A new biography on MF DOOM, titled The Chronicles Of DOOM, has received an official release date and cover.
The news was unveiled by publishing house Astra House Books, who shared the details via Instagram on March 23.
The post read: “Astra House is proud to reveal the cover of the definitive biography of MF DOOM, The Chronicles Of DOOM: Unraveling Rap’s Masked Iconoclast by S.H. Fernando, in honor of the 20th anniversary of Madvillain’s Madvillainy, which went on to become one of @stonesthrow best-selling albums and regarded as one of the greatest hip hop albums of all time.”
The book is set to arrive on October 29 and can be pre-ordered here. Check out the announcement below.
The news was first unveiled back in 2022 when the New York-based publisher announced that they acquired the worldwide rights to the book.
The Chronicles of Doom: Unraveling Rap’s Masked Iconoclast is “a sweeping and definitive biography” that will “recount the rise, fall, redemption and untimely demise of one of Hip Hop’s most enigmatic and influential figures.”
Fernando Jr.’s other works include the Wu-Tang Clan biography From the Streets of Shaolin: The Wu-Tang Saga, which arrived in August of 2021, as well as 1994’s The New Beats: Exploring the Music, Culture and Attitudes of Hip Hop.
Late last month, DOOM and Madlib‘s Madvillany album received a gold certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), almost exactly two decades after its original release on March 22, 2004 via Stones Throw Records. The RIAA’s certification means that the album has now sold a half-million copies.
Stones Throw founder Peanut Butter Wolf recently celebrated 20 years of Madvillainy by sharing some facts about the album in a comment on Complex Music‘s Instagram page.
“This was an album where Madlib chose to record the beats in my basement that we called The Bomb Shelter (it was a literally a concrete bomb shelter),” he wrote.
“DOOM recorded his vocals in my bedroom down the hall where we also had @ecoleye do a photo shoot that became the album cover.”
He added: “The LA release party was at The Fonda (a modest-sized venue) and we stacked the bill w/ me, J Rocc, Madlib, Dilla, and Common, besides (the headliner) DOOM because we were afraid it wouldn’t sell out.
“We did a few more shows that month with the same lineup in a few major markets to small but very excited crowds.
“That was it in terms of promotion, besides doing 3 LOW BUDGET music videos (2 in the same day) that I convinced DOOM into reluctantly doing. It’s the first (and only) album on my 28-year-old label to go gold.”
