Patterning his persona and logo after the Marvel Comics super villain Dr. Doom, the man behind MF (Metal Face) Doom's iron mask is actually Daniel Dumile, aka Zevlove X, a member of former Big Apple hip-hoppers K.M.D. First featured on the 3rd Bass single "The Gas Face," the London-born, Long Island-raised Zev made his debut with K.M.D. a couple of years later, along with his younger brother and musical partner, DJ Sub-Roc. The 1991 album Mr. Hood, released on Elektra Records, was part of a short-lived trend of Islamic Five Percent Nation hip-hop outings, along with efforts by groups like Poor Righteous Teachers and K.M.D.'s labelmates Brand Nubian. However, Sub-Roc was fatally injured in 1993 when he was struck by a car, and when Zev and K.M.D. returned the next year, it was with the even more serious and militant Bl_ck B_st_rds, an album whose cover art alone (featuring a Little Black Sambo-ish cartoon character being hanged) spelled the end of the group's contract with Elektra.