Mm..Food

I mean I nominated this album so it's only going one way. SUPER! The best MC to ever do it, some of the most ridiculous sample flips (old Fantastic 4 cartoons and Anita Baker... Go on...) and a sense of fun that belies the razor sharp mind operating beneath it.

The appetizers and entrees here are expectedly delicious, but it really is the special recipes that shows off what makes DOOM special not as a rapper, but as a unique producer. God I'm so fucking hungry whenever I listen to this.

2004 was a good year, and this was one of the best things about it.

I found that the original list did hiphop / rap dirty and never felt like they really explored the genre. This is a great example. I've never heard of this guy before but it was fantastic. It was fun and different and had some great vibes. Plus it's just a hair under 50 minutes which is absolutely perfect (soooooo many rap albums on the list were way too long). Just sounds so fresh and interesting. Absolutely a great pick and addition. My personal rating: 4/5 My rating relative to the list: 5/5 Should this have been included on the original list? Yes. Strong yes here. This is some great music that deserves to be listened to.

Gotta love MF DOOM and the fact that there are by my count at least 2 of his album included here by submission. I'm hoping one day I find Vaudeville Villain here as well. Seriously, how did none of his work make the book?

One of my favorite rap albums and a concept album about food. The title is an anagram. I like the flow of his raps and the usage of samples.

Very cool, interesting jazz/funk music. The super heroes/villain inserts work well to bins together the concept into a cohesive whole, but are also a bit annoying! Overall I enjoyed it.

OK, but not his best work in my opinion. 3 stars as the far superior Madvillainy is already on the list.

Not listed to much DOOM before, but this was great, will listen some more.

Never going to say anything negative about MFD

Rating: 9/10 Best songs: Beef rap, Hoe cakes, Potholderz, Deep fried frenz, Kon karne, One beer, Rap snitch knishes, Vomitspit

Equal parts dumb skits and the best production you’ve ever heard on a hip hop album. I get why the inserts are there but man sometimes I just wanna hear the good shit. Guinnessez and rapp snitch knishes are my favs.

For me, this is Doom's peak. Effortless talent on display through light, almost throwaway topics. Killer sampling, always interesting and humorous.

Very formative album for me, and a very deserved pick. For a long time I used to think that the skits inbetween songs ate up too much of the runtime, but revisiting it recently they are much less present than I remembered! There are a few spots where they drag (the 5-minute skit suite in the middle could’ve been shorter), but by now they’re an essential element of the record for me. Even then, the rest of the album is filled with enough dense, comedic, quotable wordplay to more than satisfy anyone. Not to mention the great beats, fabulously demonstrating how DOOM was one of the best rapper & producer combos in the game. It’s a shame that the original version of Kookies isn’t on streaming, though! Do seek that out if you’re unfamiliar. R.I.P.

2004 was a really good year in music, this clearly included. Super fun! Seems like a lot of people get annoyed by the cartoon samples, but honestly it's like listening to someone laying the groundwork for how to do a youtube poop (this is a compliment).

Always down with some St. DOOM. This is pretty much pure fun.

4 Finally some good use of samples in hip-hop. Not just a shit 5 second loop played for 5 minutes

One of DOOM’s most cohesive and catchy efforts, chock full of hypnotic beats and the ever-playful, witty bars the man was known for. Like most MF efforts, this LP gets a bit too caught up in the meta-narrative for my taste and lets audio samples get in the way of its own creative genius, but once the tracks get rolling it’s hard not to lose yourself in the flow. RIP DOOM, man had so many ideas and tracks left to give the world yet still left such a prolific mark while he was here

Yet another glaring omission from the OG list. MF Doom is one of the best to ever do it, and one of the weirdos who make the genre wonderful. Favorite tracks: "Potholderz", "Rap Snitches Knishes"

MF Doom was one of the linguistically amazing rappers out there. He had an ability to flow over any beat no matter how unique. Food is one of his best albums as he makes a whole concept out of something so simple and still provides the classic doom mind bending rhymes with odd ball skits. There was no one like him. 8.4/10

Great album from the man in the mask! Maybe heresy to say, but I'm not the biggest fan of this album (especially in comparison to Madvillainy, and I think Born Like This as well). Still, the rapping is nimble as always, maybe it's some of the production or features that puts it out of top contention for me? Hard for me to say, but I do still love a lot of it. It's weird to feel like I'm apologizing for a 4-4.5 star review. When it works, it really works though. Also, as I was listening to this, I was thinking about how he was technically born in the UK and people claim he's a "British rapper"...feels like the hip hop equivalent of the Redditor "Die Hard is a christmas movie" logic. Doesn't take but 5 seconds of listening to know he's New York. 4.5/5

Keep the Doom coming!! It’s doomsday baby!

This isn't too bad. Straddles that fine line between great hip hop and forgettable hip hop. Good flow, but melodies and beats maybe a little lazy. 3/5.

Great Hip Hop album I agree should be on the list, but personally I don’t think it’s in the same league as madvillainy

Only one beer left

rap snitches telling all their business sit in court and be their own star witness

Mmmmmmmm

Crazy-ass hip hop album and a wild ride into the deranged mind of one of the most important rappers (and producers) who has ever lived. Rest in peace, DOOM. You kept the true flame of the genre alive at a time where a lot of your colleagues sort of lost the thread, and you did it on your own mad terms to boot. This is why you are a legendary figure today. Very aptly-named, the album feels like a grand buffet in a four-star hip hop restaurant. Sure, the four-part skit collage with a million samples from superhero cartoons in the second quarter of the LP is probably a little hard to stomach for some listeners (this part nearly drove my partner crazy when I played the album in our living room the other day). Especially when you have so many other interludes at the end and beginning of the other tracks including real lyrics. I personally feel those skits bring a lot of mood and personality to the table, though -- especially the last one in the four-part collage, "Fig Leaf Bi-Carbonate", whose beats and brass section would have been great for a proper song. Strange that Doom chose to gather all the individually-named skits in such early slots, but for me their grouped presence doesn't hurt the album's flow that much. Also the LP ends on a strange note with "Kookies" -- spectacular on a lyrical level, but a bit muted and low-stakes on a musical one. Maybe the impossibility to use the original Sesame Street sample in the track played into that, I don't know... That said, everything else in the menu is just so damn perfect. The basslines are especially lively, the musical styles harnessed here go from boom-bap to old-school funk, and yet everything sounds tight, cohesive and catchy as hell. Doom's flow is hypnotic, here enhanced by a very raw sound capture that enhances the authenticity of the whole thing. From the get-go, "Beef Rapp" gives you the impression that MF Doom is rapping in his kitchen rather than a studio, with the TV on behind him blasting the soundtrack and dialogues of one of those cartoons he was so obsessed with. Some guests come to the kitchen sometimes, like Angelika on "Guinnessez" for a stellar featuring (whatever happened to that excellent female rapper?), while Dumile / Doom's chorus on the same song is one of the best old school hip hop choruses about love relationships this side of the 21st Century. Before that, "Deep Fried Frenzy" is also a moving trip down old school memory lane, whose suave synth-enhanced funk groove digs as deep as it can get. But most of all, you have four absolute highlights in this joint that make it a mandatory listen for any rap / hip hop fan out there: jittery "Hoe Cake", the Madlib-produced, psychedelic "One Beer", the mesmerizing, electric-guitar-enhanced "Rapp Snitch Knishes", and the laidback yet lyrically aggressive "Vomitspit". It's actually quite hard to describe what works so well in those cuts, but let's just say that each shine with their own special light -- one which only MF DOOM's artistry can exude. So it's one for the ages, as original and so distinctively personal as those songs are. Actually, this album is one for the ages probably because of those very assets. Like a lot of other musical genres, good hip hop suffers much from standardization, and everything in this record seems to resist the very idea. And on that subject, I'm waiting for Madvillainy now. I can't wait to read what other reviewers have to say about that one as well. See you then. Here's my tip: 4.5/5 for the purposes of this list of essential albums, rounded up to 5. 9.5/10 for more general purposes (5+4.5) Number of albums from the original list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 465 Albums from the original list I *might* include in mine later on: 288 Albums from the original list I won't include in mine: 336 ---- Number of albums from the users list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 21 (including this one) Albums from the users list I *might* select for mine later on: 34 Albums from the users list I won't select for mine: 64 --- Émile, j'ai donc lu tes deux dernières réponses. Je mets la mienne ci-dessous bientôt. 🙂

A work of genius, by one of the best to ever do it. In any fair world, he would be one of the most successful artists ever, but not in this one.

Restored my faith in Hip-hop and is a constant stream of idea and tunes, samples and wordplays. This is a joy to listen to. This guy was a tour de force and the world a sadder place when he died. Everytime I listen to this I hear something I'd not spotted before.

MF DOOM was one of the greatest rappers of all time. Rest in peace. This album is perfection.

September 20, 2025 HL: "Rapp Snitch Knishes" "One Beer", (heard those two before today) "Deep Fried Frenz", "Hoe Cakes", "Kon Queso" 3rd MF Doom I've heard this year, after Take Me To Your Leader and Madvillainy. I might just finally be getting accustomed to his style, but tonight this is my favourite one of those three. Even though the songs on their own can be unsatisfyingly short and peppered with endless skits, taken as a whole it's more entertaining than I expected. Maybe that's the unifying power of food: Gumbo. Guinness. Chocolate fudge butter crunch. Whatever a knish is 9/10 before I change my mind

incredible

Praised as perhaps THE greatest rapper amongst online music circles, MF DOOM writes dizzyingly impressive bars that puts Shakespear to shame. Combined with his unique production style that elevates his persona with old superhero cartoon samples, the mythos surrounding MF DOOM becomes undeniably enticing. Who is/was DOOM? I was going to type up a whole history lesson, but bigger fans of his work have written better tributes to MF DOOM following his untimely death in 2020. In lieu of my own take, I will share the lyrics to Ask Anyone by Aesop Rock & Homeboy Sandman, who were both undeniably inspired by DOOM, both as a rapper and a producer. Read these lines with purpose! (Aesop Rock) Roses for the OG MF, where were you when Bob dropped the OG Deadbent? I was over Tony's on some "Whoa is that? No, is that? Yes it's Zev Love X, sounding reckless." I took it to the head and heart, you were back as Metal Face and threatening my pearl white Acura from the 2nd bar barfing up a master class in charismatic disrespect and trash talk. Mask on. Mac and cheese, Timberlands. Sold the first Apple Seed CDs at your Brownies show while you were saying "something to remember like the Alamo." I was yelling every word and never late and when you finally played "Hey!" I felt the venue levitate. Ask anyone, L.I. to upstate. Come to learn it's only phase 1 of the flood gates. DOOM stay gluing true grit to the bass line and made himself a hero and a villain at the same time. Back in '94 you had that line about the Nikes on the wire. I'd always see these Nikes on the wire when I was driving through a neighborhood somebody said you stayed in, convinced I'd found the actual inspiration (for the record I was not even close to the right neighborhood.) Even when the heart is pure, the brain is mush. Thank you for the stories, and the fuck you to the normies. Brewin said we lost our Jordan, I would sprinkle in some Vorhees and agree. Breeze, I have this memory of me and you rapping Meat Grinder to each other at a BBQ in BK. Got the same memory with a couple other people too. Trading DOOM lines, that's what people do. You were always kind to me in person. I tried to play it cool but I was always kinda nervous. 30 summers a guide in the muddy waters to the man with many names: I hope you're somewhere with your brother, yea. (Homeboy Sandman) Supervillain tho. Illin tho. Chopping records that my parents listened to, DOOM was on a mission to remind you that the magic is what matters. But where'd he find that banter, where'd he find them patterns? He ain't had no manners. My favorite villain is The Drop off Viktor Vaughn, but every time I hear the Great Day intro I'ma sing along. And cats be sleeping on the GMO's, them lessons on point. We share a brother in Kuri from the Question Mark joint. Supervillain in the function then his people's never far. Thanks for introducing us to John Robinson and Stahhr and a era full of rarified jewels and making use of airtime for making bad hairlines cool. Being crazy takes guts. Monsta Island Czars had a rep for being nuts. Extra special words, scent of special herbs still lingers. My pantheon is Bird and Mingus, Prince and Metal Fingers. Larger than life, he had his own Nikes. I'm a Clearweather brand dude, but dag DOOM. MM FOOD was the anagram; Fresh put me on I proceed to put on anyone that was famalam, and every particle genuine article. Okay, you stiffed a few promoters who thought they booked the man under the mask, but they could never tell for certain. Walking the walk while talking in third person, he wore a mask so the charge won't grab. On a rooftop with a large stone slab, seen where the industry was going and had the gonads to go "nah." Thanks. A bar is not a measure of music DOOM was doing, it's a unit a buried treasure. No one ever done it better. So I'ma keep my computer on caps lock forever. CONTENDER FOR THE LIST: Either this or Madvillainy or both. You need DOOM on this list.

I am always in for an MF DOOM vehicle

As a concept album about... food(?), it doesn't seem to be a whole lot about food. I mean, is OJ even a food? Gumbo is a clever use of wrap and wrapper.

Go in knowing nothing about this album

I can see what the end goal is here, I just think it has been done better by other people. That being said, it's a fairly bold attempt.

4.5

Liked it a lot

Not my style of music but really glad it’s on this list. If the main list is criticized for not having enough rap/hip hop etc then the user list seems to have even less. This is the first I think I’ve had in 100 recommendations.

I just recently discovered MF DOOM and have listened to this album multiple times already. I really like the persona he adopted and the samples he used in his music. Very good rapper that we lost way too young.

Fun and funny; appealingly bonkers.

Fun with a nice story. Rhythmically basic

Quirky, creative and fun. I liked this, thanks for sharing. Fave Songs: Beef Rapp, Deep Fried Frenz, One Beer, Guinnessez, Fillet-O-Rapper

Hip hop alternativo. Ni fu ni fa.

An interesting exercise in rap and storytelling. He has a pretty understated delivery that I like and dense lyrical content. Still there wasn't much here that got me engaged beyond the curiosity of hearing something new. Deep Fried Frenz was the highlight for me.

Is this a joke artist? Because if it is, they have an awful lot of talent. I was intrigued from the moment I opened the album.

This was interesting for sure - and as a fan of Jonny Quest I appreciated the large number of samples from that cartoon. Some of the songs got a little tedious with the same repetitive samples, although that might be less the case if I were to become more familiar with the lyrics I suppose. Not totally my thing, but it was interesting.

Hooray for sampling "Sweet Love" (but it just made me wish it would play "Sweet Love"). All the sampled quotes were fun (Logan's Run, Muppets...) but got a little much by the end. That said, it was distinctive from much of the rest of this project's hip hop, and I like the theme of the album and the persona of MF Doom.

Better than some. Not misogynistic

It's quite fun when I know that something on the list is highly influential everywhere in music. I can also somehow get it by listening to the album. However, when it reached the end, the only thing I can say still is: "mm..it's ok, nothing great, but fun".

Hip hop alternativo. Ni fu ni fa.

I get I'm supposed to like MFDOOM but MM..FOOD doesn't really do much more for me the second time we've had him on the user list. I preferred it to Madvillainy and the flow is good, but the production isn't really to my preferences, it's a bit too sparse and understated and I don't think really sells his skills properly, but everyone else loves it and him so there we are. Get rid of the skits and this is a tighter effort that's better for the focus, but I just found it 3/5 good at best. If I hold Jay-Z's The Blueprint to be the best hiphop rap album we've had on this whole thing (and it is), this doesn't come close, very little has.

I'm not a big hip hop expert so I usually find any performer generic and this is the case. I wasn't surprised by any beat so I can only rate on that.

Some nice tunes but a little too heavy on the samples.

Not my thing.

Hip hop from. Seems basically fine and obviously better than 50 Cent etc. but not interesting for me. Rating: 2 Playlist track: Rap Snitch Knishes Date listened: 29/11/24

I sadly couldn't get any enjoyment out of this, because I'm still lost on the fact whether MF DOOM is a dangerous evil villain feared by many and if Spider-Man is after him. I think one more 3 minute long skit of 50s cartoon characters talking could have really brought this one together. Also, obligatory: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THOUT3vZnSY

Not great.

tolerable, but dull. Not a relisten for me.

The skit type passages are fun but man his flow is sloooow and the music doesn’t make it very interesting.

Hip hop alternativo. Bastante rollo.

Not my cup of tea

No, thanks. I get it, there are people who love this stuff and it resonates with them. Not me. Don't want.

Oj, vad är det här för knapp som det står "samplingar" på? Oj, det var ju kul. Måste trycka igen. Och igen, och igen, och igen, och igen.... Hans föräldrar måste ju känna att de har missat något vid uppfostran.