Doom, Doombot or Design?

Underground rapper MF Doom is getting a lot of attention lately but it isn’t because of his clever wordplay.

Fans in Atlanta posted complaints on Internet message boards claiming the masked entertainer, who cultivates his anonymity and mystique, is sending imposters to perform at his concerts – and fans aren’t amused.

The most recent report involves an MF Doom show at Atlanta’s MJQ Concourse December 13th. Concertgoers claim a gladiator-masked performer took the stage around 1:30 a.m. and lip-synced Doom’s rhymes during an abbreviated set.

One Atlanta fan didn’t mince words.

"Dude came out with the worst stage presence you’d ever seen," Jeff Hoffman told Creativeloafing.com. "He didn’t say a single word to address the crowd, or a single word that wasn’t on his albums. The couple times I saw him move his hand away from the mask, you could tell that he might as well have been singing Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller.’ I can’t explain my levels of dissatisfaction and anger."

The Web site reported that Atlanta promoter Randy Castello was inundated with e-mails from MJQ attendees demanding refunds for their $30 tickets. An MJQ bouncer told Creative Loafing the crowd was "livid" and wrote graffiti all over the venue’s restroom expressing their anger.

But Hoffman’s complaint is déjà vu in regard to Doom. The rapper was also accused of sending a stand-in – a much thinner and less-talented one – to perform at The Independent in San Francisco last August.

Doom fan Dan Schwab, who flew to S.F. from Oregon for the show, told the Village Voice that the masked performer on The Independent stage wasn’t the real Doom and he had proof.

"I went up to the sound guy about two songs deep and said, ‘No one can hear Doom’s mic.’ He looked at me and said straight-up, ‘I know. His mic’s not on, and that’s not MF Doom,’" Schwab told the Voice.

At the time, a representative for MF Doom told Pollstar the rapper "wasn’t feeling good" and indeed lip-synced, but it was the Man in the Mask.

The rapper (aka Daniel Dumile) bases his persona on the Marvel Comics supervillain Dr. Doom who uses "Doombots" as decoys, so is this just life imitating art or a clever publicity campaign to promote his next album reportedly entitled Doompostor? There’s no clear answer.

However, Jason Swartz of Alliance Talent Int’l, one of Doom’s agents, told the Voice in September that the uproar surrounding his client isn’t warranted.

"There’s rumors about this artist all the time," Swartz said. "The guy wears a mask. He’s an elusive character. He never does merch, he never signs autographs, he never does an encore. That’s just his style.

"He’s a comic-book character of a rapper. In a world where hip-hop has gotten so boring, it’s nice that he has a style that he sticks to that’s not boring."

Pollstar’s attempt to reach Swartz was unsuccessful at press time.