MF Doom

I spent 35 years growing up in the U.S., and it had its ups and downs.

Doom is a classic supervillain, akin to the Phantom of the Opera. It's not about revenge so much as, like, 'I'm back - now watch this!' It all boils down to the music. The mask is a slight theme for people to enjoy, and it adds mystery.

The idea of having different characters is really just to get the storyline across, you know? Coming from one particular character makes, to me, the story boring. I get that mainly from novels and that style of writing or movies where there's multiple characters who carry the storyline.

The 'Doom' thing is to be able to come at things with a different point of view. I decided the mask would just add to the mystique of the character as well as make Doom stand out. I though it'd be an easy way for people to see and differentiate between characters, sorta like when an actor gains weight for a role.

Ever since third grade, I had a notebook and was putting together words just for fun. I liked different etymologies, different slang that came out in different eras. Different languages. Different dialects.

I liked being able to speak to somebody and throw it back and forth, and they can't predict what you're going to say next.

Prince Paul is another good friend; he's like an older brother. He'll criticise and be brutally honest with you. That's what I like about Paul.

Being older now, grown, I'm like, 'What do we really do that's fun?' I'm kind of corny when you think about it. What could I rhyme about? Let me see, um, I gotta pay the rent today.

I think - a lot of times in hip-hop, especially - artists get kind of pigeonholed into being 'the guy,' and it's kind of limiting in a way.

I can't perform without the mask or be seen without it on stage, or else it'll distract from the whole persona.

A visual always brings a first impression. But if there's going to be a first impression, I might as well use it to control the story. So why not do something like throw a mask on?

Everybody nowadays rhymes, but out of the people that really, really do it well, it's still a small community of artists. We all tend to be in the same circles - people like my Wu-Tang brothers, or Black Thought from The Roots.