MM..Food

In 1999, MF Doom released the album . The album acquired cult status in the underground hip-hop community ^[1] . In 2001, the label , on which the album was released, closed. Once again left without a label, MF Doom became unsociable. In 2002, he met with producer Madlib , after which they began work on Madvillainy . In 2003, the Madvillainy demo was stolen and later posted on the Internet. Disappointed, MF Doom continued to work on other albums ^[2] .

MM..Food is a concept album ^[3] dedicated to food ^[4] , which is reflected in the title of the album. The name is also an anagram of the pseudonym of the musician ^[3] . The album uses a large number of metaphors that refer to various types of food ^[5] , with the help of which MF Doom tells stories about street life, money, girls and drugs ^[6] . Similar metaphors are also used in song titles. For example, the title of the album’s opening track, “Beef Rapp”, has a double meaning: the English word “beef” included in it can be translated as “meat” and “ beef ” is the confrontation of several rappers ^[7] . In addition to food and street life, the lyrics contain references to the hip-hop industry ^[8] , as well as life in American prisons ^[6] . In an interview with Exclaim! the rapper himself described the album ^[9] :

The whole album is like a picnic for me, all day in the park. There are various characters who came to the barbecue and relax, so there are various stories. And also there are various types of food that people brought with them.

Original text

The whole album feels like a picnic to me, like a whole day at the park. You've got different characters that come to the barbecue and kick it, so you've got different stories going on. And also, you have different types of food that people brought.

The MM..Food cover was created by Stones Throw label designer Jeff Jank ^[10] . It was based on an illustration created at his request by the American artist Jason Jägel ^[11] , on which MF Doom is depicted at breakfast ^[12] . According to Junk, the illustration was created in less than a day ^[11] . Yegel himself calls her his best work. This cover version was the third: the previous two were rejected by Rhymesayers and the musician himself ^[12] . MF Doom also asked to slightly modify the final cover, removing the junction from it. The original illustration was later released in a limited edition poster form ^[11] .

Work on MM..Food has been ongoing since 2002 ^[12] . The producer of almost the entire album was MF Doom himself. Three songs were an exception: “Potholderz,” produced by , “One Beer,” recorded with Madlib and not on Madvillainy’s album, and “Kon Queso,” produced by PNS from ^{[8] [14]} .

When working on the album, MF Doom used a large number of various excerpts from films and cartoons in which the characters talk about food or the Doctor Doom ^{[15] [16]} . However, the middle of the album gained particular fame, starting with “Poo-Putt Platter” and ending with “Fig Leaf Bi-Carbonate”, consisting of four skeets created using dialogs from these passages ^[12] . The total duration of this part was more than six minutes. After the release of the album, many fans, as well as a number of critics, were unhappy and stated that such a structure breaks the album into two parts ^[6] .

Shortly before the release of the album, in the spring of 2004, an unfinished version of the album hit the Internet ^[17] . It was different from the final version of the album: it contained 22 compositions, most of which ended up in the final version with changed names, while the remaining tracks, which mostly represented skeletons, were combined with other compositions. The only song that didn’t make it onto the album was “Hot Guacamole” joint with , which was later released on an additional MM..LeftOvers disc ^[12] . Also in the final version two new compositions were added: joint with Mr. Fantastik "Rapp Snitch Knishes" and "Vomitspit" ^[17] .

MM..Food was released on November 16, 2004 by Rhymesayers Entertainment label ^[18] , with which the rapper signed a three-year contract shortly before ^[19] . He became the rapper's first album, released under the pseudonym MF Doom, to hit the Billboard charts , finishing ninth in Top Heatseekers Albums and seventeenth in Independent Albums . Shortly before the release of the album, on November 9, the single “Hoe Cakes” was released on vinyl records with the song “Potholderz” and a remix for “Hoe Cakes” by producer ^[21] . In addition to the album itself, two additional disks with remixes and unreleased tracks were separately released : MM..LeftOvers (from the English - “Mmm ... Junk food”) and MM..More Food (from the English - “Mmm ... More food”). Each of them was available only when buying an album in a particular store.

The release of the album was timed for the concert tour MM..FOOD Drive Tour ^[22] , which MF Doom held together with and DJ Kool Akiem from the group ^[12] . Performances were held in eight cities. Fans were invited to bring non-perishable food products for the homeless to concerts ^[23] . After each performance, a brought by fans took place. In total, at the end of the tour more than 1,000 pounds (453 kg) of products were distributed ^[22] .

On July 24, 2007, Rhymesayers re-released MM..Food ^[24] . In addition to the album itself, a bonus DVD with video recordings of the rapper’s performances ^[12] , a poster and a sticker smelling of chocolate ^[25] were presented in special metal packaging. The album itself has also undergone changes: the original version of the song “Kookies”, using a sample of one of the releases of “ Sesame Street ”, was replaced with a new one ^[12] .

MM..Food received mostly positive reviews from critics; on the review aggregator Metacritic, the album received a rating of 81 out of 100 ^[26] . Allmusic rated the album 4 out of 5, noting that it is “as important as everything that [MF Doom] released before that” ^[15] . The AV Club rated the album “A” (“excellent”), saying: “An incredible hodgepodge, crafted on the theme of food, comics and supervillainment, MM..Food is not fun right away like Madvillainy does. In this, the album is similar to from King Geedorah - an album that gets better with every listening ... ” ^[27] . Alternative Press rated the album 4 out of 5, noting that “[this album] is proof that the evil genius is a damn good cook” ^[28] . Billboard rated 3.5 out of 5, noting that “despite the fact that the culinary theme and the additional storyline, consisting of excerpts of category B films , threaten to capture the album, Doom’s reading, hoarse and erratic, focuses [the audience] on solid, underground hip-hop ” ^[16] . Blender also rated the album 3.5 out of 5, stating that “the result is sloppy and difficult, but it works” ^[29] . Entertainment Weekly rated "B +" ("good with a plus"), saying: "At MM..Food? the self-proclaimed “rhyming cannibal” uses countless edible metaphors on powerful, energetic instrumentals, without going into a meaningless parody. Cutting verses like a hip-hop chef, Doom leaves only one question unanswered: what for dessert? ” ^[30] . 4 reissued the album 4 out of 5, stating that “multi-layered rhymes [rappers] based on a stream of consciousness spread out like a butter on a vintage production”, but criticized the sketas in the middle of the album ^[31] . Mojo rated the album 3 out of 5, calling it “the apotheosis of the peculiar Dumiley's low-quality thrash art: hilarious, stoned, stuffed with hip-hop ideas ... ” ^[32] . NME rated the album 3.5 out of 5, noting the "surreal, cold-blooded" reading of the rapper ^[33] . Pitchfork rated 7.5 out of 10, noting that the only thing MF Doom wants on the album is to show his skills, but he negatively commented on hermitages in the middle of the album ^[8] . RapReviews.com rated MM..Food a rating of 8 out of 10, calling it the rapper’s “most accessible job”, but also spoke negatively about the middle of the album ^[14] . Spin rated the album's re-release rating 3.5 out of 5, stating that “if Ghostface runs a , then Doom’s lyrical space is a supermarket” ^[25] . rated the album “С +” (“satisfactory with a plus”), noting that the final version of the album is not much different from the version on the Internet and that the skeets in the middle of the album “destroy [its] integrity” ^[17] . The Wire rated 4 out of 5, saying MM..Food is the best of three rapper albums released in 2004 ^[34] . Vibe rated the album 3.5 out of 5, noting that MF Doom showed himself on it both as a producer and as a lyricist ^[35] .

• MM..Food on Discogs
• MM..LeftOvers at Discogs
• MM..More Food on Discogs