Czarface & MF DOOM: Super What? | 4ZZZ Brisbane 102.1FM

- Czarface have made a splash in underground hip-hop for almost a decade with continual, almost yearly, solid albums. Consisting of rappers Inspectah Deck and Esoteric as well as producer 7L, the group’s sound blends classic old-school rap elements with references to superhero cartoons and comic books. An antithesis to MF DOOM’s villainous rap style, all four musicians joined forces for 2018’s Czarface Meets Metal Face before again teaming up for latest project Super What?. With the tragic passing of DOOM last Halloween, Super What? has become the first impression of what to expect from the late great’s posthumous catalogue.

The King and Eye delivers an immediate idea of what’s to come beginning with a sample of dialogue from some Saturday morning cartoon, much in the vein of early Czar or DOOM records. The bell-heavy track focuses only on a verse from Esoteric and famed '80’s rapper DMC with Esoteric delivering witty remarks such as “Protect Your Neckbeard”: an obvious reference to the Wu-Tang classic. DMC’s verse is sadly short-lived with a few comparisons to superheros such as Spider-Man and Black Panther.

Mando Calrissian is short and sharp with 7L delivering blissful production that, while very much a lighter form of DOOM’s standard work, is more heroic in tone to match the Czar rappers. All three rappers use virtually the same flow which creates such great chemistry as they melt over the production like butter. Inspectah Deck is the clear stand-out of the track with his continuous usage of words ending in “in” but it's little touches in Esoteric’s references that make me smile, such as referring to carbonite as czarbonite.

Break in the Action could easily be off MMM FOOD with clear classic DOOM touches such as female samples finishing words during his verse and references to food favourites. The late MC steals the show with his most tight flow on the project and proves why he was the best to ever do it. Eso and Deck hold their own with each having great opening bars such as “People Saying CZAR like ASMR” and “None this ill since Kareem was a Laker”. While 7L’s production isn’t more than typical superhero rap fare, it delivers just enough to allow the rappers' words to shine.

The rest of the album almost plays it too safe as Czarface and DOOM deliver exactly what they’re known for, while never really rising to the cream of their discography. This is Canon Now is built completely around superhero references to the point where it becomes quite tedious while Young World is a solid recreation of a classic Slick Rick track that feels as if it’s missing just a little bit of that something to make it really special.

Super What? Is, by all means, a solid listen especially for classic hip-hop fans as well as those looking to hear the last of MF DOOM. While this project certainly doesn’t live up to any of either Czarface or DOOM’s monumental classics and tends to fall into formula by the back half, Super What? certainly does deliver its fair share of striking and fun superhero rap delivered by older MCs whose pen game is still very much up to standards.

- James Chadwick.
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