"His Life is Like a Folklore Legend": MF DOOM as Both a Consumer and Producer of Occultural Reenchantment
This article utilizes Christopher Partridge's concept of "occulture" from his work The Re-Enchantment of the West to analyse the phenomenon of hip-hop, focusing specifically on the late rapper known as MF DOOM (b. Daniel Dumile). Partridge posits that while "disenchantment"...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
equinox
2021
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| In: |
International journal for the study of new religions
Year: 2021, Volume: 12, Issue: 2, Pages: 211-233 |
| Further subjects: | B
Occulture
B Occculture B Hip-hop B MF DOOM B Reenchantment B Bricolage |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | This article utilizes Christopher Partridge's concept of "occulture" from his work The Re-Enchantment of the West to analyse the phenomenon of hip-hop, focusing specifically on the late rapper known as MF DOOM (b. Daniel Dumile). Partridge posits that while "disenchantment" is concurrent with a "secular" modernity, it often gives way to a process of "reenchantment" (Partridge 2004, 64). Hip-hop, inasmuch as it often draws from reenchanting, new religious movements, and is in itself a fundamentally eclectic, syncretic genre, presents ample opportunity for reenchantment narratives. I argue that MF DOOM is an exemplar of occultural reenchantment in hip-hop, being both a producer of it as well as a consumer. Acting as the genre's "supervillain," MF DOOM's revolt against the "routinized" rap scene of the mid to late nineties sees him drawing on a variety of cultural materials, including his experiences in new religious movements, to create a bricolage that is reenchanting. MF DOOM's reenchanting capacity is revealed in an analysis of three of his albums, Operation: Doomsday, Madvillainy and Born Like This. Similarly, an exploration of MF DOOM's use of personae, and his dedication to embodying them in a kind of "performance artistry," will be examined to understand their contribution to the occultural mystique associated with the rapper. |
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| ISSN: | 2041-952X |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: International journal for the study of new religions
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1558/ijsnr.28331 |