one actually hit number 41 on the Billboard 00:09:59.600 --> 00:10:02.480 200. He's suddenly collaborating with Gorillaz, 00:10:02.600 --> 00:10:06.159 producing for Ghostface Killa, but it's his specific 00:10:06.159 --> 00:10:09.620 style that really cemented his legacy. His lyricism 00:10:09.620 --> 00:10:12.259 is practically unmatched. It's a flow that sounds 00:10:12.259 --> 00:10:14.399 incredibly loose and conversational, almost like 00:10:14.399 --> 00:10:16.480 he's just talking to you, yet it is delivered 00:10:16.480 --> 00:10:18.820 with razor sharp technical precision. He used 00:10:18.820 --> 00:10:21.279 this crazy web of illusions, comic book references, 00:10:21.600 --> 00:10:23.600 metaphysics, and stream of consciousness rhymes, 00:10:23.799 --> 00:10:26.480 and his production heavily relied on these obscure 00:10:26.639 --> 00:10:29.580 cartoon samples. Critic Chris Wagner put it perfectly 00:10:29.580 --> 00:10:32.659 when he noted Doom's willingness to embrace comedy 00:10:32.659 --> 00:10:35.419 and nerdiness without hiding behind a heavy cloak 00:10:35.419 --> 00:10:38.059 of irony. It was absurd, but it was entirely 00:10:38.059 --> 00:10:40.980 sincere in its absurdity. But with all this massive 00:10:40.980 --> 00:10:43.559 success and critical acclaim, he never let go 00:10:43.559 --> 00:10:45.419 of that supervillain ethos. And here's where 00:10:45.419 --> 00:10:47.899 it gets really interesting. He started sending 00:10:47.899 --> 00:10:51.720 imposters to perform for him. The infamous Doom 00:10:51.720 --> 00:10:54.220 posters. Yes. Fans would pay their hard -earned 00:10:54.220 --> 00:10:57.059 money for a ticket. show up to a venue, the beat 00:10:57.059 --> 00:11:00.039 drops, a guy in a metal mask walks out, and the 00:11:00.039 --> 00:11:03.159 crowd slowly realizes it's not actually Daniel 00:11:03.159 --> 00:11:07.279 DeMaio. In 2010, at a show in Toronto, An imposter 00:11:07.279 --> 00:11:09.820 actually got booed off the stage before the real 00:11:09.820 --> 00:11:11.919 doom eventually came out. It happened frequently. 00:11:12.120 --> 00:11:14.980 As recently as 2019 at the Adult Swim Festival, 00:11:15.179 --> 00:11:17.940 the masked figure on stage turned out to be the 00:11:17.940 --> 00:11:20.320 comedian Hannibal Buress. Wait, but from a fan's 00:11:20.320 --> 00:11:22.220 perspective, isn't that just a massive scam? 00:11:22.360 --> 00:11:24.139 You pay to see your favorite artist and get a 00:11:24.139 --> 00:11:26.639 fake. Fans were absolutely furious. This raises 00:11:26.639 --> 00:11:28.340 an important question regarding the relationship 00:11:28.340 --> 00:11:30.679 between the artist, the art, and the audience. 00:11:30.960 --> 00:11:33.360 Wow. How did Dumail justify this? Yeah, how could 00:11:33.360 --> 00:11:35.710 he justify it? Well... In an interview with The 00:11:35.710 --> 00:11:38.070 New Yorker, he explained that he viewed himself 00:11:38.070 --> 00:11:41.029 as the writer and director of the MF Doom character. 00:11:41.409 --> 00:11:44.809 He wasn't a traditional pop star. He was running 00:11:44.809 --> 00:11:47.629 a stage play. He even said he might send a white 00:11:47.629 --> 00:11:49.370 guy next because whoever plays the character 00:11:49.370 --> 00:11:51.929 plays the character. So the supervillain was 00:11:51.929 --> 00:11:54.970 purely an idea, a conceptual construct. Exactly. 00:11:55.049 --> 00:11:58.769 It frustrated ticket buyers, naturally. But conceptually, 00:11:58.769 --> 00:12:01.450 it proved his ultimate point. The character was 00:12:01.450 --> 00:12:03.809 bigger than the mortal man beneath the metal. 00:12:04.379 --> 00:12:06.740 The mask was the performance. It's brilliant 00:12:06.740 --> 00:12:09.480 in a highly confrontational way. He was constantly 00:12:09.480 --> 00:12:11.360 challenging the rules of the music industry. 00:12:11.559 --> 00:12:14.600 But there was another system, an unseen bureaucratic 00:12:14.600 --> 00:12:17.559 labyrinth that he couldn't outmaneuver. And this 00:12:17.559 --> 00:12:19.919 shifts our story into its final, much darker 00:12:19.919 --> 00:12:22.379 chapter. The immigration system. Yes. Remember 00:12:22.379 --> 00:12:24.200 that B visa we mentioned at the start? Yeah. 00:12:24.279 --> 00:12:26.100 Despite living in the United States almost his 00:12:26.100 --> 00:12:28.919 entire life, Dumiel never naturalized as a U 00:12:28.919 --> 00:12:31.279 .S. citizen. He technically remained a British 00:12:31.279 --> 00:12:33.659 citizen his whole life. It's important to note 00:12:33.659 --> 00:12:35.840 the specifics here. When he was just three years 00:12:35.840 --> 00:12:39.000 old, his family was actually approved for permanent 00:12:39.000 --> 00:12:42.500 resident status. But his family lacked the funds 00:12:42.500 --> 00:12:45.039 to file the necessary paperwork at the time. 00:12:45.179 --> 00:12:47.960 Just lack of funds to pay the filing fee kept 00:12:47.960 --> 00:12:50.899 him from legal permanence? We're looking strictly 00:12:50.899 --> 00:12:53.379 at the facts of his immigration struggle here. 00:12:53.799 --> 00:12:57.279 as outlined in the sources. In 2004, under the 00:12:57.279 --> 00:12:59.700 Immigration Registry provision, Duhamel applied 00:12:59.700 --> 00:13:02.399 for permanent residency, believing he was eligible 00:13:02.399 --> 00:13:04.379 given his long -term presence in the country. 00:13:04.559 --> 00:13:06.159 Right, he had legal assistance and everything. 00:13:06.519 --> 00:13:09.299 He did. However, his application was officially 00:13:09.299 --> 00:13:12.200 denied by U .S. Citizenship and Immigration Services 00:13:12.200 --> 00:13:15.539 in 2005. And the breaking point finally occurred 00:13:15.539 --> 00:13:19.200 in 2010. Yes. Duhamel acquired a British passport 00:13:19.200 --> 00:13:21.860 to go on a European tour in support of his album 00:13:21.860 --> 00:13:24.840 Born Like This. When he attempted to return to 00:13:24.840 --> 00:13:26.519 his home in the US, the Department of Homeland 00:13:26.519 --> 00:13:29.379 Security denied him reentry. They found him to 00:13:29.379 --> 00:13:31.960 be unlawfully present in the United States. Just 00:13:31.960 --> 00:13:34.240 like that, he was exiled from the country he'd 00:13:34.240 --> 00:13:37.259 lived in since 1971. He was separated from his 00:13:37.259 --> 00:13:39.480 wife, Jasmine, and their five children for nearly 00:13:39.480 --> 00:13:41.379 two years while they figured out what to do. 00:13:41.539 --> 00:13:44.740 He eventually settled in the UK and relocated 00:13:44.740 --> 00:13:48.419 his family to London in 2012. He continued to 00:13:48.419 --> 00:13:51.100 work, of course. He collaborated on albums like 00:13:51.100 --> 00:13:54.580 2012's Key to the Cuffs with Gennaro Jarrell. 00:13:54.879 --> 00:13:57.240 You can actually hear him directly referencing 00:13:57.240 --> 00:14:00.100 his exile on that album, utilizing Britishisms 00:14:00.100 --> 00:14:02.679 in tracks like Governor. But the separation and 00:14:02.679 --> 00:14:05.320 the forced relocation took an immense toll. He 00:14:05.320 --> 00:14:07.100 stated in interviews that he was done with the 00:14:07.100 --> 00:14:09.679 United States. He lived his final years in Yorkshire 00:14:09.679 --> 00:14:12.559 and then Leeds. And it was in Leeds where this 00:14:12.559 --> 00:14:14.960 remarkable life came to an end. Let's lay out 00:14:14.960 --> 00:14:16.620 exactly what happened, based on the records. 00:14:16.779 --> 00:14:19.240 In October 2020, DeMille was admitted to St. 00:14:19.379 --> 00:14:21.980 James' University Hospital with respiratory problems. 00:14:22.259 --> 00:14:25.379 And on October 31, 2020, Daniel DeMille died 00:14:25.379 --> 00:14:28.320 at the age of 49. The cause of death was angioedema. 00:14:28.700 --> 00:14:31.340 It's a severe swelling, which in his case was 00:14:31.340 --> 00:14:33.519 triggered as an adverse reaction to a blood pressure 00:14:33.519 --> 00:14:36.029 medication he had recently been prescribed. Because 00:14:36.029 --> 00:14:38.830 of the COVID -19 lockdown protocols at the time, 00:14:38.970 --> 00:14:41.570 his wife Jasmine was not allowed to visit him 00:14:41.570 --> 00:14:44.590 in the hospital until the very day he died. And 00:14:44.590 --> 00:14:47.110 then Jasmine kept his death a secret from the 00:14:47.110 --> 00:14:50.090 public for two full months. The world didn't 00:14:50.090 --> 00:14:52.929 find out until she announced it on December 31st, 00:14:52.929 --> 00:14:55.629 New Year's Eve. And the details that came out 00:14:55.629 --> 00:14:58.019 later during the official medical inquest. shed 00:14:58.019 --> 00:14:59.720 light on what occurred in the hospital. What 00:14:59.720 --> 00:15:02.879 exactly did the inquest find? According to the 00:15:02.879 --> 00:15:05.860 reports, his family heavily criticized the hospital's 00:15:05.860 --> 00:15:08.820 treatment. Jasmine reported that Dumyle's nurse 00:15:08.820 --> 00:15:11.620 call button was placed out of his reach and that 00:15:11.620 --> 00:15:13.679 staff failed to check on him frequently enough. 00:15:14.720 --> 00:15:17.139 Lawyers for the family presented evidence that 00:15:17.139 --> 00:15:19.240 it took two hours to administer medication for 00:15:19.240 --> 00:15:21.419 his swollen throat, which is a highly dangerous 00:15:21.419 --> 00:15:24.320 symptom of angioedema. And what was the hospital's 00:15:24.320 --> 00:15:26.500 response to this? An official inquest found that 00:15:26.500 --> 00:15:28.799 the hospital's care plan lacked sufficient detail. 00:15:29.500 --> 00:15:31.460 Ultimately, the chief medical officer issued 00:15:31.460 --> 00:15:34.100 a formal apology, admitting that Dumail's treatment 00:15:34.100 --> 00:15:36.440 had been substandard. The outpouring of grief 00:15:36.440 --> 00:15:38.519 when his death was finally announced to the public 00:15:38.519 --> 00:15:41.159 was absolutely massive. The tributes from his 00:15:41.159 --> 00:15:43.679 peers really underscore his impact on music. 00:15:43.980 --> 00:15:46.789 LP called him a writer's writer. Q -Tip called 00:15:46.789 --> 00:15:49.169 him your favorite rapper's favorite rapper. And 00:15:49.169 --> 00:15:51.789 Tom York from Radiohead, who collaborated with 00:15:51.789 --> 00:15:54.610 him, marveled at his genius. He specifically 00:15:54.610 --> 00:15:56.850 said the way Dumail used stream of consciousness 00:15:56.850 --> 00:15:59.570 was something he'd never heard before. He left 00:15:59.570 --> 00:16:02.509 a gaping hole in the music world. Yeah. If we 00:16:02.509 --> 00:16:05.149 connect this to the bigger picture, the legacy 00:16:05.149 --> 00:16:08.570 of Daniel Dumail of MF Doom is a masterclass 00:16:08.570 --> 00:16:11.759 in alchemy. Alchemy. Yes. It shows us that knowledge, 00:16:12.000 --> 00:16:14.700 talent, and creativity are most valuable when 00:16:14.700 --> 00:16:16.620 they are applied directly to our darkest moments. 00:16:17.299 --> 00:16:19.980 Dumail took immense, paralyzing personal grief 00:16:19.980 --> 00:16:22.019 from the loss of his brother, combined it with 00:16:22.019 --> 00:16:24.139 institutional rejection from the music industry, 00:16:24.279 --> 00:16:27.039 and used it to forge an impenetrable, unforgettable 00:16:27.039 --> 00:16:30.100 artistic universe. He didn't just survive his 00:16:30.100 --> 00:16:32.820 trauma, he weaponized it into brilliant art. 00:16:33.100 --> 00:16:36.159 So, what does this all mean for you? When you 00:16:36.159 --> 00:16:38.740 face a system that rejects you or you experience 00:16:38.740 --> 00:16:40.899 a setback that breaks you down to your foundations, 00:16:41.399 --> 00:16:44.769 how do you respond? Do you accept the script 00:16:44.769 --> 00:16:46.929 that you were given by the world? Or do you put 00:16:46.929 --> 00:16:49.110 on a mask and write a completely new one? Because 00:16:49.110 --> 00:16:51.090 Duhamel proved that sometimes the only way to 00:16:51.090 --> 00:16:53.850 be truly seen is to hide your face. That's incredibly 00:16:53.850 --> 00:16:57.029 well said. Before we wrap up, there is one final 00:16:57.029 --> 00:16:59.549 fascinating detail from our sources that we haven't 00:16:59.549 --> 00:17:01.870 touched on yet. And it perfectly encapsulates 00:17:01.870 --> 00:17:04.670 the strange reality of his legacy. This is regarding 00:17:04.670 --> 00:17:07.349 the inauguration, right? Yes. In January 2021, 00:17:07.789 --> 00:17:10.430 just weeks after the public learned of his death, 00:17:10.710 --> 00:17:13.190 MF Duhamel's instrumental track coughed. and 00:17:13.190 --> 00:17:15.910 nails was included on U .S. President Joe Biden's 00:17:15.910 --> 00:17:19.009 official inauguration playlist. Now, looking 00:17:19.009 --> 00:17:21.230 at this neutrally based strictly on the fan reactions, 00:17:21.450 --> 00:17:23.950 people fiercely criticized this inclusion. They 00:17:23.950 --> 00:17:26.640 pointed out the timeline. Exactly. Fans pointed 00:17:26.640 --> 00:17:28.880 out the paradox that Joe Biden was the vice president 00:17:28.880 --> 00:17:31.500 of the United States in 2010, the exact time 00:17:31.500 --> 00:17:34.839 when Dumiel was refused reentry and exiled from 00:17:34.839 --> 00:17:37.000 the country by the Department of Homeland Security. 00:17:37.720 --> 00:17:40.039 I want to leave you to mull over that paradox. 00:17:40.400 --> 00:17:42.880 How does the establishment eventually co -opt 00:17:42.880 --> 00:17:45.220 the art of the very villains that exiles once 00:17:45.220 --> 00:17:47.279 they're no longer around to fight back? It's 00:17:47.279 --> 00:17:49.539 a heavy question to consider. It really is. Thank 00:17:49.539 --> 00:17:51.500 you for joining us on this deep dive into the 00:17:51.500 --> 00:17:53.960 life and legacy of the one and only M .F. Doom. 00:17:54.509 --> 00:17:56.450 Keep questioning the systems around you, and 00:17:56.450 --> 00:17:58.049 as always, stay curious.