Vaudeville Villain

Vaudeville Villain is the third studio album by British-American rapper-producer MF Doom, under the alias of Viktor Vaughn. Released on September 16, 2003, all of the tracks are produced by Sound-Ink record label members Heat Sensor, King Honey, and Max Bill, with the exception of "Saliva", produced by RJD2.

Vaudeville Villain
Studio album by
Viktor Vaughn
ReleasedSeptember 16, 2003 (2003-09-16)
GenreUnderground hip hop
Length56:42
Label
  • Sound-Ink Records
  • Traffic Entertainment Group
Producer
  • King Honey
  • Heat Sensor
  • Max Bill
  • RJD2
  • Mr Ten
MF Doom chronology
Take Me to Your Leader
(2003)		 Vaudeville Villain
(2003)		 Madvillainy
(2004)
Singles from Vaudeville Villain
  1. "Rae Dawn"
    Released: 2003
  2. "Saliva"
    Released: 2003 (promo)
  3. "Mr. Clean"
    Released: June 2004

Background

In early 2003, while MF Doom and Madlib were working on Madvillainy, the unfinished demo of the album was stolen and leaked on the internet. Frustrated, the duo decided to work separately on other projects. The first album released by MF Doom in that period was Take Me to Your Leader, followed by Vaudeville Villain.[1]

Recording

Unlike MF Doom's previous albums, produced entirely by him, majority of the tracks on Vaudeville Villain were produced by the members of Sound-Ink record label.[2] He met one of them, Heat Sensor, at a bar in Brooklyn. The two shared common interests, including interest in time travel. Heat Sensor later introduced him to King Honey and Max Bill.[3] The only song not produced by the producer trio was "Saliva", which was produced by RJD2.[4]

Music and lyrics

Vaudeville Villain tells a story of Viktor Vaughn, who was described by NME as a "time travelling street hustler".[5] The character was named after Marvel supervillain Victor Von Doom.[6] While time traveling, Viktor Vaughn's time machine got damaged, which forced him to stay in the early 1990s New York City.[5][7] The album shows his day-to-day life,[5] with each track showing a different situation he ends up in as he tries to earn money to fix his time machine.[4][7]

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[8]
And It Don't StopA[9]
Entertainment WeeklyA[10]
HipHopDX4.0/5[11]
Pitchfork9.1/10[4]
SpinB+[12]
Stylus MagazineB[13]
Tiny Mix Tapes5/5[14]

Vaudeville Villain ranked at number 25 on Pitchfork's "Top 50 Albums of 2003" list.[15] In 2012, it ranked at number 25 on Pigeons & Planes's "30 Best Underground Hip-Hop Albums" list.[16] Writing in 2021 after MF Doom's death, Robert Christgau said the album "could very well be his best" and viewed it as a consistent example of how he was "a fundamentally comic artist for whom rhyme as opposed to meaning was king".[9]

Track listing
No.TitleProducer(s)Length
1."Overture" 0:34
2."Vaudeville Villain"King Honey2:31
3."Lickupon"Heat Sensor2:44
4."The Drop"Max Bill3:24
5."Lactose and Lecithin"Heat Sensor2:34
6."A Dead Mouse"King Honey3:55
7."Open Mic Nite, Pt. 1" (featuring Lord Sear, Brother Sambuca, Rodan as Dr. Moreau and Louis Logic)King Honey4:09
8."RaeDawn"Heat Sensor3:00
9."Let Me Watch" (featuring Apani B as Nikki)King Honey4:27
10."Saliva"RJD22:28
11."Modern Day Mugging"Heat Sensor2:43
12."Open Mic Nite, Pt. 2" (featuring Lord Sear, AJ Ready Wright and Creature)
  • King Honey
  • Mr Ten
3:13
13."Never Dead" (featuring M. Sayyid as Curis Strifer)Heat Sensor3:27
14."PopSnot"Max Bill4:39
15."Mr. Clean"King Honey2:13
16."G.M.C."Max Bill3:33
17."Change the Beat" (Hidden Track) (performed by MF DOOM)Max Bill6:55

Notes
  • Track 9 is sometimes also called "Can I Watch?".[5]

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes.[17]

Personnel

  • N. Gosman – engineering, executive production
  • Mark Einstmann – mastering
  • D. Dumile – executive production
  • A. Threadgold – executive production

Artwork

  • M. McDonald (for Sound-Ink Records) – art direction
  • Ralph Borland (for Lazy-R) – layout, design

Additional personnel

  • M. Lawrence – executive gardening

Charts
Chart (2003) Peak
position
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[18] 99

References
  1. Weiss, Jeff. "Searching for Tomorrow: The Story of Madlib and Doom's Madvillainy". Pitchfork. Retrieved 4 May 2022.
  2. Marlow, Oli (8 June 2013). "The genius of MF DOOM in 10 essential tracks". Fact. Retrieved 4 May 2022.
  3. "Best Hip-Hop Album Year in Review 2003". Exclaim!. Retrieved 4 May 2022.
  4. Pemberton, Rollie (15 September 2003). "Viktor Vaughn: Vaudeville Villain". Pitchfork. Retrieved 7 January 2017.
  5. Saleh, Oumar (11 January 2021). "Why 'Vaudeville Villain', released as supervillain Viktor Vaughn, is MF DOOM's undersung masterpiece". NME. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
  6. Ruiz, Matthew Ismael (4 January 2021). "10 Songs That Show Why MF DOOM Was the Ultimate Rapper's Rapper". Pitchfork. Retrieved 5 May 2022.
  7. "MF Doom is Viktor Vaughn :: Vaudeville Villain". RapReviews. Retrieved 5 May 2022.
  8. Pytlik, Mark. "Vaudeville Villain – Viktor Vaughn". AllMusic. Retrieved 7 January 2017.
  9. Christgau, Robert (13 January 2021). "Consumer Guide: January, 2021". And It Don't Stop. Substack. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
  10. Drumming, Neil (18 July 2003). "Vaudeville Villain". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on 16 July 2015. Retrieved 7 January 2017.
  11. K., Chris (8 October 2003). "Viktor Vaughn – Vaudeville Villain". HipHopDX. Retrieved 7 January 2017.
  12. "Breakdown". Spin. 19 (11): 117. November 2003. Retrieved 18 June 2019.
  13. McKeating, Scott (2 October 2003). "Viktor Vaughn – Vaudeville Villain – Review". Stylus Magazine. Archived from the original on 31 March 2014. Retrieved 12 June 2019.
  14. Wolfman. "Viktor Vaughn – Vaudeville Villain". Tiny Mix Tapes. Retrieved 7 January 2017.
  15. "Top 50 Albums of 2003 (3/5)". Pitchfork. 31 December 2003. Retrieved 7 January 2017.
  16. "The 30 Best Underground Hip-Hop Albums". Pigeons & Planes. 27 June 2012. Archived from the original on 8 June 2017. Retrieved 4 May 2022.
  17. Vaudeville Villain (liner notes). Viktor Vaughn. New York, New York; Malden, Massachusetts: Sound-Ink Records; Traffic Entertainment Group. 2003. SIK 012; TEG 2409.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  18. "Viktor Vaughn AKA MF Doom Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 4 May 2022.
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