The Chronicles of Doom - by S H Fernando

About the Book

"The definitive biography of MF DOOM, charting the reclusive and revered hip-hop artist's life, career, and eventual immortality"--

Book Synopsis

A Variety best music book of 2024
A FLOOD best music book of 2024
A Clash best music book of 2024
A Mother Jones best book of 2024

"In a career and life full of fictions, the truth--as this excellent, detailed biography makes clear--was often as mind-boggling [. . .] Hip-hop writer S.H. Fernando Jr. benefits from an insider's understanding of the milieu and provides generous context."
--Kitty Empire, The Guardian

The definitive biography of MF DOOM, charting the reclusive and revered hip-hop artist's life, career, and eventual immortality.

On December 31, 2020, the world was shocked to learn about the death of hip-hop legend MF DOOM. Born in London and raised in the suburban enclave of Long Beach, New York, Daniel Dumile Jr.'s love of cartoons and comic books would soon turn him into one of hip-hop's most enigmatic, prolific, and influential figures.

Sweeping and definitive, The Chronicles of DOOM: Unraveling Rap's Masked Iconoclast recounts the rise, fall, redemption, and untimely demise of MF DOOM. Broken down into five sections: The Man, The Myth, The Mask, The Music, and The Legend, journalist S. H. Fernando, or SKIZ, chronicles the life of Daniel Dumile Jr., beginning in the house he grew up in in Long Beach, NY, into the hip-hop group KMD, onto the stage of his first masked show, through the countless collabs, and across the many different cities Daniel called home. Centering the music, SKIZ deftly lays out the history of east-coast rap against DOOM's life story and dissects the personas, projects, tracks, and lyrics that led to his immortality.

Including exclusive interviews with those who worked closely with DOOM and providing an unknown, intimate, behind the scenes look into DOOM's life, The Chronicles of DOOM is the definitive biography of MF DOOM, a supervillain on stage and hero to those who paid attention.

Review Quotes

"Trying to focus on the tale of the eccentric, enigmatic and anonymous rapper-producer Dumile Daniel Thompson--a.k.a. DOOM--must have been akin to pinning down mercury . . . Fernando goes a long way in presenting the man behind the mask (who died in 2020) without revealing all of his spaced-out secrets that made him special."
--A. D. Amorosi, Variety

"This is an ambitious, widescreen, hugely colourful undertaking. Putting to bed some long-held rumours and mistruths, the book also zones in on what makes DOOM such an entrancing figure--in placing a spotlight on his life and work, the author often locates further deposits of genius. A tome worthy of the iconoclastic rapper."
--Robin Murray, Clash

"In a career and life full of fictions, the truth--as this excellent, detailed biography makes clear--was often as mind-boggling . . . Hip-hop writer S.H. Fernando Jr. benefits from an insider's understanding of the milieu and provides generous context."
--Kitty Empire, The Guardian

"There's a lot more going on in The Chronicles of Doom than gushing over a fallen hero . . . [Fernando] tells a larger story about reinvention, a process familiar to anyone who has had to rebuild a life, and an identity, when things fall apart."
--Chris Vognar, San Francisco Chronicle

"Fernando has offered a definitive roadmap to a great artist whose output can still be daunting to the newcomer."
--Michaelangelo Matos, Carbon Sound

"You mustn't pass up on this rare glimpse into the life of the one and only MF Doom. Perfect for fans of Dilla Time."
--Chevalier's Books

"Fernando provides a comprehensive look at DOOM's life and career, meticulously researched through interviews with the rapper's many collaborators and those closest to the man behind the mask. His track-by-track breakdowns of DOOM's albums will have sample spotters diving into their record collections. A perfect pairing with Dan Charnas's Dilla Time (2022), this is an essential exploration into the world of 'your favorite rapper's favorite rapper.'"
--Carlos Orellana, Booklist (starred review)

"The Chronicles of DOOM is superbly written, and incredibly well researched, but also full of heart and the pure love and appreciation of any true DOOM fan. Here you get everything you would want to know about the man, the myth, the mask. It is written as compellingly as the origin stories of the greatest superheroes and supervillains. If you love DOOM, I could not more highly recommend this book."
--Tommy Orange, New York Times-bestselling author of Wandering Stars and Pulitzer Prize finalist for There, There

"This authoritative guide to one of hip hop's most enigmatic figures peeks behind the mask to reveal Daniel Dumile's rebellious spirit and creative genius."
--Rob Kenner, author of The Marathon Don't Stop: The Life and Times of Nipsey Hussle

"The Chronicles of DOOM is a thoroughly researched and at times poetically written tome about the life and work of MF DOOM. . . . [It] has something for the old school hip hop heads, the comic reading and cartoon watching nerds, the DIY indie kids, the esoteric stoners, and everyone in between just like DOOM's music."
--Logan Dalton

About the Author

S. H. Fernando Jr., SKIZ, is a writer/journalist whose byline has appeared in The New York Times, Rolling Stone, and The Source. He currently lives in Baltimore, MD.