Doom – Born Like This (3-24-2009)

Posted on Mar 21 in Reviewsby adminPrint

For some odd reason or another I’ve completely missed the entire MF Doom movement of this decade. From what I’ve heard this Doom guy has built a pretty impressive track record with all of his previous efforts as well as all of his aliases. His latest effort Born Like This is supposed to be his self proclaimed best effort to date. If Born Like This is indeed better than all of his previous work then this should definitely be an enjoyable but short 40 minutes of music artistry.  

J Dilla (RIP) delivers a well cooked round of chaotic drum loops, sirens, and bass pumps on the uniquely three-pieced “Gazzillion Ear.” Doom kicks some uncategorized knowledge on the insanely short Jake One produced “Ballskin.” Doom plays the sole role of producer on the nostalgically retro feeling and Raekwon assisted “Yessir.” On the Madlib produced “Absolutely” Doom takes some valuable time to shed some much needed light on the disconnect between the streets and police departments all across the country. Jake One’s encore is another short teaser as Doom kicks a one-verse attempt on the very likeable “Rap Ambush.”  

Doom sets aside a nice slice of the album to send a verbal brigade at suspected homosexual rappers in the game on his self produced “Batty Boyz.” Tony Starks aka Ghostface Killah drops in for a quick and unorthodox story of his own on the album’s standout joint “Angelz.” On the aforementioned track Doom uses a deep sea of horns and violins to get the vivid hood-tale across. Never the one to shy away from a lesson Doom takes the entire time plot for “Cellz” to speak on the plaguing prison epidemic in the black community.

Mr. Chop and Doom combine impeccable production credentials on the perfectly weaving “Still Dope” where Empress Stahhr Tha Femcee is invited to rip the standout track to shreds. Jake One dishes a couple of more
short-as-fuck masterpieces in “Microwave Mayo” and “More Rhymin” before Doom gets the chance to conclude his latest collection. From the blatant T-Pain rip offs and the awkward ass arrangement I’m forced to assume that “Supervillainz” was meant to be wack as fuck on purpose. 

For first time listeners such as my self, Doom may be a bit much to handle at times. On Born Like This Doom spends much of the collection meshing his raw energy with precision based and politically fueled lyrics along with some of the most diverse production that money can buy. Outside of Doom’s often times overzealous outlook on life he manages to hold my attention pretty well over the course of this rather short effort.

VERDICT – 14 / 20
LYRICS: 3
PRODUCTION: 4
DELIVERY: 3
CONSISTENCY: 4