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Album Review: DOOM - Born Like This

  • Written by  Stuart Bullen

After almost half a decade spent fine-tuning his plans for world domination, hip-hop's most venomous villain has returned to terrorise mankind once more.

Taking his cues from the Fantastic Four's tin-plated arch-nemesis, Victor Von Doom - a role model we here at Muso's Guide heartily approve of - the artist formerly known as MF DOOM has long been the premier exponent of articulate, left-field hip-hop, and his many albums and collaborations are oft heralded as some of the finest the genre has to offer. Considering his impeccable pedigree you could almost forgive him for phoning this one in, but despite a few glaring missteps Born Like This is yet another strong outing, further cementing DOOM's position as one of the most original voices ever to cross the mic.

On first listen Born Like This seems like little more than a blur of disparate samples, haphazard beats and impenetrable rhymes all stitched together with little regard for flow or structure. Stick with it, though, and that initial feeling of bewilderment begins to disappear. This is a densely packed album, one that rewards multiple listens and an attentive ear. It is also DOOM's darkest solo outing to date and seethes with a jagged cynicism most apparent on Raekwon collab 'Yessir!' and the stirringly apocalyptic 'Cellz'. That's not to say the album is all gloom and doom - far from it - but this is definitely a surlier DOOM than we are used to.

Early standouts include 'Ballskin' and 'Rap Ambush', both of which are easily digested micro-masterpieces that linger long in the memory despite their brevity. 'Batty Boyz', a sardonic look at the latent homoeroticism found in comic book superheroes, vacillates between po-faced parody and irksome insensitivity, coming off as more juvenile than reactionary in the process. 'Angelz' featuring Tony Starks (A.K.A Ghostface Killah) is another minor disappointment, especially when you consider the duo's previous collaboration on DangerDoom was the undoubted highlight of that otherwise lacklustre album. Thankfully, songs like 'Cellz' - a track that lumbers into view like the monster in an old Japanese B-movie - 'Gazillion Ear' and 'Absolutely' ably demonstrate why DOOM is considered by many to be the best at what he does.

Pound for pound, Born Like This may not be our illustrious MC's finest hour, but it is still a seminal slice of hip-hop, enlivened by a handful of great guest performances and a liberal sprinkling of inventive beats and samples. In some ways this seems like a transitional album, lying somewhere between the candy-coloured DOOM of old and a newer, almost forbidding sound. Either way, it will be interesting to see where Latveria's favourite rapper goes from here. Here's hoping we don't have to wait another four years to find out.

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