So why is MF DOOM’s BORN LIKE THIS on this best 1,000 albums ever thing?
Sometimes I find myself thinking that MF DOOM simply has all kinds of “unfair advantages” over the vast majority of those plying their trade in the rap game.
Everything he does is wildly creative. Not all of it works, but on BORN LIKE THIS, so much of it does work so much of the time so as to make the album eminently worthy of landing in a highly appointed slot within the best 1,000 albums ever project.
“GAZZILLION EAR” (we’re in CAPS LOCK land with BORN LIKE THIS, people) is flat-out brilliant, and the weirdo all-timer song title is merely the entry point. The production is wizard-level, which when you step back makes perfect sense because J Dilla is co-credited on this one (as he also is on “LIGHTWORKS”).
MF DOOM is sublimely off-kilter in terms of his performance and yet so specific and gruff-yet-precise in terms of how he hits his beats.
I’m a sucker for pop culture name-drops, and MF DOOM offers a playground of them in his lyrics. Example:
It’s the return of the tramp
Who do a duet jam when Ernest goes to camp
For the right earn, na’mean? Like Vern
We need some more oil for the machines to burn, learn
And then he’ll offhand toss off a bar like this and any mortal human can only react with WHAT in name, shape, form, or concept.
Monkey hustle, man on fire
Later for the date than the Hadron Collider
The use of strings samples on tracks like “THAT’S THAT” is simply incredible.
Then there’s the harpsichord on “MICROWAVE MAYO,” for which I simply noted wooo when taking notes on this one during the research and compiling phase for the best 1,000 albums ever.
None other than Charles Bukowski (or should I say CHARLES BUKOWSKI?) gets a co-credit on “CELLZ,” which is so deeply oddball and yet kind of awesome that I couldn’t not mention it.
And Ghostface Killah comes in on “ANGELZ” to bring a delightful, cinematic Wu-Tang flavor to the proceedings.
Some stats & info about MF DOOM – BORN LIKE THIS
- What kind of musical stylings does this album represent? Rap, Hip Hop, Hardcore Rap, Underground Rap, Alternative Rap
- Rolling Stone’s greatest 500 albums ranking – not ranked!
- All Music’s rating – 3 out of 5 stars
- When was BORN LIKE THIS released? 2009
- My ranking, the one you’re reading right now – #190 out of 1,000
MF DOOM’s BORN LIKE THIS on Spotify
A lyrical snippet from MF DOOM’s BORN LIKE THIS that’s evocative of the album in some way, maybe
Tillin’ the wasteland sands, raps on backs of treasure maps, stacks to the ceilin’ fan.
What does the “best 1,000 albums ever” mean and why are you doing this?
Yeah, I know it’s audacious, a little crazy (okay, maybe a lot cray cray), bordering on criminal nerdery.
But here’s what it’s NOT: a definitive list of the Greatest Albums of All-Time. This is 100% my own personal super biased, incredibly subjective review of what my top 1,000 albums are, ranked in painstaking order over the course of doing research for nearly a year, Rob from High Fidelity style. Find out more about why I embarked on a best 1,000 albums ever project.