Key to the Kuffs

by JJ DOOM

After his last solo album a few years back, and the frequent reports of him not showing up in person for concerts he's booked, I'd given up on DOOM (or is it MF DOOM again?).  The guy was mad talented back around the time of Madvillainy, which remains his greatest album, but it felt like he'd lost the plot.

Why did I buy Key to the Kuffs then?  Well, I find his collaborator on this project, Brazilian producer Jneiro Jarel, to be a pretty exciting beatmaker, and I was curious to see how his rather left-field approach would work with DOOM; at the least, I figured this would be a good beat cd, and that I'd just ignore Mr. Dumile, if I didn't like what he provided.

Imagine my surprise then, to find all my expectations upended.  DOOM comes correct on this album, in a way we haven't heard in some time.  He's back to his usual, nonsensical, smooth flowing self, and he rides these beats like he's actually interested in completing the project; something I haven't felt from him in some time.

As for Jarel, well he brings in some more conventional beats than I would have expected.  He still sounds like himself, but it's clear he thought about what DOOM's strengths are, and worked to support them.  This is still no Madvillainy, but it is a solidly good hip-hop album that holds up to repeated plays.

Born Like This

by DOOM

I'm not sure how to approach this album, which is the reason why I haven't attempted to write about it before now. I bought this when it first came out, played the hell out of it for a few days, and then promptly forgot it. Doom's first album in years could have easily dropped in 2004. Aside from a very ill-advised autotune hook (on 'Supervillainz'), there is nothing on this disc to show that time has moved forward.

Doom is spitting the same fire he always does, except now it seems like his flow has become monotonous, and his puerile jokes even more puerile and inconsequential (I'm looking at you 'Batty Boyz').

Beat-wise, there's not a lot to be excited about either. There are a few recycled beats ('Lightworks' always sounds good, but again, it's 2009; 'That's That' uses a favourite Special Herb, and 'Angelz' was like my favourite song of whatever year it first came out), and others that just sound like the standard Doom fare. Jake One understands Doom's aesthetic, and provides four decent tracks, although I like Madlib's better. The villain rounds out the production himself, except for one other Dilla joint.

The thing about this album is that individually, many of the songs are very strong. Arranged together, as they are here, they tend to cancel one another out, and become a little boring.

In terms of guest shots, Raekwon and Slug both provide killer verses, although Slug gets a little drowned out in the mediocrity of the people he shares his track with (who the hell is Mobonix? The Lego Moby?). I was hoping for a lot more from this album, but then, I think that's how people generally feel about Doom these days, so I shouldn't be surprised.

I will give full props to whoever designed the album art. It's clearly the same people who do work for Jneiro Jarel, and it looks great.