For ‘80s babies who grew up during the Golden Age of Hip Hop music, your first introduction to the artist occasionally known as DOOM?, King Geedorah? or Viktor Vaughn? was probably his guest appearance on the classic 3rd Bass? single, “Gas Face.” Batting clean-up behind Pete Nice? and MC Serch?, a teenage Doom—then known as Zev Love X? hit airwaves and turntables with a new style of lyricism. Mixing Afrocentric ideology, cutting edge lyricism and an eclectic, happy-go-lucky, sample-heavy musical philosophy, Zev Love and his younger brother DJ Subroc? formed KMD? and took their place alongside stylistic kin Native Tongues? and Brand Nubian? as part of Hip Hop’s new school of conscious artists. KMD? released a mildly successful but critically acclaimed debut album (1991’s Mr. Hood), but soon found themselves dropped from their label due to controversy over the group’s use of “sambo” caricatures and racial imagery in their album art. Their sophomore effort, 1993’s Black Bastards, was never commercially released. Not long after losing his record deal, Zev Love would lose something far more important—his brother Subroc was struck and killed by a car—causing him to go into seclusion and put his recording career on hold.

In 1998, after a five-year hiatus, Zev Love X? would re-emerge with a much darker, more serious sound, hitting open mics and releasing material under the moniker MF Doom?. A dozen years and as many aliases later, DOOM? continues to add to what has become a prolific discography full of underground classics and collaborations with Hip Hop legends, which brings us to DOOM’s latest offering, Unexpected Guests. Featuring no new material, Guests is, instead, a retrospective compilation of the more overlooked tracks and hard to find collaborations spanning nearly DOOM’s entire career. While individual tracks stand out on their own—“Fly That Knot,” featuring the lyrical contortions of Talib Kweli?, and the undeniably funky “Unexpected” guest starring Sean Price? and the turntable techniques of DJ Babu?—it is the consistency of Unexpected Guests that sets it apart from other compilations or greatest hits albums. Despite the 15 years of catalog covered here and the diverse array of collaborations (Ghostface Killah, Madlib? and the late great J Dilla all make appearances), each dusty sample-and-breakbeat flavored track flows seamlessly into the next, seasoned with the gritty esoteric lyricism and comic book dialogue snippets DOOM? fans have come to expect. Hardcore Doomies and first-time listeners alike can pop Unexpected Guests into the boombox and let the tape rock ‘til the tape pop, no fast-forward necessary.