Tributes from various personalities in the music industry are pouring in to memorialize the death of Daniel Dumile, known as left-field hip-hop game-changer MF DOOM.
Coming from London and New York, Daniel Dumile began his career in hip-hop’s late eighties halcyon days, then becoming one of the most important rappers in the twenty-first century.
His death was announced today by his wife Jasmine, who said that he “transitioned October 31, 2020.”
On October 20, Dumile launched the first set of eleven NFT masks, which are wearable in augmented reality. Designed in partnership with digital platform Illust Space, the masks are all variations of the two-pronged mask MF DOOM has been famous for by the time he released his sensational Madlib collaboration Madvillainy in 2004.
The masks represent the last creative effort from the rapper.
Sabin Hertz, who built the tech behind the masks, described each mask as “a collectible piece that can be transferred to the augmented reality space, like a digital collectible that can be utilized in a bunch of different fields.”
Owners can port masks among the virtual worlds or blow them up in augmented reality, ready for art galleries.
There were eight masks in the first auction, distributed equally in two different styles, blue and green. The second auction had three masks, two were ‘Mummy’ Style and the last was a ‘Sludge’ mask that Hertz described as “the ultimate one-of-a-kind collector’s edition.”
The final auction closed on the day of Dumile’s death. MF DOOM’s raid into NFT collectibles left some critics at a loss, however, Dumile’s proclivity to anonymity made him a likely candidate to probe the creative and distributive potential of NFT art.
He spent most of his career behind his masks, making an aura based on Marvel’s Dr. Doom villain. Sometimes, Dumile can stretch his persona beyond established limits of postmodern irony, going as far as to send out impostor MF DOOMs on tour.
Here’s to Dumile! Rest in power MF DOOM.
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