When did I know for real that MF DOOM was a nerd? While listening to the track “Batty Boyz” from last year’s Born Like This, where he goes on a three-minute rant about the latent homosexuality in the superhero genre. The red flags didn’t go off immediately, though. After all, superheroes don’t belong to the realm of pimply-faced 14 year olds anymore; they’ve taken a step back from geek culture to be embraced by the mainstream. So no, DOOM rapping about Batman slobbing Robin’s knob seemed like fair game in our modern cultural climate. I was initially preoccupied with whether the track was actually homophobic — a topic that’s worthy of its own feature — but I soon started registering the beat alone. That beat. Hot. Yet also painfully familiar. The repetitive, retro string jabs sent my mind spiraling back in time to my own geek-loving teenage years.
Ever seen this show?
Probably not, considering the quintessential early-80s mech anime, though famous in Japan, has never been released in the states. Thank god for torrents (or, in my case, bootlegged VHS tapes). The main reason I remember Space Runaway Ideon isn’t because of its mecha-action though; it’s for the incredible, classy-retro, Lalo Schifrin-esque soundtrack, composed by Koichi Sugiyama, who would become famous for scoring the massive RPG franchise Dragon Quest. DOOM was obviously listening, too. Here’s the basis for “Batty Boyz”: a random slice of incidental music titled “Arrows From the Buff Clan” from the second Space Runaway Ideon OST.
DOOM really doesn’t do much with the track, aside from chopping it up now and then and adding a fucking Jeff Dunham sample. Koichi Sugiyama lawsuit forthcoming! Here’s the original DOOM track:
