Before taking the stage in Osaka, Mos Def mentions that his use of the mask is partially inspired by fellow rapper Daniel Dumile, aka MF Doom. His predilection for metal masks has become an iconic part of Doom’s career. In a 2006 interview with Wax Poetics, he explained that the mask was a key part of creating an entire persona, a character. More specifically, Doom is a super-villain based on exaggerated aspects of the real man’s own personality, because characters “can do anything” whereas real people have limitations.
In this FroLab video, Mos Def takes a break from recording “The Ecstatic” to talk more about how he’s a huge Doom fan. He recites some of his favorite verses and explains that he was so excited about the “Madvillain” album that he bought it on vinyl without owning a record player just so he could start at a large version of the cover art :
Most recently, Mos got to meet up with Doom backstage at the Common & Friends Benefit, the two of them rhyming some of Mos Def’s favorite lyrics together.
UPDATE: Watch Mos Def gush about Doom (around 4:03) in this part of Embedded.
October 30th, 2009 at 10:44 am
[...] time that Mos Def has taken a moment to gush alongside someone he really respects. He’s done the same for MF Doom, and in this Embedded outtake from Current TV, Mos also talks about how he was freaking out just [...]