Born Like This
How long do you think it took Daniel Dumile to record Born Like This? Six months? A couple of weeks? The full three and a half years since his last LP? “Angelz” has been kicking around since 2006, when it leaked in anticipation of a full-length Ghostface/Doom collaboration that has yet to surface, and “Lightworks” co-opts a classic Dilla track from the same year’s Donuts. Then again, there’s an element of Born Like This that feels like DOOM’s in the studio banging out tracks like Krusty the Clown recording copy for a talking doll: “All right, you poindexters, let’s get this right. One: ‘Hey, hey, kids, it’s Doooom.’ Two: ‘Hey, hey, here comes Dan Stuckey.’ Again. ‘Hey, hey, here comes Dan Stuckey.’ ‘Dan Stuckey.’ Three: [Evil Laugh]. Budda-bing, budda-boom, I’m done. Learn from a professional, kid.”
Judged by traditional rock album standards, Born Like This is a shambles. There’s little unifying structure—both over the course of the album, and within the songs themselves. There are almost no choruses, and plenty of songs last only the length of one verse. There’s not a whole lot to grab onto, besides DOOM’s wordplay and some subtly compelling production by Jake One, Madlib, Dilla and DOOM himself. Yet, DOOM is clearly a master lyricist, whose punch lines, internal rhymes, archaic slang and pop culture references are, without hyperbole, among the most rewarding in the history of rap music. What makes this his best effort since 1999’s Operation Doomsday, is that it’s simply a vehicle for the dude’s raps. Unlike Dumile’s many other decade high points—Viktor Vaughn’s Venomous Villain, King Geedorah’s Take Me to Your Leader, Madvillain’s Madvillainy, and Dangerdoom’s The Mouse and the Mask, respectively—there’s no satirical concept, split focus, dizzying production or cartoon characters to get in the way of the show. DOOM’s rhymes may be elaborately constructed, or they may be tossed off. Either way, Born Like This showcases a brain operating on wavelength most of us can’t even pretend to understand.
The album’s lean running time and measured guest spots edge it toward classic status. DOOM has the advantage of 20 years’ experience in the rap game, but even most veterans haven’t mastered the art of brevity. Why say in three verses what you can accomplish in one? Usually, producers have the thankless job of making rappers sound good. With Born Like This, it’s reversed. On “Rap Ambush,” DOOM’s restraint keeps Jake One’s beat from wearing out its welcome; whereas, his performance on “Gazillion Ear” calls attention to every shift in Dilla’s masterful production. It would likewise be tempting to hold the production accountable for the album’s few weak lyrical moments. For example, I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that the homophobic screed in “Batty Boys” grew out of DOOM’s fascination with his own production’s homoerotic superhero samples. Even then, DOOM’s compulsion when getting wrapped up in his own themes is another mark of his talent. Whether the album is a collection of hastily composed rhymes, or merely constructed to sound like it, the joy in listening to DOOM rap on Born Like This is hearing him chase his own ideas down the rabbit hole.
-Martin Brown, 2010
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