That’s That by MF DOOM Lyrics Meaning – Decoding the Masked Maverick’s Lyrical Labyrinth
Lyrics
Stared at folks when properly provoked, mirror broke
Here, share a strawberry morning
Gone, an more important spawning, torn in, poor men sworn in
Cornish hens switching positions
Auditioning morticians, saw it in a vision, ignoring prison
Ignoramuses enlist and sound dumb
Found ’em drowned in cow’s dung, crowns flung
Rings a Tinkerbell, sing for things that’s frail as a fingernail
Bring a scale, stale ginger lingers
Seven figures invigor
Nigga, fresh from out the jail, alpha male
Sickest ninja injury this century, enter plea
Lend sympathy to limp-wrist Simple Simon rhymin’ emcees
Trees is free, please leave a key
These meager fleas, he’s the breeze
And she’s the bee’s knees for sheez, G’s of G’s
Seize property, shopper sprees, chop the cheese
Drop degrees to stop diseases, gee-whiz, pa
DOOM rock grandma like the kumbaya
Mama was a ho hopper, papa was a rolling stone
Star like Obama, pull a card like oh, drama
Civil liberties
These little titties’ abilities riddle me, middle C (ahh)
Mmm, give a MC a rectal hysterectomy
Lecture on removal of the bowels, foul technically
Don’t expect to see the recipe
Until we receive the check as well as the collection fee
More wreck than Section Z, what you expect to get for free?
Shit from me, history
The key, plucked it off the mayor
Chucked it in the ol’ tar pit off La Brea, player
They say he’s gone too far
DOOM’ll catch em after Jumah on cue lacka
Do whatcha gotta do, grah
The rumors are not true, got two, ma
No prob, got the job, hot bod, heartthrob
Scotchgard the bar with cotton swabs, dart lob
Bake a cake, sweet, Jamaica trade in treats on the beach
Make her skeet ’til her feets meet
Can it be I stayed away too long?
Did you miss these rhymes when I was gone?
As you listen to these crazy tracks
Check them stats then you know where I’m at
And that’s that
Look, there’s DOOM now
I followed him to the studio, but I was too late to stop him
That’s right, you’ll never stop me
You’re dead, you’re all dead, DOOM
MF DOOM, the masked enigma of hip-hop, remains an enduring symbol of the genre’s most complex lyricism and artistry. ‘That’s That,’ a track from his 2009 album ‘Born Like This,’ stands as a testament to his intricate wordplay and dense storytelling. Dissecting this song is akin to unraveling a sophisticated tapestry in which every thread is a metaphor or a reference way heavier than it first appears.
In peeling back the layers of ‘That’s That,’ one unveils the depth of DOOM’s persona—conjuring images from the comic book lexicon he often dips into right down to the cold realities of street vernacular and life’s harsh truths. This song isn’t just a barrage of puns and internal rhymes; it’s a chessboard of social commentary and autobiographical snippets.
A Chess Game With Words: The Intellectual Athletics
DOOM frames his lyrical exercises as mental gymnastics, delivering each line with calculated precision. The opening difference between silence and speech, smoke and clearheaded sobriety, sets up a chess match-like conundrum. Within this context, DOOM positions himself as a formidable opponent, rarely speaking unless provoked, and when he does, it’s a move that shatters reflections and preconceptions—mirroring a broken chess piece.
‘Here, share a strawberry morning’—the seemingly innocuous line strikes deeper than its sylvan charm. In DOOM’s world, these words are not just about breaking the fast but also invoke a break in the monotony, a turning point after which ‘more important spawning’ of ideas and movements can occur. He is suggesting a new dawn for both himself and his audience.
The Labyrinth of Societal Critique: Unveiling the Hidden
DOOM’s labyrinthine verses contain allegories about society’s ills—juxtaposing the free-spirited flight of Tinkerbell with the harsh weight of reality ‘that’s frail as a fingernail.’ The juxtaposition is an invitation to consider the fragility of our fantasies against our world’s stark truths. These lines reveal an awareness of the superficial glitter that enthralls society, even as it fails to mask a deteriorating structure.
Consider ‘ignoramuses enlist and sound dumb, found ’em drowned in cow’s dung, crowns flung.’ Here, DOOM bemoans the willful ignorance that permeates culture and pits it against the fate of those who let their ‘crowns’—sense of self and intellect—fall away. In DOOM’s world, ignorance is not bliss; it’s a fatal flaw that leads to a metaphorical and intellectual downfall.
From Personal Pains to Politics: The Alpha Male’s Epistle
In the midst of global references, ‘That’s That’ never loses sight of the personal. ‘Alpha male’ refers to his own return to the music scene post-incarceration. These lines are not just braggadocio; they’re also a raw glimpse into his path to reinvention. DOOM sees himself as the ‘sickest ninja,’ a warrior emerging from challenges with new vigor to carve out a space in history.
‘Mama was a ho hopper, papa was a rolling stone’ may seem like an autobiographical confession at a glance, but in the larger narrative, it operates as a commentary on familial instability. And yet, from this chaos, DOOM transforms it into the artistry of an ‘Obama’—a star risen from tumult. This reflection on heritage and identity culminates in a defiant resistance to drama and a commitment to craft.
A Requiem for the Competition: Memorable Lines Crafted to Last
DOOM’s verbal feats are encapsulated in lines like ‘Give a MC a rectal hysterectomy/Lecture on removal of the bowels, foul technically.’ Here the visceral imagery belies a complex insult, suggesting that other MCs might benefit from as much ‘removal’ of their lyrical content as a body might from a disruptive element. It’s surgical precision, and with it DOOM asserts his dominance in the rap game.
Savvy to the industry’s mechanics, he riffs on the expectation of free art in ‘More wreck than Section Z, what you expect to get for free?/Shit from me, history.’ Here, history isn’t just his past; it’s the work he’s contributed to hip-hop. It is both his legacy and his currency, and DOOM won’t be undersold or plundered without just compensation.
The Final Verse: Understanding DOOM’s Closing Gambit
‘Can it be I stayed away too long? Did you miss these rhymes when I was gone?’ It’s as if the master lyricist is taunting the industry, gauging the impact of his disattendance. He confidently answers with ‘Check them stats then you know where I’m at,’ a dare to look at the numbers, to see the influence and weight his absence has had.
The closing lines, ‘Look, there’s DOOM now/I followed him to the studio, but I was too late to stop him,’ followed by ‘That’s right, you’ll never stop me,’ cement the persona DOOM has created throughout the song—a figure both elusive and omnipresent, never fully vulnerable to the machinations that seek to curtail his expression or legacy. Indeed, ‘That’s That’ is more than a song; it’s a declaration that the masked maestro’s impact is irrevocable, indelible, and forever enshrined in the halls of hip-hop.
