In the fifth and final installment of our KMD retrospective, we explore the ‘lost years’ that saw Zev Love X take up the mask, look back at Daniel Dumile’s own reflections on DOOM’s origins, consider the lessons the mask aimed to impart, and hail the legend of a metal-faced terrorist gone far too soon.

In the fourth installment of our KMD retrospective, we look back at the fallout from Ice-T’s controversial “Cop Killer,” the interviews that Zev offered in the lead up to Black Bastards, and the record label politicking that saw Elektra Records pull the record – and leave Zev out in the cold.

In the third installment of our KMD retrospective, we look back at Subroc’s tragic death through the words of his friends and collaborators, and explore Zev’s resolve to finish Black Bastards.

In the second installment of our five-part KMD retrospective, we look at the wake of Mr. Hood, the departure of Onyx the Birthstone Kid, the Dumile brothers’ rapport with the Constipated Monkey crew, and the recording of Black Bastards.

Few artists have inspired as much myth-making as MF DOOM, hip hop’s most fearsome villain. His prodigious beginnings gave way to music industry treachery, and his masked return gave way to tales as inventive as the comics from which he pulled, but there’s truth in every telling.