“Absolute power corrupts absolutely” goes the seething hook of “Absolutely” off Born Like This (Lex), the latest album from Doom (nee MF Doom). Most of Born feels similarly hopeless and deterministic–it’s the first post-Obama political album whose cynicism doesn’t feel decadent–but that’s oddly refreshing because last time dude dropped a proper album, it was a toothless collaboration with lightweight producer Danger Mouse that had Doom repping Adult Swim and rapping with Aqua Teen Hunger Force.
On the new one, though, Doom’s rap pals are like-minded weirdo thugs (Raekwon, Ghostface, Kurious, Freddie Foxxx) and, on “Cellz,” the ornery rhymes of Charles Bukowski. “Cellz” places a wonky stumble of drums beneath an extended sample from said scribe (the poem “Dinosauria, We”) that lays out a series of darkly funny, fucked-up ironies of American life: “Born like this, into this, into hospitals which are so expensive, that’s its cheaper to die.” It’s a brilliant collaboration.”
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