Born Like This Explained
Born Like This is the sixth and final solo studio album by British-American rapper/producer MF DOOM. It was released under the pseudonym "DOOM" on March 24, 2009 through Lex Records. It debuted at number 52 on the Billboard 200 chart, having sold 10,895 copies as of March 29, 2009.[1] In addition to tracks produced by MF Doom, the album includes production by frequent collaborator Madlib, as well as J Dilla. The album title is borrowed from Charles Bukowski's poem "Dinosauria, We", which employs it as a cadence. The track "Cellz" opens with a sampled recording of Bukowski reading the poem.[2]
Critical reception
At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, Born Like This received an average score of 77% based on 21 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
Born Like This ranked at number 4 on The Skinnys "2009: A Year in Records" list.[3] Pitchfork included it in their best albums of 2009, placing it at number 48.[4]
Track listing
Sample credits and additional notes
- "Gazzillion Ear" samples "Trouble" (performed) by Brenton Wood and "Theme from Midnight Express" by Giorgio Moroder. The instrumental track for "Gazzillion Ear" is also based on "Dig It" and "Phantom of the Synths", both by J Dilla.[5]
- "Yessir!" samples "UFO" by ESG.
- "Absolutely" samples a Horn section from "Creep" by TLC.[6] It also uses a vocal sample from "Sun Goddess" by Ramsey Lewis.[6]
- "Lightworks" samples "Lightworks" by Raymond Scott.
- Instrumental track for "Lightworks" is also based on J Dilla's version of "Lightworks", from the album Donuts.[5]
- "Angelz" was recorded in 2006.
- "Cellz" samples "Dinosora, We" by Charles Bukowski.
- "Cellz" is split into two tracks: "Cellz, Pt.1" and "Cellz, Pt.2" on the redux version.
- "That's That" samples "Princess Gika" by Galt MacDermot; it also contains dialog excerpts from the film Who Framed Roger Rabbit, performed by Christopher Lloyd.
Personnel
- Mr. Chop – additional instruments
- Paloma Faith (aka “Cat-Girl”) – additional vocals
- G Koop – keyboards, guitar, bass
- Posdnuos (aka P-Pain) – additional vocals
- Prince Paul (aka Filthy Pablo) – additional vocals
- Raekwon – additional vocals
Charts
Notes and References
- Web site: Paine. Jake. Hip Hop Album Sales: The Week Ending 3/29/2009. HipHopDX. April 1, 2009. May 31, 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20090423033248/http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/news/id.8879/title.hip-hop-album-sales-the-week-ending-3-29-2009. April 23, 2009. dead.
- http://rasml.org/contributors/dinosauria-we/ “Dinosauria, We” by Charles Bukowski
- Web site: 2009: A Year in Records (#2–10). The Skinny. December 7, 2009. January 22, 2017.
- Web site: The Top 50 Albums of 2009 (1/5). Pitchfork. December 17, 2009. January 22, 2017.
- Kenner, Rob. "J Dilla...The Afterlife". Complex. February 7, 2016. http://www.complex.com/music/2016/02/j-dilla-essentials-guide-the-afterlife/posthumous-tracks
- AbduSalaam, Ismael. "MF Doom: Born Like This...". All HipHop. March 31, 2009. https://allhiphop.com/2009/03/31/mf-doom-born-like-this-album-review/
- Web site: MF Doom – Chart history – Billboard 200. Billboard. January 22, 2017. February 2, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170202071025/http://www.billboard.com/artist/276868/mf-doom/chart?f=305. dead.
- Web site: MF Doom – Chart history – Independent Albums. Billboard. January 22, 2017. February 2, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170202032335/http://www.billboard.com/artist/276868/mf-doom/chart?f=326. dead.
- Web site: MF Doom – Chart history – Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. Billboard. January 22, 2017. February 2, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170202070620/http://www.billboard.com/artist/276868/mf-doom/chart?f=333. dead.
- Web site: MF Doom – Chart history – Rap Albums. Billboard. January 22, 2017. February 2, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170202070354/http://www.billboard.com/artist/276868/mf-doom/chart?f=335. dead.
