On wednesday night at the Independent in San Francisco. MF Doom lipsync to a 12 min set to shitty audio and left everybody hanging. It may not have really been him actually. People were saying it didn't look like him he was too skiny to be him. He wore a mask and was hiding his mouth with the mic. He cut after only 12 minutes 4 songs! He was headlining the show everyone was pissed off in disbelief booing and chanting refund. I checked other message boards and he's done this in LA last weekend at El Rey. He's performing again Thursday night again at the Independent. Don't support that lazy bastard!

You've been warned!

I saw MF DOOM, Madlib & J Dilla (Jaylib) at the Independent in 2004 and it was one of the best hip hop shows I've ever been to. I saw DOOM again in 2005, and while he was still good (and not lip syncing) his hype man was uncontrollably wack.

MF doo doo is indeed a joke. not only did he screw the crowd on Wednesday night, he didn't even SHOW on Thursday, called to cancel at the indy as they were opening their doors for the show. I will never, ever spend a dime on this pathetic clown of an artist. what an absolute joke and dissapointment.

I was there on Wednesday night at the Independent. It was a COMPLETE SCAM! It was definitely NOT MF Doom. I went up to the first row just to make sure I wasnt hallucinating the surreal scene before me, and I confirmed two things as I stood 10 feet away: The impostor playing the part of Doom was shorter and didn't have the pot belly that Doom has. He also looked younger. And secondly, he was not moving his mouth at all. All he was doing was pantomiming and occasionally using his hands. The fact that he did this at the El Rey in L.A. (and some say at the Rock the Bells in L.A.) tells me that there is something bigger going on here. I think Doom has quit the live scene and his boys have stepped in to take the mask and collect money as they run a scam across America. But the jig is up! SF let him know quickly that we ain't having that. And shame on the Independent for not immediately canceling Thursday's show. They were well aware of what went on and were embarrassed Wednesday night, yet they were fine with letting the show go on as planned Thursday (I called Thursday afternoon to be sure and they said they were still selling tickets... did they pull the plug or did "Doom" call it off? That's a big question because the Independent did not respond very professionally Wed. night. The manager got on the mic and started essentially yelling back at the understandably disgruntled mob. "We can't control how long an artist chooses to perform," he shouted. I even spoke to Pigeon John afterwards and he seemed stunned but wouldn't say whether Doom was ever in the building. The ironic thing in all this is that Doom's whole steeze is about being on a crusade to extinguish the wack chumps that are hurting the Hip Hop industry. And yet he has now committed the worst sin against Hip Hop and his fans: He disgraced his name and the industry not once, but at least twice, by letting this Milli Vanilli charade take place. Where is the real Victor Vaughn? Who's behind the mask? This story is not over people. I want to know these answers and more. I am challenging all you journalists and would-be writers to investigate this story and find the truth! Because real hip hop, real underground is about exposing the truth! Doomsday will come until the truth be told!

Agree, he shit on the SF fans, which is odd because as an indy artist he should really appreciate those who go out of their way to support his music...It did not look like him, he was skinnier, and definitely lip-synced at least a few songs..whatta scam, love his music, but starting to hate the act and the man...bummer for me and a few of my boys who drove quite a ways to see him...Thanks for getting the word out..

I second everything said by the Slickster. I too, intend to get to the bottom of this, and get my money back. That was FRAUD on Wednesday night at the Independent, and an automatic refund should've been offered as soon as fans started to realize what was up. THAT WAS NOT MF DOOM. I was at Rock the Bells in LA, and left the main stage to catch Doom's set - which was exactly the same as it was at the Independent. The guy came out, spit the exact same four songs, held the mic so close to the mask the only thing you could tell was that his mouth wasn't moving, and never spoke to the crowd once. The hype man did all the talking. WE NEED TO EXPOSE DOOM FOR THE FRAUD HE IS. This is the one of the most messed up, insulting, and degrading scams doom could've pulled on his adoring fans - and we need to make sure the word gets spread around. As an avid hip hop fan whose been going to shows in the bay for about 8 years, I have never seen anything like what went down at this show. May the truth come out and Doom's fans see the unfortunate light.

Maybe Doom is dead.

Did anyone catch his set at Rock the Bells? I don't know if the schedule was wrong or what, but the bands were shifted around to cover his set. Did he perform earlier and swap set times with someone? What's going on?

Doom (or the Doom imposter) didn't even bother to show at Rock the Bells. I was so dissapointed with him and have lost faith as I am a huge fan but I'm tired of these antics and getting straight robbed of a show. They changed the schedule the day of to reduce his set from 1 hour to 20 minutes(which I was expecting anywayz based on recent chatter) but everyone there assumed he was going on untill they started clearing the equipment on the side stage after Heiroglyphics and everyone started booing yelling and chanting Fuck Doom. Too bad he is losing ALLLLLLLL of his fan base. I just dropped 15 bucks on the MM Food re-release too which I already had but wanted to see his live set, which has abviously diminished.

I was at the august 15th show at the independent. In fact I flew down to san Francisco from Portland, Oregon, just to see it. Well, that and the rock the bells show, for which he was also absent. I'm real pissed off about the situation. My trip cost me nearly a G, and I didn't even get to see the two concerts for which I specifically made the trip. I'm not a rich "baller," just a doom fan that saw his amazing show, and wanted a chance to see it again.

Ok…so the story goes like this: lots of signs pointed to the fact that we all got hustled by Doom. Prior to the show, all independent employees (and signs posted) were adamant about no pictures whatsoever. Standard practice in itself, but never have I seen a place go out of their way to enforce. in retrospect this leads me to believe that the club had advance knowledge of this shady event. In typical doom fashion, he appears on stage roughly 2 hours after the opening act completed. He comes out looking blatantly skinnier (and shorter) to any die hard doom fan. In fact, my first comment to my buddy before I knew what was going down was: "Wow…that doesn't even look like Doom!" He comes out to a Benzie box (off of DangerDoom) and no one can hear him as it sounds like his mic is off, (or he's not actually saying anything). All we could hear was his hype man. Even this didn't immediately set off a flag, because sometimes there can be sound issues obviously. After the song completes, he goes right into another song, also inaudible. this is when I started to raise my eyebrows. At every Doom show I've attended, where he's "actually" performed, he has always addressed the crowd and interacted. In fact, one of the best parts of his shows, in my opinion, are his interactions and mannerisms up on stage. unparalleled even, in my 15 years as a hip hop live show attendee. None of this is present. He's just walking back and forth on stage with no visual excitement…just rapper hands. So after 3 songs of this, I go up to the sound guy and let him know that no one in the audience can hear Doom, and ask him if he's aware. Here is his direct response to me: "Yea, I know you guys can't hear him. It's not Doom, and they guy who is up there is lip synching" My response was something to the effect of "yea right…who would do that to his fans?" Especially in the era of illegal downloads…how can he expect to keep a following large enough to pay his bills without a strong stage show? not to mention the legality behind the situation…I mean, if I could personally sue Mr.. dumile, I would. I'd love to get the G back that I spent just to see his sorry ass. I digress. So I go to the bar to cool my nerves, by this time he's muting his way through his 4th song. About halfway through the song, homeboy walks off stage. Done. No words to the crowd, no "peace out," no nothing. Boo's rained down. I had never seen anything like it before. And we're talking about an underground legend here, not just the 7pm opening act from the local high school. Then they told us show was over. that and I couldn't get my money back. The worst part about this is maybe Doom's signature trait: his mask. It provides the perfect alibi for him…no one can really prove any of this, because he hides behind that thing. If I didn't get hustled myself, I would almost respect his game. It's pretty brilliant. But now, as I've been doing more research into this, I've found that he pulled the same thing in LA a couple of nights earlier, and again with Scratch magazine for a photo shoot. To further raise suspicions, he was also a no show for the Rock the Bells show. (him and Nas: the only reasons why I actually made the trip). Magazines, I can understand, but the people who buy his music? The fans that have followed him since KMD? The fans that to date have supported his every move. The ones that travel hundreds of miles to see him? that is MAJOR disrespect. I still can't even believe it.

Please keep me posted on this if you are able. I WAS one of Doom's biggest fan, and now, all I just feel like he spit in my face. We all got hustled that night. Especially me and my girlfriend who spent some hard earned cash just to see him in California, because he didn't schedule anything in the NW. I have legal counsel here in Portland, and have actually already started to explore what kind of options I may have for legal action. Any information (including Independent OR Doom management contact info) you can provide to me would be a tremendous help. Thank you for helping expose this debacle. It needs to be prevented from happening again. Let me know if there's anything else I can provide you.

This isn't even funny. Doom has SO many fans on the west coast and he let them down with a horrific half hour set.

MF Doom did the EXACT same thing in Los Angeles at the El Rey Theater. He didn't interact with the crowd and there was no deviation from the set he did the previous night at Rock the Bells in San Bernardino.

I will never see this performer live again. I also will never purchase MF Doom's product in the future. Hip Hop is not supposed to be "punk rock" where the performer f*cks the fans.

My boy talked to the sound man and asked him to turn the volume down in order to actually hear the music on the so so system. The exact words of the sound man were " I cant he's Lip-Syncing!!"

What do you expect from a basement supervillain? Bootleg his shit.

Doom also cancelled several shows
down in southern california. dick. played us like an accordian

mf doom sucks: you don't know shit about punk rock do you?

I had mad respect for DOOM until I read this page. Ifd it is true, I will never buy another DOOM product again. Its absolutely atrocious. I cant believe DOOM would do that. Its not like he has millions of people buying his shit, only his loyal hardcore fans. How could he shit on them like that?

i was at rock the bells nyc, only went to seem "DOOM" as they put it on the program... he was obviously lip syncing, if it was even him, didnt say a word then ran off stage. even worse i had to sit through quite a few sets of complete GARBAGE RAP until 'he' showed up and took a huge shit on everyone

For what it's worth, he was supposed to do a show at the Showbox in Seattle on August 18, but then all of a sudden after this SF show went down the 8/18 show was switched to feature Redman instead, who wasn't even on the original lineup at all. In fact, go to the Showbox website -- you can see that, in the page for the 8/18 show, Redman's name still hyperlinks to Doom's website!

It sounds like Doom's entire tour is self-destructing now. I sure hope so. I convinced a bunch of my friends in SF who had never even heard Doom's music before to come out with me that night and drop their hard-earned $28 each, and so the concert was not only an experience of getting shit on as a fan but also a humiliation in terms of the group I'd convinced to come out with me.

Any way we can get some kind of response or apology out of Doom? If this whole thing is going to cost him half his West Coast fan base (judging by the attitude of the people I've talked to), then it seems like some kind of statement is in order.

Minor correction: the Showbox date is/was actually August 17.

Good point: when is Doom going to answer about this? And what are our other options for activism, to get the word out to his other fans about what's been going on? We need to make some noise, people. This just isn't right.

I flew to Minneapolis MN from Louisville KY to see Doom kill it live at Rock the Bells and he was a no show again. Friends in Chicago told me he no showed there too the next night. Doom is obviously smoking crack again...that would mean that it could actually have been him on stage, he was just too fucked to perform. Who knows...fuck him.
By the way, I didn't appreciate Slum Village snubbing us at the show either, especially after advertising a tribute to dilla. Fuck these wack artists!

what a bunch of chumps in here. bunch of whiny bitches.

don't get me wrong, i'm not down with the imposter business.

but if doom couldn't make these shows he has a good reason.

you all just assume he's "lazy" and "shitting on you" but you have no idea what really happened here..

like an ignorant mob.. why don't you all head to his pad with torches and pitchforks

if any of you really cared about doom you'd show some concern instead of bitching about dollars

First, a disclaimer: I have a few Doom albums and listen to him and whatnot, but I'm in no way a die-hard fan nor have extensively researched what's going on -- I only know what has happened from surfing sites like this one and hearing about it from friends.

These comments come from someone who writes about and reviews the literary world, and I can't help but connect this whole Doom incident to the "fall" of fiction writer JT LeRoy, the writer from San Francisco who, for years and years, was thought to be a young junkie/drifter-turned-literary sensation. LeRoy wrote the novel "Sarah," the 2000 or 2001 work that was touted as fiction but based on LeRoy's childhood stories as a prostitute in the South.

In the fall of 2005, I believe, LeRoy was outed as a middle-aged white woman named Laura Albert. The literary world was shocked and felt taken advantage of.

Since I'm not a loyal reader of LeRoy's work, and simply a commentator on the climate of popular culture, whether it's about music or books or art, I was also surprised by this news, yet applauded JT LeRoy/Laura Albert for pushing his/her literary persona to the farthest point. I looked at it as an act of cultural performance -- the rise of the public persona. A public mask. An alternate identity where a person uses their persona to sell and drive the mission of their work, and where the dissatisfaction of the audience and media is all part of the act.

That said, I keep thinking about the Doom shows in S.F. and L.A. and what's going on. He is the perfect musical artist and persona to pull off such a thing, and even though it sucks that he has dismayed loyal followers, I still see these events as yet another act of performance on quite a different level. I suppose not being a diehard fan of Doom makes it easier for me to voice such ideas, as there are issues of law and integrity also involved. Ultimately though, if these incidents are indeed higher levels of cultural performance, I think Doom lives up to his name as a madvillain.

If you really disagree with me, send me an e-mail. I'd like to know your thoughts, as I'm trying to write a piece on it. Thanks.

Well, Doom just fucked SF again on the makeup date. Paid $30 to see Doom tonight and he just doesn't show up. At least they're giving refunds this time.

Can't believe he did it again. What a douche.
We're going to do a big story in print on this in a few weeks. I'll post the link here.

UPDATE: Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Doom Does It Again!

yes thats right, again, Doom cancelled.
i left my cave around 90:30pm to be home again at 9:53pm because the show was cancelled.
to the independnts credit, they were offering refunds at the door, thats only if you purchased your tickets there. If you purchaed your ticket on-line, i was told, then you would have a credit back to your card. --- i have yet checked my card.

i dont know how i feel about the cancellation- twice. Its like, Doom is a great MC given where the state of hip-hop is today, however this is not how you show love for the people supporting you. In the same breath, you know "he aint shit anyway"
i think for like a day i'll forward on dooms songs in my ipod.

Thanks, Kitty.
That's an apt punishment. A day-long doom ban.
Listen to some Dilla or Lord Quas. But don't give that muthafuckin Doom any love.
After all, he is a supervillian.

On a similar note: I just heard Doom did some shit with Ghostface?
It better not be as whack as some of his other side projects. I'm looking at you Special Herbs.

"On a similar note: I just heard Doom did some shit with Ghostface?"

are you talking about fishscale???

it was "i-aight"

Kitty: Nah, I just got a PR release saying more is coming from the two.
This track is "i-aight" indeed.
http://www.prefixmag.com/media/Ghostface-&-Doom/Angeles-MP3-Right-Click-Save-As/1113

**nods head**
thanks Mr. D.D.

Just got an email from ticketweb.com:

The following event has been cancelled:
MF DOOM plus Pigeon John
09/18/07 9:00 PM PDT
Independent

The tickets you purchased will be automatically refunded to the credit card used to make the purchase. Please allow up to five business days for the refund to post to your account.

Thank you for choosing TicketWeb.

So at least I'm getting my money back. I feel sorry for the Independent, putting their trust in Doom, only to be burned again. props to them for letting everyone in free and Pigeon John putting on a good performance. He even put on a paper Doom mask and lipsynched to Hoe Cakes ;) haha

doom is, like, so over.

MF Doom is a villain get over it.

doom is the mad sick villian, he's like babe ruth, so all you punk ass jealous niggas keep on with ya haiku. doom will return with a swift chrome hand for all the doubters. don't investigate cause he's far too excentric for forensics.....doom por vida
JHB myspace/doneforgood band hanford,ca

I just got back from a DOOM show tonight in ATL .

Well, what can I say? I got there early cause I hadnt gotten a ticket and didn't want to miss out.

We were let in at 9pm and he didn't get on stage until 1:30am. we had to sit through the 'Metal Fingers Academy' who were shitty as hell.

On his fifth song I texted my friend to pick me up because I was pissed and hungry. When I looked up he was gone.

Someone reminded me of his lyrics...

"I plot shows like robberies. In and out. 1-2-3. Nobody sees"

Avante-garde or supreme douchebag?

And, even though it was the LIVE DVD RECORDING I'm not sure if it was him and I heard a few people say he was lip-syncing. :/

Just got back from the ATL show as well...thought I'd put my two cents in.

First off...the thirty dollar price tag is a bit ridiculous, ESPECIALLY for a thirty minute set. On by 1:30, off by 2:00. Four (maybe five) tracks, no crowd interaction, just some pacing back and forth by a guy who could've been Doom. I still don't know if he was actually rhyming or lip-synching, there were lots of skeptics though. Definitely didn't get my dollar-a-minute's worth of entertainment.

Here's a bit from the press release for the show:

"DOOM wanted to do an intimate show for 500 of his truest fans and MJQ offers a unique platform.

This will be an event to remember; including video filming for upcoming release. FIRE eaters in the parking lot. A large ICE sculpture of the MF DOOM mask for fan photo ops. The upgraded sound system for this event is going to ensure the maximum METAL FACE EXPERIENCE! It is also rumored that there will be models painted to resemble METAL to facilitate fan appreciation giveaways."

No ice sculpture. No fire eaters, just an MC with an oversized Zippo. And fan appreciation? Yeah...they gave some free shit away (no METAL models, just MCs yelling and handing out shoes), but how about showing some appreciation to ALL of the fans who already paid thirty dollars to get into the fucking show?

And the whole "DOOM impostors as part of some epic performance art" angle is pretty weak. Why dilute your persona with some tepid-ass shit like this? Seems like all he's doing is poisoning the well and alienating his fans. I know that metal mask has tarnished in my eyes a bit.

Damn, im going to see him on new years eve
DUB in LA and after reading all this shit im dissapointed..
I mean someone should beat the imposters ass or somthing that would solve that no doubt.
As for MF i thing he has made some of the most eclectic hip-hop in history so whatever the fuck is going on im sure he has an idea of what he's doing and probably could care less about fan base if he's got some real shit going on in his mind. He's made no effort to say hes a good guy.. In fact he's made effort to state the opposite.. a true Villian and audience loves to hate..

Damn, im going to see him on new years eve
DUB in LA and after reading all this shit im dissapointed..
I mean someone should beat the imposters ass or somthing that would solve that no doubt.
As for MF i thing he has made some of the most eclectic hip-hop in history so whatever the fuck is going on im sure he has an idea of what he's doing and probably could care less about fan base if he's got some real shit going on in his mind. He's made no effort to say hes a good guy.. In fact he's made effort to state the opposite.. a true Villian and audience loves to hate..

yo i seen doom rock it with brotha ali in philly one of the best shows ever san fran sucks lol

I can't speak for the show in San Francisco where MF DOOM was alleged to have sent an imposter in his place to perform, however, I will let it be known that MF DOOM was not in the building at MJQ last Thursday. Instead he sent an imposter in his place and the imposter has a name to! His name is DJ Wesu! My best guess is that Doom pocketed the $5000 I wired him a month before the show in Atlanta while the rest of the loot must have went to those shady ass - fuckers Mobonix, Killa K and Wesu who took the entire door and split with Doom out the back door.

Look at the links to the photos provided below and compare each other and tell me what you really think! It's so obvious! The last 2 images are the most compelling since Wesu and the alleged MF DOOM imposter share the same scar on the right hand.

PITCHFORK PHOTO OF MF DOOM AT MJQ.
http://thekaoseffect.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/12/mfdoom2.jpg

WESU (ALLEGED IMPOSTER)
http://a716.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/54/l_9ac5fae4844767e164a8ecef177e682b.jpg

MF DOOM with MOBONIX, WESU, KILLA K, DOOR MAN who stole the door money located back right with dreads.
http://a623.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/18/l_3456896c99d18c6b130eb4f1217b09ae.jpg

PITCHFORK PHOTO OF MF DOOM AT MJQ (NOTE SCAR ON RIGHT HAND)
http://thekaoseffect.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/12/mfdoom1.jpg

DJ WESU (NOTE SCAR ON RIGHT HAND)
http://a356.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/61/l_770e07b8d7e29bc8e238077e20cc61b3.jpg

Imposter,

I "saw" the metal faced wonder on new years eve in la. That's some nice theater right there. I couldn't tell if it was DOOM or not on stage, but there were some villainous things going on. Low mics, hints of the lipsync, but what should we expect from a man who wears a mask and lets know in advance he's going to destroy rap.

I'm loving it. Let the saga continue. Holding clubs up at mic point, rolling out the back door and snapping pictures with the culprits afterwords.

I'd go again just to get a clue.

KRS 1 was legendary as usual.

not to be a dick everybody and i know this all sucks

but

he is the super villian

villians dick people all the time.

his persona is dr.doom

marvels number one dick.

maybe he's taking his alter ego trip to seriously but.....
he is the super villian.

Tell that to the die-hard fans who wanted to see his ass, not some impostor or lip synching shit.

MF Doom's problems exemplify why hip-hop deserves to be ignored. What a bunch of un-professional hacks.

Your "movement" has been reduced to a ringtone.

Hip-hop deserves it.

P.S. Murs rules.

as i read all these comments about doom, i see that these complaints are from 2007. well i was just at rock the bells Sat. night and after mos def rocked the crowd, we left nas to go see him on the second stage. it was a small stage and people were still showing up by the thousands. his new album "MMMM FOOD" had just come out a few months ago and i loved it, i also got the one he did with danger mouse which was really good too. my buddies and i went to get a few beers from the stands before he came out and as we walked down we see hundreds of people walk back up sayin a double came out, shorter than him, lighter than him, all this other bullshit. he still had a thousand people including my crew waiting for another 30 min. the DJ and lights guy were the only ones on stage and and a host came out saying, "Rock the Bells appriciates the support guys and we would not try to screw u guys over. doom is in the building and on his way out right now" The F%&KING DJ was unpluggin his gear and the lights guy just jet off the stage. the girl next to me said they threw water bottles and beer on the double ready to jump him. I honestly think he is a great artist, one of a kind, orignal if u want to call him. this no show act hes been goin with in the past year is bullshit though. if he wanted to gype people up and have everyone talk about him, he should have went mainstream. all i know is, DOOM-u lost a lot of f*$cking fans that night buddy.

I don't understand all the hate. I know it sucks to get ripped off after false pretenses, but you know Doom will joke about it on his next album. He will laugh at all of our expense, but will we still buy his new album? OF COURSE WE WILL! I'm actually tickled by his little charade. I hear a lot of bitching about his "weak" performances in SF. Rightfully so, but we NEVER get to see him in Portland, so I don't feel THAT bad for y'all.