We’re at the New York-Tokyo Music Festival and Kenny Muhammad (the human orchestra) announced MF Doom had to cancel because he’s in the hospital fighting for his life. More details as they develop but hopefully it’s just a front cause he couldn’t make it to the show.
update: Well, still no official word on Doom’s condition. Unfortunately, it’s not a stretch to imagine the promoters coming up with this lie to avoid the backlash from the crowd. Especially since Doom doesn’t have the best reputation for show attendance. I was pretty disappointed when I heard both Collie Budz and Doom had to cancel, but I guess the promoters did alright in the end by getting Rakim to show (although it was a very short set, more like a teaser). Still doesn’t justify lying to the fans though. Especially taking it as far as having a “moment of silence”.
update #2: According to some comments we received by people alleging to be the promoters, it seems Collie Budz and MF Doom cancelled early in the am on the 22nd due to health concerns. Thank you for the clarification. What I still do not understand is why the cancellations weren’t immediately communicated to attendees (obviously I do understand, but I think it was inappropriate) and why during Rakim’s performance he said “I got a call last night” about the request for his appearance?
update #3: MF DOOM issues statement, Stones Throw takes opportunity to push new record.
SEP 26, 2007 – Every day for the past month we’ve been hit up by people wanting explanations, statements, clarifications, and declarations about MF DOOM. Is he lip synching? (No. Listen to the videos on Youtube.) Is he an impostor? (No, but he did lose some pounds.) Is he in the hospital? (No, he’s in his studio … or if not there, you can find him in the pub with the grub stain.)
Reached earlier this morning at his home in Georgia, an alive and well MF DOOM issued this statement:
“What up? I’m dead.”DOOM was in Los Angeles recently and recorded a few verses at The Bomb Shelter studio, where Madvillain, Quasimoto, YNQ, and Madlib classics have been made. Among the new joints recorded was one with him and Guilty Simpson over J Dilla’s “Mash” and another over Dilla’s “Lightworks”. “Mash’s Revenge” will be released on the album “B-Ball Zombie War” on October 2.
update #4 on Oct 2, 2007: Stones Throw statement was taken down. Don’t know why.
That would be a serious thing to front about, I have a feeling it might be true, what is going on with Doom?
Doom is a fraud no show
He aint a fraud if he’s terminally ill.
[...] We’re at the New York-Tokyo Music Festival and Kenny Muhammad (the human orchestra) announced MF Doom had to cancel because he’s in the hospital fighting for his life. More details as they develop but hopefully it’s just a front cause he couldn’t make it to the show. da GrandGood [...]
yeah I was there too, obviously I think they were just bullshtting us because he couldn’t come, pharoh was awesome though, especially when he played the collab he did with j dilla
WTF?!
Let’s hope Doom is doing alright if he is in the hospital.
pharoah did say “i have asthma too and i know how that shit gets” so presumably its due to asthma
[...] Fonte. [...]
hey all. this is one of the producers of the show. it wasn’t BS – we got a call at 6 am in the morning from Doom’s manager saying that he had to go to the hospital. whether that’s true or not, only time will tell. but believe me – nobody was more upset, scared, and pissed than us, but thank god Rakim came through at the last minute. Pharoah rocked. we’re really thankful you came out.
It sure sounded like BS!!!
Especially when it is initially announced that Collie Budz is in hospital!!!!!!!!!!!
Rumours were going around during the day that MF was a no show also.
Then, an announcement is made toward the end that DOOM is in hospital….also!!
What is the probability of the two headline acts to be both in hospital.
Someone is definately talkin’ sh!t….
No disrespect to DOOM if he is unwell…but, a moment of silence!!! He’s not dead!!don’t you think that y’all are taking this a little too far….and getting respected artists to front too (??)…
I came a long way on many modes of transportation along with the bs associated with finding a place to stay for this event…
I WAS DONE LIKE A VIC….robbed!!!
I’m glad the peeps I promoted this to didn’t come through…
Rakim didn’t get the response he deserved…because promoters were straight-up lying to us…
Kenny Muhammad had some dope beatboxing styles…but, when he was calling for a moment of silence & saying sh!t like don’t y’all respect DOOM…I’m surprised a bottle wasn’t thrown at him!!!!
Pharoah was tight…..but, I was most definately there for DOOM!!!
Teriyaki Boyz rocked their show like a boy-band at times, and a little on the Jurassic 5 tip at other times…..they were not playing to the crowd….we were just watching these kids do karaoke into their personal mirror.
With the amount of sponsorship deals for the show…the promoters would of definately made some $$$…..it is the fans that got the raw deal!
the whole idea of rakim filling in for mf doom on some last minute sh*t is pretty neat. If this was 1991 we’d thnk it was the twilight zone. everybody wondering where mf doom is at, did anyone get a chance to ask rakim whats the latest with his album??
When Rakim was talking about a release date for his new album (Seventh Seal), he made a really funny comment. He said it was droppin at the end of the summer in about 3-4 months ha
To be honest, he mentioned his album was droppin soon at a show I went to last year so who knows what’s going on with that. That track, It’s Nothin, is at least a year old too.
Doom is a dope rhymer & a definite stealer. A talented dude, but a total con artist. Ask any of his Long Island people before he ran off to ATL.
These promoters are pathetic. Shit like this kills the already dying hip hop industry. That was some fake ass slopped together hip hop show. I’m sure neither Collie Budz or Doom wanted to be caught on the same stage as the TERIYAKI BOYS. That shit was horrendous. Pharoahe Monch was the only promising appearance, but the sound was terrible. He was completely overshadowed by his back up singers. His tour with Scion this week across the country will be far superior & FREE!!!!!
Speakin of FREE…That ZUNE concert @ the Brooklyn Bridge this summer was WAY SICKER (CLipse, LOX, LL COOL J, Brand Nubian, MIMS, J Period, many more, not summerstage!) & WAS FREE!!!
I actually can’t believe I made the effort of going out to the show after I bought the ticket ($25 for what!?). I would have rather just thrown the money away & done something productive with my day. What a waste.
ayo that was straight garbage especially those teryaki boys i’m asian and they are fucking disgraces to my race that one song chicken or beef just got me and i’m sure DOOM was eating hamburgers all night drinking chicken gristle but if he was in the hospital then much respect
man i have a hard time believing this as DOOM recently also canceled two shows i had tickets to in SF… NOT due to health concerns. (the second show was a makeup for the first show he canceled).
the first cancelation was for a thursday show the night after he performed on wed… only problem is the people on wed said it was an imposter with a DOOM mask. i’m a huge fan but this has caused me to lost ALL respect for DOOM. his flow is nice but he’s a little fake ass bitch. grimm was right.
Wow, I like how everyone here KNOWS what went down, and are so quick to blame the promoters. I worked the event (for free) and have first-hand knowledge that the story of Doom being in the hospital was NOT made up by the promoters. They got calls from both managers on the day of the event saying they were both in the hospital. This isn’t the promoter’s fault, and they definitely did not make up any stories to cover for Doom or Collie Buddz. If it was merely a no-show, I guarantee they would have taken legal action against both of them. Are the hospital stories true? It’s hard to say, but the promoters definitely did not try to cover anything up.
To call the promoters pathetic, then in the next sentence saying, “shit like this kills the already dying hip hop industry” is a bit ridiculous. Without promoters working hard to put together shows for artists & fans alike, the hip hop industry would surely die. Some of you are so quick to point the finger and place blame on the promoters that it wouldn’t surprise me if promoters didn’t start to move away from hip hop altogether. When this happens, who’s to blame?
The reason I am writing this is because I have put together many shows of my own–ALL of which I lost money on. In fact, I went into the shows knowing that I would lose money, but that wasn’t the main focus. The reason I put the shows together is because I love hip hop and wanted to provide shows that I would like to see. People get sick, bad things happen, and things don’t always go as planned. You do your best to try to make the best decision possible, which is difficult when you haven’t slept (from trying to replace your headliner), and are running around trying to “fix the damage”.
My point is: what happened sucks, but don’t be so quick to blame the promoters. Everyone working the event was worried when we heard that Doom had heart problems and was in the ER. In fact, I sat with Pharoahe Monch and told him about Doom, and he looked genuinely concerned.
Pace612: how much was made from the event’s sponsorship deals? Have you ever promoted an event of your own? Do you understand the costs involved in putting together a show at a venue on the scale of Central Park? I’d say that the promoters made out well if they ended up losing the same amount as they did last year…which is enough to make a financially stable man cry.
c: I spoke with Rakim, but the only thing I can tell you is that he’s finalizing the album. He didn’t give me any specifics.
Willie Pep: I didn’t hear anything about asthma. From what I understand, it was a heart issue.
doom still owns. i think its funny how you guys just lose all repect for a guy if hes doent come to a show… the fact that you take it so personaly makes me laugh.. btw.. nice comment by the backstage guy.. tell those whinny bitches whats what. long live doom.. and good for him for coning you douches.
Well unfortunately it was a whack show & the headliners didn’t even have enough respect for the promoters or the fans to show up. If DOOM really was in the hospital for a heart condition, than thats too bad. Maybe DOOM should take better care of himself with all that $$$$ he is stealing. Someone should sign him up for VH1’s Celebrity Fit Club!! Personally, I would like to see some proof that he was really in the hospital. Until then its BS.
The promoters could have given a little more advance warning. At least before making us sit through the TERIYAKI BOYS. I mean…who likes these guys?? But what great matching Bathing Ape gear they had…sigh.
I did get to see some busted Japanese cell phone cheerleaders tho, perhaps the most interesting part of the event. The Zoo York skaters were putting people to sleep while Japanese airlines & hotels were trying to get names for their databases and all the SHARP TVs were displaying RACING!? I mean….RACING? How random is that for a hip-hop show? The MC kept saying Kid Robot had free stuff….you mean stickers? Sweet. At least get these sponsors to foot the bill for the tickets.
Whatever…whats done is done. Promoting is a bitch, that is the nature of the beast. I’ll be lookin out for MADVILLAINY 2 & probably go to some other over extended failure of a concert next summer, hopefully for free.
yeah so apparently DOOM wasn’t sick? whats up with that stonesthrow bullshit? yo, if i were the ny tokyo promoters, take that shit to court.
no shows once in awhile is understood, but when it becomes the norm with straight bullshit excuses…
Ze, I agree with you. I’m going to forward this link to the promoters…
Update: The link to the news article is suspiciously down. Can anyone else verify that this article was really posted on the site, and dated post 9/22?
I was there from San Diego. needless to say, it was pretty disappointing. it was a conspicuous to say the least and unfortunate if there were illnesses. regardless of what the reasons are, the promoters lose some credibility and people will be leary of buying tickets to the bext one if there is one. Rakim was good
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