Ghostface (file)
Photo: Appio

Ghostface's next album may as well be titled Ghostface Meets Metal Face, as he's teaming up with iron-mask-loving hip-hop veteran MF Doom.

"I'm into old hip-hop, and the music that he makes is right up my alley," Ghostface said. "His beats are real underground. He's got the sound RZA had back in the day."

The Wu-Tang rapper and the former KMD member have collaborated on six songs thus far, and while the project will probably be released on Doom's indie label, Nature Sounds, his manager claims Def Jam is also interested.

Meanwhile, Ghost is digging up tracks for his next solo album, tentatively titled Rapper's Delight, and Doom may have some tracks on that project as well. "I'm working my album around his beats and whatever I add from other producers," Ghost said. "I would love to do a whole thing with him. He's a cool guy."

And while some Wu fans might've been disappointed that Raekwon wasn't on last year's The Pretty Toney Album, Ghost promised the Chef would be featured on at least four or five songs on the new disc.

"Fans are always asking why you didn't do this or that, but they have to understand that people are working and busy themselves," Ghostface said.

Schedules aside, the two are also in the early stages of piecing together a second duet album, following up Only Built 4 Cuban Linx.

"We sort of Batman'd and Robin'd that first album," Ghost recalled. "I told him to send me some beats that he wants to use so I could catch some lines on it when I could. I'm really trying to focus on my thing, but I like to focus on two things at the same time."

A lot has changed since their 1995 album, Ghostface said — especially the state of hip-hop. Referring to 50 Cent and the Game's highly publicized saga earlier this month (see "50 Cent And The Game Call A Truce"), he declared, "The game is like wrestling right now. ... I don't see any originality in it no more. Everything is a gimmick. It's not based upon good music. It's just based on hype now. You have to shoot somebody in order to sell some records. I put out good albums, but my albums never really sold nothing."

He's hoping Jay-Z can reverse that trend, now that Jay's got a corner office at Def Jam (see "Jay-Z, Dame Dash Sell Roc-A-Fella Records; Jay Named Def Jam Prez").

"Jay knows I'm fresh, and [about] the work I've been putting in on the streets. It's great for somebody to understand me," Ghost said. "I'm glad that Hov is the president because I'd rather talk to him than anyone that's over 50 years old. I just wanna get my talent out to the world within these next two or three years. And maybe two albums after that I might call it a wrap.

"My goal was just to do 10 albums. But if God spares my life and gives me the frame of mind, then I'm gonna keep going until he tells me to stop," Ghost continued. "I'm going to go straight into film. I've been writing movies. I want to produce and direct if I could and just get my movie career up, 'cause I think I could get real busy on the acting tip. If they caught me in Hollywood, it's gonna be some sh--. I want to do a little real estate and help poor people. I want to be that dude on the TV like, 'For five cents a day you could feed this kid right here.' That's what I want to do. It's payback for what God gave me."

MF Doom's manager said he expects Ghostface and MF Doom's album to drop this fall. Ghost said his solo album and his reunion with Raekwon will likely drop later this year as well.

• Ghostface Killah
• MF Doom

M.F. Doom
Photo: MTV News

What could have been a where-are-they-now story has become one of the more interesting resurrections in hip-hop history.

M.F. (Metal Face) Doom, also known as Zev Love X, a clever rapper from the long-lost rap group KMD, will have his underground classic, 1999's Operation: Doomsday!, re-released on May 1. KMD's second album, 1994's Black Bastards, will also be re-released May 15.

Zev Love X, who first appeared on 3rd Bass' "The Gas Face" in 1989, became an underground star upon the release of KMD's whimsically subversive Mr. Hood in 1991.

After touring the country, experiencing the ups and downs of the music industry and preparing for the impending arrival of their children, KMD (which included X's brother Subroc) entered a different mind set when they started working on their second album.

"Maybe there was a little more struggle then," X said. "I guess that came through on the album. Black Bastards is still fun, but it has a harder edge to it." The group's situation changed dramatically in April 1993 when Subroc was hit by a car and died. KMD was only three songs away from completing Black Bastards and were working on "Constipated Monkey." "We were both supposed to be on that song," X said. Subroc had started work on it and "he was going to come back, but he didn't get to." X recorded the tracks "F--- Wit' Ya Head!!" and "Suspended Animation" himself. The group was dropped from Elektra soon after, at least partially because of Black Bastards' controversial cover, which depicted the lynching of a Sambo-like character.

Forced underground after losing both brother and record deal, X concentrated on raising his son and started work on Operation: Doomsday! "I kept doing the music, but it couldn't get out because I didn't have the budget I had when I was on a major label," he said.

Originally released in November 1999 on the indie label Fondle 'Em, the M.F. Doom collection features two distinct Dooms: X the rapper and his comics-inspired alter ego. (KMD's Mr. Hood featured the exploits of the eponymous character, with a story that ran through the album.) Incorporating different identities into his music results from his upbringing.

"That's what I grew up on," he said. "A lot of music and TV is nostalgic for me. When I put it in my music, it brings me back to that time. I incorporate it for my own personal reasons, but I assume it will affect the listener in the same way." The new version has a different ending courtesy of a bonus cut, "I Hear Voices," with the track's video on the reissued CD.

As someone who came of age as a hip-hop artist, it was nothing for kids such as Zev Love X to have more than one nickname. Indeed, he was known as Doom since childhood (his real last name is Dumile), while Zev Love X derived from his graffiti work.

Both personas coexist in his music today. "I'm bringing Doom to the forefront now so he gets to shine," X said. "Zev Love X is still there. I like to keep it interesting with different characters, like I'm the narrator. I'm like a director or author who writes for different characters." X introduced M.F. Doom about two years ago on the "Dead Bent"/"Hey!" single, and many fans who heard it didn't realize they were listening to Zev Love X's latest incarnation.

"I think he reinvented himself in such an ill way," said Company Flow's Big Jus, who is releasing both the M.F. Doom and KMD albums on the Sub Verse Music label he co-owns. "He came back with an entirely different personality and vibe, and just murdered it. I wasn't as big a KMD fan as I am a M.F. Doom fan, and he really came different on both of them." X is working on an album as King Ghidra, one of the characters on Operation: Doomsday! An M.F. Doom instrumental release will arrive soon, and X hopes to release another Doom project in a year. He will reunite with 3rd Bass on their forthcoming album and also promised another KMD album eventually.

• MF Doom