03/30/12: Viktor Vaughn - Vaudeville Villain (2003)

03/30/12: Viktor Vaughn - Vaudeville Villain (2003)

1. Overture
2. Vaudeville Villain
3. Lickupon
4. The Drop
5. Lactose and Lecithin
6. A Dead Mouse
7. Open Mic Nite Pt. 1
8. Rae Dawn
9. Let Me Watch
10. Saliva
11. Modern Day Mugging
12. Open Mic Nite Pt. 2
13. Never Dead
14. Pop Snot
15. Mr. Clean
16. G.M.C.
17. Change the Beat

     I've had this album since very early on in discovering how much I like MF Doom and his many different aliases but I never gave it a thorough listen until now. This was his first release as Viktor Vaughn and was also his first full length album he rapped on where it wasn't his own production. It was obvious it wasn't his own production but it still felt like an album that was his own. It still has a old school comic and superhero/supervillain feel like many of his own productions. It was nice to hear him rapping over a different style of production. His own production has a very old school analog feel while the producers here used a much more electronic sound at times. There were 4 different producers contributing beats and it still felt consistent. There were just a lot of genuinely enjoyable catchy songs on this album. Whenever there is a guest rapper it usually feels like the person should be there. It was all around a really solid hip-hop album. Daniel Dumile or MF Doom, or Doom, or Metal Fingers, or Madvillain, or Dangerdoom, or Viktor Vaughn continues to solidify him self as my favorite MC. (090)

2/17/12: DOOM - Born Like This (2009)

2/17/12: DOOM - Born Like This (2009)

1. Supervillain Intro
2. Gazzillion Ear
3. Ballskin
4. Yessir!
5. Absolutely
6. Rap Ambush
7. Lightworks
8. Batty Boyz
9. Angelz
10. Cellz
11. Still Dope
12. Microwave Mayo
13. More Rhymin'
14. That's That
15. Supervillainz
16. Bumpy's Message
17. Thank Yah

     I first got into MF Doom via his style of production. He has many instrumental / production only  releases that I had listened to and enjoyed before I ever really got into his stuff where he raps. He has a knack for creating a unique environment. His songs sound to me like what hip-hop would sound like if it existed on 1950's and 60's television or if we were all living in a comic book or cartoon. His production involves a large amount of sampling. Lots of samples of people talking or beats from old songs. Samples on this album are incredibly diverse. They span from Creep by TLC to a Jeff Dunham character to a poetry reading by Charles Bukowski to himself.
     The album title is actually from a line in a Charles Bukowski Poem called "Dinosauria, We". He actually goes by the pseudonym DOOM on "Born Like This". His lyrics and flow can be a bit unconventional at times but he has such a distinct enjoyable style and can tend to be as all over the place as his production. I have listened to a couple of his earlier albums and everything seems to be at its sharpest on "Born Like This". (048)