[WATCH] MUGGS X DOOM (ft. Freddie Gibbs) – “Death Wish” Video

This is pretty solid month for rap music, and there are a couple of reoccurring names playing their role in it becoming that way.  Only a few days ago, we posted about a brand new “surprise” street rap release from Gary, Indiana‘s Freddie Gibbs.  While currently working to knock out a sequel to Piñata, his universally lauded 2014 collaboration with producer, Madlib, Gibbs simply pushed a completely separate and fully thought out release without issue.  It’s how he does things.  Then, earlier in the month, we wrote about a new EP from Los Angeles super producer, DJ Muggs (Cypress HIll, House Of Pain, Funkdoobiest, etc.) and Queens lyricist, Meyhem Lauren, called Frozen Angels, which is comprised of extra material from their own critically acclaimed joint album from last year, Gems From The Equinox.  According to his instagram account, it looks like Muggs is putting something new together with Meyhem, as well, but in the meantime, he’s clearly got more on his plate that he’s eager to serve up before that comes to fruition.  The latest from Muggs finds him joining forces with underground god emcee, MF DOOM, for a pair of cuts, with the first one featuring none other than, Gangsta Gibbs, himself.

There are few others in the game as intriguing as MF DOOM (aka Daniel Dumile) and it’s been a minute since he offered up a true solo venture of his own, whether under the DOOM moniker, or any of his others, like Viktor Vaughan or King Geedorah.  One reason why this is a shame is that, beyond his lyrical prowess, Dumile is also one of the most uniquely talented producers in hip hop history.  He already pulled away from doing live shows, quite a while ago, notoriously sending out imposters dressed in his mask to perform in his place, but as the recorded material continues to lessen, it has left the fanbase even thirstier.  The closest thing that he’s come to a legit DOOM studio LP arrived earlier this year in the form of Czarface Meets Metalface, an album which threw the super villain emcee in the mix with Czarface, a trio consisting of Boston‘s DJ 7L & MC Esoteric with Wu Tang‘s Inspectah Deck.  But while I really enjoy MF Czar, the masked rapper’s participation felt somewhat distant, perhaps as if his tracks were recorded separately, and in less stereotypical collaborative process — Czarface has definitely pushed it hard, but he’s done little to promote it on his end.  Working with someone else behind the boards has never been an issue for Dumile, as he’s done several projects where the specific intention is to pair him with another beatmaker to produce it in its entirety, including Madvillain (produced by Madlib), Dangerdoom (with Danger Mouse), and JJ Doom (Jneiro Jarel).  There was even NehruvianDoom which saw him team up with rapper, Bishop Nehru, while handling the production himself.  The one record that has become increasingly anticipated over the years is the DoomStarks collab with Ghostface Killah.  We’ve gotten a track or two, but, even though it’s been announced, a full-lengt never actually arrives.  One theory is that Ghost simply hasn’t allowed it past his quality control, refusing to sign off on anything that feels phoned in, and there are several things that indicate to me that DOOM might not be ready to put himself that deep into an entire project like that, at the moment.  For now, it seems like he might just be best working in small bursts, knocking out a couple of solid bangers at a time, like he did with the WestsideDOOM 12-inch that came out last year with Buffalo, New York‘s Westside Gunn.  It was great, but only two tracks came out of it.  This new endeavor with Muggs is a similar situation.

Beyond his work as a founding member of Cypress Hill, DJ Muggs has an incredible production resume under his belt that includes hits like “Jump Around” by House Of Pain and Ice Cube‘s “Check Yo Self.”  He’s somewhat like the inverse of DOOM, in the way that his VS series has yielded a number of releases where he’s producing entire LPs for various rappers such as GZA, Ill Bill, and Planet Asia.  Looking deeper into this new 2-track effort with MF DOOM, it turns out that this is, actually, just a glimpse into something much bigger on the horizon.  While it is, unfortunately, not going to be a full on DOOM collab, it does mark the first chapter in a new DJ Muggs album titled Assassination Day, which “will be released as individual chapters with various MCs.”

Assassination Day, which is slated for an August 3rd release date via Muggs’s own Soul Assassins Records, is described as being a “thematic album with a vigilante concept where hip-hop takes corruption head-on, figuratively killing off powerful evildoers in positions of power as the story unfolds.”  The DOOM installment is comprised of the track “Death Wish” featuring Freddie Gibbs on the A side, backed with the song, “Assassination Day” featuring the legendary Kool G Rap.  Various limited edition versions of the vinyl are available now through Soul Assassins, Rappcats, and hhv.de.  The audio for “Death Wish” already dropped on the same day as the announcement for the new Gibbs album, Freddie, but today its animated video is finally revealed, providing us with a better idea of the over all aesthetic and concept behind this project, with it’s gritty, black and white noir vibe to it, not unlike Frank Miller‘s Sin City.  It definitely matches well with the stark, haunting production.  Check it out below.