Editing MF Doom (section)

===1988–1997: KMD, brother's death, and hiatus===
[[File:KMD Elektra.jpg|thumb|right|Dumile as Zev Love X (left) with fellow [[KMD]] members [[DJ Subroc]] and Onyx the Birthstone Kid in 1991]]
Under the name Zev Love X,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Sanneh |first=Kelefa|author-link=Kelefa Sanneh |date=April 7, 2004 |title=That Man in a Mask, With Labyrinthine Rhymes to Cast |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/07/arts/hip-hop-review-that-man-in-a-mask-with-labyrinthine-rhymes-to-cast.html|access-date=January 1, 2021 |issn=0362-4331|archive-date=January 1, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210101051537/https://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/07/arts/hip-hop-review-that-man-in-a-mask-with-labyrinthine-rhymes-to-cast.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Dumile formed the hip hop group [[KMD]] in 1988 with his younger brother [[DJ Subroc]] and Rodan, who was later replaced by Onyx the Birthstone Kid.<ref name=ALLMUSIC>{{cite web |last1=LeRoy |first1=Dan |url={{AllMusic |class=artist |id=p300089/biography|pure_url=yes}}|title=Artist Biography|work=[[AllMusic]]|access-date=September 28, 2010}}</ref> [[Artists and repertoire|A&R]] representative Dante Ross learned of KMD through the hip hop group [[3rd Bass]] and signed them to [[Elektra Records]].<ref name="wax poetics">{{cite journal |title=Turn Up the Phonograph: Dante Ross |journal=[[Wax Poetics]] |volume=9 |date=2004 |isbn=9780307494429 |issn=1537-8241 |oclc=48433218 |last1=Coleman |first1=Brian}}</ref> Their recording debut came on 3rd Bass's song "The Gas Face" on ''[[The Cactus Album]]'',<ref name="ALLMUSIC"/> followed in 1991 by their debut album ''[[Mr. Hood]]''. Dumile performed the last verse on "The Gas Face"; according to [[Pete Nice]]'s verse on the track, Dumile created the phrase.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Chick |first=Stevie |date=January 1, 2021 |title=MF Doom: a hip-hop genius who built his own universe of poetry |url=http://www.theguardian.com/music/2021/jan/01/mf-doom-a-hip-hop-genius-who-built-his-own-universe-of-poetry|access-date=January 3, 2021 |work=[[The Guardian]] |language=en|archive-date=January 3, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210103041103/https://www.theguardian.com/music/2021/jan/01/mf-doom-a-hip-hop-genius-who-built-his-own-universe-of-poetry|url-status=live}}</ref>

On April 23, 1993, just before the release of the second KMD album, ''[[Black Bastards]]'',<ref name="ALLMUSIC"/> Subroc was struck by a car and killed while crossing the [[Long Island Expressway]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Turner-Williams |first=Jaelani |date=November 15, 2019 |title=Impending DOOM: 'MM...FOOD' Warned You 15 Years Ago |url=https://www.complex.com/pigeons-and-planes/2019/11/mf-doom-mm-food-anniversary|url-status=live|access-date=May 2, 2021 |website=[[Complex Networks|Complex]] |language=en|archive-date=November 18, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201118163300/https://www.complex.com/pigeons-and-planes/2019/11/mf-doom-mm-food-anniversary}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Fortune |first=Drew |date=January 28, 2021 |title=The Unknowable MF DOOM |url=https://www.vulture.com/article/mf-doom-wake.html|url-status=live|access-date=May 2, 2021 |website=[[New York (magazine)#Digital|Vulture]] |language=en-us|archive-date=February 25, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225015537/https://www.vulture.com/article/mf-doom-wake.html}}</ref> Dumile completed the album alone over the course of several months, and it was announced with a release date of May 3, 1994.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Coleman |first=Brian |date=April 10, 2016 |title=Check The Technique: The Birth of MF Doom |url=https://medium.com/cuepoint/check-the-technique-kmds-black-bastards-and-the-birth-of-mf-doom-1849f4c0a6f4|access-date=February 5, 2021 |website=Medium |language=en|archive-date=November 15, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191115100709/https://medium.com/cuepoint/check-the-technique-kmds-black-bastards-and-the-birth-of-mf-doom-1849f4c0a6f4|url-status=live}}</ref> KMD was dropped by Elektra and the album went unreleased due to its controversial cover art,<ref name="wax poetics"/> which featured a cartoon of a stereotypical [[pickaninny]] or [[Sambo (racial term)|sambo]] character being hanged.<ref name=ducker2014>{{Cite news |last=Ducker |first=Eric |date=November 6, 2014 |title=A Rational Conversation: The 20-Year-Old Album That's MF DOOM's Missing Link |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/therecord/2014/11/06/361216399/a-rational-conversation-the-20-year-old-album-thats-mf-dooms-missing-link|access-date=January 1, 2021 |work=[[NPR]]|archive-date=January 1, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210101051538/https://www.npr.org/sections/therecord/2014/11/06/361216399/a-rational-conversation-the-20-year-old-album-thats-mf-dooms-missing-link|url-status=live}}</ref>

After his brother's death, Dumile retreated from the hip hop scene from 1994 to 1997, living "damn near homeless, walking the streets of [[Manhattan]], sleeping on benches".{{sfn|Hsu|2005|p=48}} In the late 1990s, he settled in [[Atlanta]]; he had moved to Georgia in the mid-90s.<ref name="yoo2021" /> According to Dumile, he was "recovering from his wounds" and vowing revenge "against the industry that so badly deformed him".<ref name="ALLMUSIC" /> ''Black Bastards'' had been [[Bootleg recording|bootlegged]] by that time,<ref name=ducker2014/> but was not officially released until 2000.{{Sfn|Bradley|DuBois|2010|p=606}}