MF. Doom

This metal-faced rapper gets so much attention and praise these days that some might roll their eyes when they assume people think everything Doom touches turns to gold, but the proof is in the pudding: MF Doom is a hip-hop mastermind. Pudding is a good place to start on this music menu as the microphone-gripping chameleon has written a few rhymes on edibles that will have you rushing to the dinner table. MM..Food? is a balance between Doom’s last King Geedorah record as well as a touch of Madvillain with Madlib pushing the buttons on the incredible "One Beer,” with a manic and constant vocal track. Though many find that Doom shines best when he’s not left manning the beats, fans of Geedorah will have no problem embracing this effort, and sceptics might be won over as the production is a lot more polished and intriguing thanks to other guest producers Count Bass D and PNS. Live hand-delivered MPC beats and mouthfuls of classic comic book samples and narratives make the presence of Doom quite clear and the man simply does not hit a sour note on this entire record. Sure he heavily samples Whodini and that one really hot Sesame Street closing theme, but he manages to pull it off without making your face scrunch up. It’s hard to believe this is Doom’s first record under his main name since Operation: Doomsday, which really isn’t that good, but this MC/producer is rising at a very accelerated rate late in his career and MM..Food? is just further evidence supporting the case Doom is worthy of constant praise.