Daniel Dumile, the unorthodox British-born-but-Long-Island-raised rapper who’s hidden in more ways than one, and who wears the mask better than the fictional pansy who gave up his life for the betterment of an entire empire, maintains a healthy following despite his penchant for pseudonyms and personal secrecy. If we trust his public discography, the last time we formally heard from the man most commonly known as MF DOOM was through the decent JJ DOOM collab with Jneiro Jarel and MA_DOOM, a barely-collaboration with Masta Ace on the Son of Yvonne release back in 2012. You’ll have to rewind eight years before that to get a whiff of classic via Madvillainy (TMT Review) (which isn’t to deny the quality of Dumile’s other work), and… wait, what started it all? Surely the DOOM reputation wasn’t hoisted by mediocrity at the outset. Surely, the realization of DOOM began with a conspiracy.
Operation: Doomsday, MF DOOM’s debut solo album from 1999, doesn’t beg for reissue. The lunchbox enclosure released in 2011 contained a remastered two discs, a 32-page lyric book, card set (but no ham and cheese sandwich), and it stood alongside an equally heavy 4LP set that was released simultaneously. The upcoming 2-cassette box set — ignore for a moment that cassettes are typically housed in cases that could reasonably be referred to as boxes — has Metalface Records appealing to that previously overlooked demographic: the un-ironic Walkman (c. 1990) user. More likely, the collectible-inclined serve as the primary market for this release, which comes in an edition of 1,200 copies.
Content-wise, tape 1 of Operation: Doomsday contains the original album plus the original cover art designed by Lord Scotch 79 a.k.a. Blake “KEO” Lethem. Tape 2 contains the same instrumentals and alternate versions that the 2011 reissue had, plus the same cover art, designed by Jason Jegel. No lyric book and no cards leave one with precious few options; at 2.1 pounds, the metal box doesn’t quite allow for bludgeoning and theft. Well, maybe.
Operation: Doomsday on cassette ships via Rappcats on January 27. February 18 marks the worldwide release date.
• DOOM: http://www.metalfacedoom.com