Think it’s an understatement to say that it was a sad day when it was revealed on New Year’s Eve that MF DOOM was no longer with us. It was a bigger shock to find that he had been gone for two months by that point. Daniel Dumile was such an enigma. Here was a guy who wasn’t asking to be in the spotlight much. I think he was more a private man who wanted to be with his family a lot of the time. But the way he rapped with that husky voice and jaw-dropping flows and internal rhyme schemes always left the people wanting more. I know I was hoping for something new from him in whatever capacity. It’s a huge loss. But the music is forever.

‘Meat Grinder’ is the third song on Madvillainy, the legendary collaborative album by DOOM and producer Madlib under their Madvillain moniker. I see a lot of comments under this song on YouTube saying how this track reminds them of SpongeBob SquarePants. I always shake my head and think, “Why?” Apart from the sampled slide guitar that I can admit does sound a bit like something from that show, my mind doesn’t automatically go to it. I’m always thinking about how grimy and sneaky-sounding that bassline is. Alongside DOOM’s hoarse vocals, it just gives this real nasty vibe. I feel like it’s a track that should be in a Breaking Bad montage or something. There’s a dirty, disgusting feel to it that only listening it would you be able to understand.

DOOM’s flow and lyrics on here are insane. The internal rhyming on this is miraculous. He was always noted for the way in which he could introduce a word in one line, rhyme it twice in the next and bring it back around in the final line while still rhyming five other words simultaneously. It’s a marvel to listen to. His versatility had no boundaries. I can’t keep up with them myself, but there are phrases throughout which always stick in my mind. “Borderline schizo/Sort of fine tits though”, “Hackthoo’ing” songs, lit in the booth with the best host/Doing bong hits on the roof, in the west coast”… just to list two of them. I’ll just show the rhyme scheme highlight video. Jesus.