The Mysterious Rap Style of MF DOOM Revealed PART 1: LYRICS

MF DOOM is another legendary rapper that we lost too soon. And this video is dedicated to showing off just how skilled DOOM really was. From masterfully juggling complex rhyme schemes, witty wordplay, and cryptic lyrics. Join me as I Unmask The Mysterious Rap Style of MF DOOM and breakdown is song “DOOMSDAY”.

If you’re new here, my name is Cole Mize and I’ve been helping rappers perfect their rap skills on this channel for the past 10 years.

First up, let’s talk about DOOM’s rhyme schemes.

RHYME SCHEMES

Now in this video you’re going to hear me use the word “quadrant” a lot. Quadrant just means a 4 bar section of a verse. So the 1st 4 bars of a verse would be the 1st quadrant and 2nd 4 bar section would be 2nd quadrant.

Now DOOM was a master at structuring his rhymes. And while he made sure his rhyme schemes had great symmetry by aligning them in time from bar to bar and keeping them going for an even amount of bars to make them feel complete, this wasn’t always the case. And he was very deliberate about this.

BREAKING RHYME SCHEMES

VERSE 2 Q4 

For example sometimes DOOM would intentionally break his rhyme schemes.

Like on his 2nd verse during his 4th quadrant bars one and two only had internal rhymes within each bar instead of having a rhyme scheme that carries over from one bar to the next.

Let’s take a listen to how this sounds. And just so you know, the instrumental I’m using is a beat that I produced called “ground zero” which is available on my beat store.

VERSE 3 Q3

During his 3rd verse on the 3rd quadrant he broke his rhyme scheme on the 3rd bar and then completed the rhyme scheme he already established on bars 1 and 2 on bar 4. 

This is a technique I’ve covered a lot on this channel and is one of the most common ways to break a rhyme scheme and make an odd numbered rhyme scheme still feel complete.

The theory behind it is this. Once you complete your rhyme scheme on bar two and then start rhyming internally on bar 3 the listener is thinking you just finished one rhyme scheme and have moved on to the next one. You rhyme internally on the 3rd bar to satisfy the listener before reverting back and finishing the rhyme scheme from bars 1-2 that the listener thought you were abandoned.

3rd verse Q5

Also during this same verse DOOM successfully pulled off another odd numbered rhyme scheme during his 5th quadrant. 

Bar one is an internal rhyme and the next 3 bars is a rhyme scheme. In order to make this sound as good as possible DOOM carried over his internal rhyme of “e” sounds into the following bar with the use of “speed” and kept this internal rhyming going for the remaining 2 bars of this quadrant with the use of “please” on bar 3 and “keys” on bar 4.

So in this case his internal rhyme scheme was even and his end rhyme scheme was odd.

MAIN TAKEWAY

The main takeaway is this. While keeping your rhymes schemes even is important in maintaining symmetry, it can also be cool to create some odd numbered rhyme schemes within your quadrants by rhyming only internally for one of the bars. Try doing this by using an internal rhyme on the 1st or 3rd bar and try rhyming with your internal rhyme that was used to break the scheme to create an additional rhyme scheme.

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UNEVEN END RHYMES

Another interesting thing about DOOM’s rhymes is they don’t always line up with each other in time. And this isn’t a mistake, it’s 100% intentional. We typically want our rhymes to line up in time to make them as well as our rap flow more cohesive and easy to follow.

But once you’ve learned to do that, sometimes it can be fun to distort your rhyme schemes and shift them in time a bit to give them a different feeling.

Let’s look at MF DOOM’s rhymes from a different perspective in order to track their musical timing.

VERSE 1

V1 Q3 “hostility” 

On the 3rd quadrant of verse 1 DOOM created a multi syllable rhyme scheme with the words “Responsibility” and “Hostility”. “Hostility” is placed about half of a beat later which causes the “ty” part of this rhyme scheme to carry over into the beginning of the next bar.

VERSE 3

V3 Q5 “Knife, wife, and life all land in different places”

Another place where this occurs is on verse 3 on the 5th quadrant.

“knife” , “wife”, “life” and “mic” all land in slightly different places 

Also his internal rhyme scheme that uses “spee”, “please” and “keys” land in slightly different places as well.

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REPETITIOUS WORDS

Another interesting thing about DOOM is this. Sometimes us rappers can think it’s wrong to use the same words in close proximity with each other. Especially as a part of rhyme schemes. MF DOOM on the other hand did not.

VERSE 1

V1 Q1 “around”

During verse 1 he used “around” twice for his rhyme scheme.

VERSE 2

V2 Q2 “pop”

During Verse 2 he did this even more with the use of “pop junk” and “pop trunk”

V2 Q2 “who”

Also with the word “who” on  “who love children” “who is well skilled in”. He also does this with “well” on “well skilled in” and “well as building.

MAIN TAKEAWAY

He does this several more times but you get the gist. The main takeaway here is it’s okay to use the same words in close proximity with each other even if it’s apart of your rhyme scheme.

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ALLITERATION

Another thing about MF DOOM’s rhymes is he loves to use lots of alliteration. Alliteration is when we use words close together that share the same sound on the beginning of the word such as “blue baseball bat” These rhymes are less obvious to the listener but they make your lyrics sound very catchy. 

VERSE 1

V1 Q3 B4

He does this in verse one with “t” sounds on “I’d like to take mens to the end for two milli”

V1 Q4 B1

He does this again with “d” sounds on “doo-doo-doo-doo-doo, that’s an audio daily double”

VERSE 2

V2 Q3 “t”

On verse 2 with “t” sounds “while sidney sheldon teaches the trife to be trifer”

V2 Q3 “l” “p” “d” “k”

He also uses lots of clusters of alliteration with l” sounds on “live lifer” “p” sounds on “pied piper” and “d” sounds on “dollar and a dime” and “k” sounds on collar and crime”

KEY TAKEAWAY

So the key takeaway here is to try to work a little more alliteration into your rhymes to help make them more catchy.

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JUGGLING RHYMES

In addition to his end rhymes he juggles lots of internal rhymes and internal rhyme schemes

VERSE 1

V1 Q1 “6’0 sick O psycho who throws”

On verse 1 during his first quadrant he has a multisyllable end rhyme scheme going with “dig the sound” and “dick around” which he also rhymes internally with “stick around”. He also chose to rhyme with the last sound of this rhyme scheme with “brown”.

He also created another internal multi-syllable rhyme scheme by using the “eh” sound from his already established rhyme scheme followed by “O” sounds. 

He also created an “i” internal rhyme with “fly” and “psy”. 

And he created an internal rhyme scheme with “through” and “who”.

On top of that he’s using a lot of alliteration here with his “s” sounds. Just within these two bars alone he’s juggling 4 rhyme schemes with the “eh” “e” “ound” and “ew” sounds and 2 different internal rhymes with “o” and “i” sounds. If you include his alliteration he’s rhyming a total of 25 times within just these two bars.

VERSE 2

V2 Q1 “B.C. D.C. O” “believe me go” 

On verse two of the 1st quadrant he has a multi syllable end rhyme scheme with “section” and check in” In addition to that he has two more internal rhymes schemes with “e” sounds and “o” sounds.

V2 Q1 “seventeen” be mean”

On the following two bars he switches his multi syllable end rhyme scheme to “top bunk” and “pop junk” and then created a new internal rhyme scheme with “teen” and “be mean”. 

VERSE 3

V3 Q1 “ever since” “essense”

On verse 3 of his first quadrant his end rhyme is “womb” and “tomb” which he also rhymes with “DOOM” at the beginning of the bar. He also created an internal rhyme scheme with “since” and the “eh” sounds.

V3 Q3 “known amongst hoes for” known amongst foes for flow, no”

Within this same verse on the 3rd quadrant his end rhyme his using “ain” sounds. He also created an internal rhyme scheme with “oh” sounds and continues rhyming with this sound throughout the 2nd bar. He also repeats the words “known, amongst, and for” on both lines.

The main takeaway here is this if you only have end rhymes things can get boring and very predictable. Also, don’t only rhyme with your end rhyme in other parts of your bars. Try juggling additional internal rhymes and schemes to give your rhyme schemes more variety and flexibility on what words you have to choose from which gives you more freedom on saying what you really want to say.

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RHYME TRANSITIONS

One thing some rappers struggle with is learning how to smoothly transition between different rhyme schemes.

One way DOOM makes smooth transitions into new rhyme schemes is by letting his rhyme scheme he’s abandoning run over into the next bar where the rhyme scheme changes.

VERSE 1

V1 Q3

He does this on verse 1 with the word “bound”

VERSE 2

V2 Q1 

He does this on verse 2 with “pop trunk, punk”

V2 Q3 

He does thi

s on verse 2 with “pied piper”

V2 Q5 

He does this on verse 2 with “difference”

VERSE 3 Q4

He does this on verse 3 with “clang” and “pay”

So when you’re trying to transition smoothly out of a rhyme scheme, try caring over that rhyme into the next bar

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.SONGWRITING

SONG STRUCTURE

Another thing I found interesting about this song is it doesn’t have a typical song structure. 

There’s pretty much two different hooks in this song, a melodic one that Pebbles sings and the rapping one that DOOM raps. And he doesn’t use the rapping one after the 3rd verse.

Also when recording his vocals he didn’t copy and paste is hooks which isn’t as common.

Hook one and two have different times on his cadence on “who’s to say” On the first hook he says it a little faster and on the 2nd hook it has more of a late swing to it.

Also each verse has a different length

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CRYPTIC WRITING STYLE

Apart from MF DOOM’s insane rhyming skills, one of the most intriguing things about his raps is his style of writing which can be very cryptic. He loves to say things without saying them directly which is very artistic. This allows the audience to ponder on the meaning of what he’s saying and figure out the hidden meaning and at times provide their own interpretation.

He also uses lots of slang which further adds to the mystique and flavor of his lyrics. Let’s take a look at some examples and keep in mind, this is just my interpretation.

VERSE 1

In verse 1 he said

Femstat cats get kidnapped

Femstat is a vaginal cream so he’s cryptically calling rappers “vaginas”

Metal Fist terrorists claim responsibility

 Metal first is a reference to his alter ego for making beats called “metal fingers”.

Broken household name usually said in hostility Um, what is MF? You silly 

(mother f****r, which is the broken househould name)

I’d like to take “Mens to the End” for two milli’

Mens to the end, could be interpreted as killing someone. this is also the beginning of a Jeopardy theme he created which I’ll circle back to in a moment)

“Doo-doo-doo-doo-doo!” That’s an audio daily double

daily double is a clue in the game Jeopardy that’s hidden. He’s saying he’s being cryptic and leaving clues for you to find in regards to his previous line.

Rappers need to fall off just to save me the trouble. (this line reinforces his hidden meaning about unaliving rappers, he’s saying just do it yourself so he doesn’t have to be bothered with doing it)

HOOK

On Doomsday, ever since the womb ‘Til I’m back where my brother went, that’s what my tomb will say

During the first part of his songs rap hook I believe here “Doomsday” is meant to imply two days. Dooms birthday and his death day.

When he says “till i’m back where my brother went” he’s talking about reuniting in the afterlife with his deceased brother who was killed by a car while crossing a street 6 years prior to the release of this song.

Right above my government; Dumile

Either unmarked or engraved; hey, who’s to say?

Here he’s making reference to his government name which is Daniel Dumile. His rap name “DOOM” was extracted from his last name.

He then goes on to say that he’s not certain if his grave will have the engraving he just described or if it will be unmarked. An unmarked grave could signify that he died alone, or his family didn’t have the funds to pay for an engraving, or it could be because he was undecided on having an engraved tombstone or leave it unmarked intentionally to stay hidden like his face was behind his mask.

VERSE 2

I wrote this one in B.C. D.C. O-section

.Baltimore County Detention Center is where he was arrested.

If you don’t believe me, go get bagged and check then Cell number seventeen, up under the top bunk

bag is slang for getting arrested. He’s saying he wrote this verse underneath the top bunk of his jail cell and if you don’t believe him, go get yourself arrested and find out.

Pop the trunk on Cee Cipher Punk, leave him left scraped.

Pop the trunk is slang for pulling out a gun on someone, And Cee Cipher Punk his him cryptically spelling out the word cop. “Cipher” is the number “0” In the Supreme Mathematics used by the 5 Percent Nation.

MF Doom, also makes refers to supreme mathematics shortly after this part when he mentions #8 which is “build and destroy”.

Definition “super-villain”: a killer who love children

One who is well-skilled in destruction, as well as building

I’m trading science fiction with my man the live lifer

science fiction, both people are lying to each other) (live lifer, is someone spending the rest of their life in prison.

A pied piper holler a rhyme, a dollar and a dime (pied piper is someone from the middle ages who was a rat catcher hired by the town to lure rats away with his musical instrument which was in the form of a pipe. When citizens refused to pay him, he then used his instrument on the children of the town, leading them away as he did the rats. Pied Piper is basically a metaphor for someone who attracts a following through charisma and false promises.

Do his thing, ring around the white collar crime

Get out my face, askin’ ’bout my case, need toothpaste (this is likely a guy who will serve a life sentence and is trying to get information on peoples cases so he can snitch on them for a lesser sentence, and he also has stank breath.)

VERSE 3

Touch the mic, get the same thing a Arab will do to you for stealing. 

In other words he’s saying if you touch his mic he’s going to cut your hand off.

The main takeaway here is this, you don’t have to be so obvious with the meaning behind all of your lyrics. It’s good to keep some things that’s on the surface that pretty much anyone will understand, but it can also be cool to leave cryptic messages left for your real fans to discover. 

Also consider using slang or unusual phrasing to make something that’s common have more character.

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THEMES

Another thing interesting about this song is DOOM’s use of themes. Doom also uses several themes throughout his verses.

VERSE 1

BRAGGADOCIOUS – RAP SKILLS 

JEOPARDY

Verse 1 is more about bragging about his rap skills and there’s also a Jeopardy theme toward the end as I previously mentioned.

VERSE 2: PRISON

Verse two primarily has a prison theme to it

VERSE 3: ROMANCE

And verse 3 predominantly has a romance theme to it which finishes with a superman theme.

SUPERMAN 

Superman was known back in day for the following catch phrases.

He’s faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, and able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. Look up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s Superman

And DOOM played off of this with the following lines

So I turned it up faster than a speeding knife

Strong enough to please a wife 

And with more more line as he ended the song

t’s a word! No, a name! MF the Super-Villain!

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PUNCHLINES

Now when it comes to punchlines this song didn’t have a whole lot of them which is cool, not every song has to have a tone of them to be a great song. But I had to highlight this one punchline he used which literally made me laugh out loud when I first heard it.

crime don’t pay; listen, youth

It’s like me holding up the line at the kissing booth

I took her back to the truck she was uncouth

Spittin all out the sunroof through her missing tooth

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PHRASING

Another thing I found interesting about DOOM was how he chose to phrase things.

DOOM wasn’t afraid to phrase something in a way it wouldn’t normally be phrased. This is a technique often used to say what you’re saying in fewer or more syllables to get your rhyme schemes and or cadences to line up more tightly to match the previous bar. 

In this case DOOM typically used this technique to say things in fewer words. Another factor that plays into this is the tempo of the instrumental. This instrumental is 95.4 BPM which is on the faster side of rap instrumentals. 

The faster the tempo the quicker you’re traveling through each bar which means you have less time to say what you need to say so you have to be concise or don’t treat each bar like it has to be a full sentence and give yourself multiple bars to complete a thought.

Here’s a couple examples of when DOOM shortened the normal wording of phrases.

VERSE 1

In verse 1 he said “Bound to go three-plat” instead of saying

“Bound to go triple platinum”

VERSE 2

In verse 2 he said C.O.’s make rounds, never have ‘ox found on shakedown, lock-down, wet dreams of Fox’ Brown

“Ox” is prison slang for a knife. Normally you would phrase this like

“Never has an ox been found” or “an ox has never been found”

And he removed the “y” from foxy brown. He had room to say Foxy but he likely chose not to in order to stick with the one syllable ox sounds he was using in his rhyme scheme.

Pop the trunk on Cee Cipher Punk, leave him left scraped normally would be phrased like this

“Pop the trunk on a Cee Cipher Punk, leave him left scraped”

God forbid, if there ain’t no escape, blame MF tape normally would be phrased like this

“God forbid, if there ain’t no escape, blame an MF tape

The main takeaway here is this, sometimes you may want to rephrase your lyrics to ensure your rhyme schemes are lining up as good as possible and so your rap flow sounds how you intended.

UP NEXT

And speaking on rap flow, I’m going to be breaking down DOOM’s rap flow in the next video so make sure you lookout for that!

If you want a copy of all the graphics used in this video they’re available right now to everyone who’s subscribed to my mailing list. Simply click on “free goodies” in the last e-mail I sent out and scroll down to the Rap Sheets section. If you’re not already subscribed to my mailing list simply click here to gain instant access to these graphics and many more awesome freebies!

Again my name is Cole Mize with colemizestudios.com where I strive to make you a better rapper now. And always remember, when it comes to rapping, there’s no rules, there’s only techniques. Peace!