Halfway through 2021, it’s still shocking to know that MF Doom is no longer with us. The legendary emcee sadly passed away at the age of 49 last October, but it wasn’t until New Year’s Eve that his family revealed the news. With subsequent reports of nearly finished projects and insane collaborations in the works, MF Doom’s passing was even harder to stomach, but it has been great to see the beloved Hip-Hop artist’s legacy continue to live on.
After earning a posthumous UK album certification and bringing his augmented reality masks to the NFT space, more great Doom news has just rolled in. As previously reported in February, a petition was launched that called for a street in New York to be renamed in MF Doom’s memory, and several months later, it turns out that the petition was ultimately successful.
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According to Complex, the East Hudson Street block between Riverside Boulevard and Long Beach Road in Long Beach, New York has been approved to be renamed “KMD-MF DOOM Way.”
“I had several community members contact me to see if I could get engaged with it,” Dr. Patrick C. Graham, who went to high school with Doom and initiated the petition, said. “I used to run the Martin Luther King Center there, so I still have a close connection to the community. I was born and raised there, went to high school with Dumile. So I said give me a minute and I’ll craft a letter to the City Council based on how I see it and then converted that letter into a petition. The group said they loved it and we moved forward.”
“I’m just happy this is happening,” Dr. Graham continued. “Because it’s not only a victory for Dumile’s legacy, but it’s also about showing that community our generation. It is a way for people to see a symbol of our generation and our impact, particularly in a community that’s gentrifying pretty fast.”
According to Complex, Long Beach City Manager Donna M. Gayden is also excited for the opportunity to rename the street after MF Doom, and she says that the city “is proud to bestow this honor in his memory and proud that he called our City home.”
For those who stay in New York, will you be paying a trip to “KMD-MF DOOM Way” once the change is officially made?
[via]