1/23/21

Metal Face Akademy


Apart from his solo work, MF DOOM was well known as part of two groups: (as Zev Luv X) KMD and (as King Geedorah) Monsta Island Czars. However, he also founded another lesser known group, Metal Face Akademy. According to my research, this crew assembled in the early 2000s, and the following rappers and producers were all at one point recognized as members: MF DOOM, Mobonix, The Darkmonk, Hassan Chop, DJ Wesu, and John Robinson aka Lil Sci from Scienz of Life. 

Though the crew never put out a collective project, and there don't appear to be any songs featuring all of the members, each has collaborated extensively with at least one of the others. Robinson released a full album produced by MF DOOM, the criminally slept on Who Is This Man? And two members, Hassan Chop and The Darkmonk, actually released projects under the banner of DOOM's label, Metal Face Records. Hassan's The Sharpening from 2006 was meant to promote an album called The Pen & The Sword, which was also slated for release on Metal Face but never came out. 

The Darkmonk's True Underlord dropped six years later and features multiple appearances by DJ Wesu and Mobonix. These three seem to have collaborated the most among any of the Metal Face Akademy students. Notably, Mobonix and The Darkmonk also took their enrollment in the school to another level, donning metal masks in videos and apparently on stage as well. So too did DJ Wesu in a sense, as he was known to be one of the so-called Doomposters. 

All this being said, one of the things I find most interesting about the Metal Face Akademy is the idea that DOOM legitimately could have served as a mentor for these guys, taking them on the road, giving them beats and in some cases even putting them on his own records (Mobonix rapped on "Supervillainz" off Born Like this, and Chop on "I Wonder" off King Geedorah's Take Me To Your Leader). The concept isn't far-fetched when you consider that DOOM might have also assumed this role for his younger brother Subroc, at least some members of the Monsta Island Czars, and later, Bishop Nehru, with whom he did the album, NehruvianDoom.

As it happens, Marvel Comics' Dr. Doom also had a school, the Viktor von Doom Institute for Gifted Youths, but this didn't appear in print until 2015. Regardless, even before MF DOOM established the Metal Face Akademy, there were references to academia in his music: the "Back in the Days" skit took place on a college campus, and a Scienz of Life track featuring DOOM on the wheels was appropriately titled "Metal Fingers Scraped the Chalkboard." Those tracks bookend the playlist below. The rest of it is comprised of collaborations between two or more members of the Akademy. (The only possible exception is Hassan Chop's "Fresh Kutz," which doesn't sound much like a DOOM beat but which appeared on a mix that King Geedorah did for Solid Steel Radio.) 

"Definition supervillain: a killer who loves children; 
one who is well skilled in destruction as well as building."



1. MF DOOM - Back in the Days (prod. by MF DOOM)
2. Mobonix - Shine (prod. by MF DOOM)
3. The Darkmonk - Sinista - (prod. by MF DOOM)
4. Hassan Chop - Fresh Cutz (prod. by MF DOOM?)
5. John Robinson - Sorcerers ft. MF DOOM & Invizible Hands (prod. by MF DOOM)
6. The Darkmonk - Trust No. 1 ft. DJ Wesu (prod. by DJ Wesu)
7. Mobonix - This Wrek (prod. by DJ Wesu)
8. The Darkmonk - Real Terror ft. Mobonix (prod. by Jake One)
9. MarQ Spekt - Heroin Jonezz ft. Mobonix (prod. by MF DOOM)
10. King Geedorah - I Wonder ft. Hassan Chop (prod. by Metal Fingered Villain)
11. DOOM - Supervillainz ft. Posdnuos, Kurious, Mobonix & Slug (prod. by DOOM & Mr. Chop)
12. The Darkmonk - Hyena! ft. DJ Kool Akiem & Mobonix (prod. by MF DOOM)
13. CX KiDTRONiK - Ghidra Got It ft. King Geedorah & Mobonix
14. Mobonix - Rodeo (prod. by MF DOOM)
15. Hassan Chop - It's No Secret (prod. by MF DOOM)
16. The Darkmonk - Text Off Da Celly ft. DJ Wesu (prod. by DJ Wesu)
17. MF DOOM - Air (Jordan Remix prod. by DJ Wesu)
18. Mobonix - Reset Button (prod. by MF DOOM)
19. Scienz of Life - Metal Fingers Scraped the Chalkboard (Cuts by MF DOOM)


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