Rap veteran DOOM is known for adopting various stage names and shadowy personas throughout his career, and he takes on a new one – the brooding “King Dumile” – in A State of Mind’s new track “Masking.” The accompanying video, via Pitchfork, acts as a sample from the duo’s “hip-hop odyssey” concept LP The Jade Amulet.
The gory clip, animated by Monkey Eggs, has a bold graphic novel look, with DOOM, characterized in his trademark mask, delivering nimble rhymes about the end of his reign. The track features a hypnotic Wu-Tang feel, built on a cinematic score from DJ/producer Fade and lush performances from the Black Knight Chamber Orchestra.
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On A State of Mind’s website, the group describes The Jade Amulet as “a forgotten ancient world of bloodstained samurai swords and majestic sunsets over desert landscapes,” asking listeners to “imagine a Quentin Tarantino movie set in ancient Greece and scored by Ennio Morricone and A Tribe Called Quest.”
