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Mr. Fantastik (born 1970's), also known as Pure Mathematics, is an American rapper from New York. He is best known for collaborating with MF DOOM on the song "Rapp Snitch Knishes" from the 2004 album Mm..Food.

Mr. Fantastik
Also known asMr. Fantastik, Mr Fantastik, Pure Mathematics, Pure Math, mrfantastik_mf
Born197? (age: Late 40s/Early 50s)
Long Island, New York
OriginLong Beach, New York
Genres
Occupation(s)Rapper, songwriter
Years active199?–1999, 2002–2004, 2021–present

Brought up in Long Island, New York, and currently living in Atlanta, Mr. Fantastik has built up a reputation as being one of the most mysterious hip-hop artists of all time.[1] The rapper has kept his real identity completely hidden from his audience and has so far been featured on only two tracks, both of which are in collaboration with MF DOOM. His real name may possibly be Brian Dirk.[2]

Early life

[edit]

Mr. Fantastik was born sometime during the early to mid 1970's in Long Island, New York, where he would eventually meet Daniel Dumile (MF DOOM) and his brother Dingilizwe Dumile (DJ Subroc).[3] In the early 1990's, Mr. Fantastik would begin rapping under the name Pure Mathematics[4] and became close friends with the brothers, who at the time were part of the hip hop trio KMD.[5] Mr. Fantastik appears to have had an early life of crime, which is hinted at by some of his lyrics: "Street nigga, stamped and bonafide / When beef jump niggas come get me cause they know I ride" [6], and "Feds try to creep me, somehow always miss me"[7]. MF DOOM claims to have "first met Mr. Fantastik at a arms deal"[8]. This enigmatic line further alludes to a rough background.

Career

[edit]

199?–1999: Pure Math and relationship with MF DOOM

[edit]

During the early 1990's, Mr. Fantastik would begin rapping under the name Pure Mathematics or Pure Math. No known records or albums are known to exist under this alias however, therefore it's likely the rapper only performed to friends or local nightclubs.[9] MF DOOM's track "Go with the Flow" from his 1999 debut album Operation: Doomsday mentions Pure Mathematics, alluding to their relationship: "Yeah, yeah, I'd like to give a special shout-out...Since depths of hell, Pure Mathematics".[10]

2003–2004: The beginning of Mr. Fantastik

[edit]

Mr. Fantastik would next make an appearance as a feature in the lead single "Anti-Matter" from the 2003 album Take Me to Your Leader, the second solo album by Daniel Dumile and his first full-length under the King Geedorah moniker.[11] MF DOOM later published the instrumental version of this track as the song "Sarsaparilla", on his collection of beats, Special Herbs.[12] Mr. Fantastik also references his previous alias in the track "Anti-Matter": "they used to call me Pure Math".[13]

The song "Rapp Snitch Knishes" from MF DOOM's 2004 album Mm..Food, was the next track to feature Mr. Fantastik.[14] The track's focus is about how rappers self-incriminate themselves by rapping about the crimes they commit, and therefore the song received much attention in light of 6ix9ine's 2019 testimony.[15] In 2007, the song appeared on The Boondocks episode "Thank You for Not Snitching", where fictional rapper Ganstalicious (voiced by Yasiin Bey) confesses to a crime he committed while rapping over an instrumental of the song.[16] It is Mr. Fantastik's most well-known appearance, with it also being MF DOOM's best performing song, receiving over 187,600,000 streams on Spotify.[17] Complex named "Rapp Snitch Knishes" the "22nd funniest rap song of all time"[18]. Overall, the album peaked at number 17 on Billboard's Independent Albums chart, and number 9 on Heatseekers Albums chart.

2021–present: Return and collaboration with Your Old Droog

[edit]

In July 2021, Mr. Fantastik created an Instagram account, where he rarely posts and occasionally interacts with fans.[19] This is his first and only known online presence. On October 31, 2022, Mr. Fantastik posted a tribute freestyle rap to MF DOOM with the caption "DOOMS DAY!", in time for the second anniversary of the rapper's passing.[20][21] This has led many fans to speculate that more music, or even an album, may be produced by the rapper sometime in the future. Mr. Fantastik seemingly confirmed this himself, stating in a reply to a fan questioning this: "Doom left me plenty of beats. I’m on it!".[22] Furthermore, during one of his Instagram livestreams, he stated that "Mr. Fantastik will be back".[23]

On June 26, 2021, rapper Your Old Droog tweeted "Just met Mr Fantastik", hinting at a collaboration between the two.[24] This was confirmed the following year when Droog tweeted "Got some joints coming with Mr. Fantastik" on August 28, 2022.[25]

Identity

[edit]

Since his debut in 2003's "Anti-Matter", much online speculation has arose regarding the identity of the artist, with some claiming Mr. Fantastik to be an alias of another rapper. One of the most popular theories, about Mr. Fantastik's identity, was that he is a pitched-down version of Rodan, a fellow rapper whose relationship with DOOM stretches as far back as the late ‘80s.[26] Fans attribute the plausibility of this theory to the similarities between the voices, flows, and relationships with DOOM of Rodan and Mr. Fantastik. On MM.. More Food, a compilation of “leftovers” from MM.. FOOD, Rodan appears on several tracks. Fans intimate that on "Ruler of Day and Night," he especially sounds like a slightly sped-up Mr. Fantastik.[27]

Another recurring supposition is Mr. Fantastik is Count Bass D. This theory originated in 2012 in a now-deleted Stones Throw forum when several members wrote that an UndergroundHipHop employee confirmed him to be the Atlanta emcee.[28] Although this claim's validity is untraceable, fans latched onto this lead based on multiple collaborations between MF DOOM and Count Bass D, such as “Potholderz” and “Quite Buttery.” In the intro to “Quite Buttery,” DOOM does hint at a personal relationship with Count Bass D.[29] In October 2018, Count Bass D finally acknowledged via an Instagram story that he knows who Mr. Fantastik is and confirmed that it's not him.[30][31]

In 2017, years after the conversation began, the topic resurfaced on a Reddit forum by a user named "Dzemba", who posed the question of whether or not fans should even be looking for an emcee under a different name.[32] Dzemba cited Euphon, a rap duo from East Harlem with two members: Mr. Fantastik and Slim Pikins.[33] Neither member sounds like the rapper featured on the first listen of the two MF DOOM tracks. Dzemba created an audio file[34] that compares Euphon's Mr. Fantastik and DOOM's Mr. Fantastik side by side, altering the pitch of the verses.

However, in recent times, these rumors have been proven false. In March 2021, Reddit user "kingkrauss" claimed a friend who grew up with Doom and his family, said that "Mr. Fantastik is just a guy they all grew up with" and not an alias of another rapper. This assumption is most likely to be true, as an image of Mr. Fantastik himself, was uploaded online by the record label Nature Sounds in 2022, seemingly disproving the previous speculations about rapper's identity.[35] Moreover, this is supported by MF DOOM himself, who in a 2003 interview said that Mr. Fantastik was a close friend originally from New York but now lives in Atlanta, and is a “straight baller” who takes Doom out to “strip clubs.”[36][37].

Discography

[edit]

Features:

[edit]
  • King Geedorah – "Anti-Matter" (featuring MF DOOM & Mr. Fantastik)
  • MF DOOM - "Rapp Snitch Knishes" (featuring featuring Mr. Fantastik)

Singles:

[edit]
  • "DOOMS DAY!"

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Mr. Fantastik". Genius. Retrieved 2023-06-25.
  2. ^ "His name is Brian Di…". r/mfdoom. 2022-03-26. Retrieved 2023-06-25.
  3. ^ "Fine, I'll tell you who Mr. Fantastik is..." r/mfdoom. 2021-03-15. Retrieved 2023-06-25.
  4. ^ "Known to stack a mean stash, they used to call me Pure Math". Genius. Retrieved 2023-06-25.
  5. ^ "Fine, I'll tell you who Mr. Fantastik is..." r/mfdoom. 2021-03-15. Retrieved 2023-06-25.
  6. ^ "Street nigga, stamped and bonafide / When beef jump niggas come get me cause they know I ride". Genius. Retrieved 2023-06-25.
  7. ^ King Geedorah (Ft. Mr. Fantastik) – Anti-Matter, retrieved 2023-06-25
  8. ^ "I first met Mr. Fantastik at a arms deal". Genius. Retrieved 2023-06-25.
  9. ^ Ep. 100 - DOOM, retrieved 2023-06-25
  10. ^ MF DOOM – Go with the Flow, retrieved 2023-06-25
  11. ^ King Geedorah (Ft. Mr. Fantastik) – Anti-Matter, retrieved 2023-06-25
  12. ^ MF DOOM – Sarsaparilla, retrieved 2023-06-25
  13. ^ "Known to stack a mean stash, they used to call me Pure Math". Genius. Retrieved 2023-06-25.
  14. ^ MF DOOM (Ft. Mr. Fantastik) – Rapp Snitch Knishes, retrieved 2023-06-25
  15. ^ "MF DOOM Told The Story Of 6ix9ine Years Ago On "Rap Snitch Knishes" - Okayplayer". www.okayplayer.com. Retrieved 2023-06-25.
  16. ^ "MF DOOM Told The Story Of 6ix9ine Years Ago On "Rap Snitch Knishes" - Okayplayer". www.okayplayer.com. Retrieved 2023-06-25.
  17. ^ Rapp Snitch Knishes feat. Mr. Fantastik, 2004-11-16, retrieved 2023-06-25
  18. ^ Ju, Eric Rosenthal, Jeff Rosenthal, Shirley. "The 50 Funniest Rap Songs". Complex. Retrieved 2023-06-25.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  19. ^ "Mr.Fantastik...Rap Snitches. (@mrfantastik_mf) • Instagram photos and videos". www.instagram.com. Retrieved 2023-06-25.
  20. ^ "Instagram - DOOMS DAY!". www.instagram.com. Retrieved 2023-06-25.
  21. ^ "Mr. Fantastik Shares Freestyle Tribute to MF DOOM - Okayplayer". www.okayplayer.com. Retrieved 2023-06-25.
  22. ^ "Instagram - mrfantastik_mf: "Doom left me plenty of beats. I'm on it!"". www.instagram.com. Retrieved 2023-06-25.
  23. ^ "Instagram - "Mr.Fantastik will be back"". www.instagram.com. Retrieved 2023-06-25.
  24. ^ "twitter.com/YourOldDroog - "Just met Mr Fantastik"". Twitter. Retrieved 2023-06-25.
  25. ^ "twitter.com/YourOldDroog - "Got some joints coming with Mr. Fantastik"". Twitter. Retrieved 2023-06-25.
  26. ^ "KMD". Hip Hop Wiki. Retrieved 2023-06-25.
  27. ^ Cho, Regina (2023-02-18). "The Unsolved Mystery of MF DOOM Collaborator Mr. Fantastik". DJBooth. Retrieved 2023-06-25.
  28. ^ Cho, Regina (2023-02-18). "The Unsolved Mystery of MF DOOM Collaborator Mr. Fantastik". DJBooth. Retrieved 2023-06-25.
  29. ^ Count Bass D (Ft. MF DOOM) – Quite Buttery, retrieved 2023-06-25
  30. ^ "Count Bass D on Mr. Fantastik : mfdoom". web.archive.org. 2019-01-21. Retrieved 2023-06-25.
  31. ^ Cho, Regina (2023-02-18). "The Unsolved Mystery of MF DOOM Collaborator Mr. Fantastik". DJBooth. Retrieved 2023-06-25.
  32. ^ dzemba (2017-06-08). "Who is Mr. Fantastik: Has the answer been hidden in plain sight? (text)". r/mfdoom. Retrieved 2023-06-25.
  33. ^ "Euphon Biography, Songs, & Albums". AllMusic. Retrieved 2023-06-25.
  34. ^ "SoundCloud - Hear the world's sounds". SoundCloud. Retrieved 2023-06-25.
  35. ^ "Nature Sounds - "Ran into an old friend. Salute Mr Fantastik for pulling up."". Twitter. Retrieved 2023-06-25.
  36. ^ Morgan, Tom (2021-11-04). "Mr. Fantastik: The enduring Mystery of the MF DOOM collaborator". Treble. Retrieved 2023-06-25.
  37. ^ Ep. 100 - DOOM, retrieved 2023-06-25
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