1st MF DOOM interview in a major mainstream publication (The Source magazine article I wrote)

Shaquan Young is my real name. I met Daniel Dumile in October, 2000 (when I was 22 years old), as he had just transitioned from Fondle ‘Em records to SubVerse music. At the time my editor at The Source, Aliyah S. King, had no clue who MF DOOM was. Very few people, outside of devout Hip-Hop heads who listened to underground artists, were familiar with the metal-faced villain. There was no press release that I was tending to. No big promo. This article was strictly my idea. Nobody made me do it. I did this interview because I wanted to. Plain and simple.
Back then, if you weren’t Jay Z, the Neptunes, Ludacris, Dr. Dre, Outkast, Mystikal, Eminem or Ja Rule….. nobody cared.
It wasn’t like today (where everybody wants to be the authority on indie rappers).
It was not cool to be a “backpack” underground head.

This was the 1st interview I had EVER done for the Source magazine. Before this, I was writing obituaries for a small town newspaper.
Just moved to NYC, after graduating from college.
I had been listening to “Operation: Doomsday” for a year, up to this point before I met Dumile.
I called Bobbito Garcia, from the phone number that was on the original CD pressing of Doomsday.
He put me in touch with Fiona Bloom, one 3rd owner of SubVerse music.
Really hospitable young lady. She even gave me a free CD from another group under her roster. I can tell that she really loved the music.
Me and Dumile went outside and sat on the loading ledge of the office building, looking out into the West Village landscape of lower Manhattan.
I spent about 2 hours chatting with him. He did not wear the mask.
Dumile was comfortable with being “regular” during our meet-up, but with good faith that I wasn’t going to take a picture of him.
Kurious dropped by for a quick minute, and drove to the store to buy us some beers.
I had to get all my fandom out the way before I started asking Dumile serious questions from memory lane.
Talked about how MF Grimm financed the album with drug money.
Dumile mentioned that he slept in Bobbito’s apartment the whole time he recorded his album.
A lot of what we talked about got edited out of this article by Ms. King.
You’ll see some inconsistencies.
Some inaccuracies.
SubRoc died in ’93, not ’94.
Not sure why they changed it.
His real government name was left out, and I don’t know why.
You might also spot some typos.
But I’m not mad at her. It’s a business. A major print publication, such as The Source, has to make money by targeting their audience in the least amount of time possible.
Besides, not many people in the mainstream even knew who Doom was.
After our conversation, Dumile went to the Source’s main office for a photo shoot, which is what you see in the article.
Back then, he wore the Phantom of the Opera mask, before gradually donning the Gladiator mask that he is most famous for.
Ms. King made me bug him about his age, which he was not too ecstatic about revealing. He said to me “your editor is mad nosey, yo. But fuck it. It don’t matter.”
This article hit newsstands in February of 2001, and I was extremely proud to see DOOM get shine.
Later on that year, SubVerse released a re-mastered version of his debut, with the track “I Hear Voices” as an added bonus.
I never saw Dumile (in person) again after that.
His career took off far beyond I could ever imagine.
I will never forget him.
#RIP #DanielDumile #MFDOOM
Link for full color article https://photos.app.goo.gl/kFXY2zdmn2a4sNGU7

Source