Fans of masked rapper MF Doom have been speculating for weeks about whether or not several recent performances were actually put on by a fake who lip-synced to Doom's songs; coincidentally he also recently cancelled shows due to health issues. The Village Voice published an article on Tuesday that includes interviews with outraged fans, Doom's reps and club owner Allen Scott, who runs a San Francisco venue that hosted one of the most dubious of Doom's late performances on August 15. One fan at that show says:

"I went up to the sound guy about two songs deep and said, 'No one can hear Doom's mic.' He looked at me and said straight-up, 'I know. His mic's not on, and that's not MF Doom.' "

Doom's agent, Jason Swartz, insists that the rapper was definitely the guy on stage in San Francisco and that circulation problems in his foot have caused the cancellation of recent shows. I'm inclined to write this off, as the Voice suggests, as a Kaufman-esque mindf****ery; even if it's not, Doom could surely still manage to spin it that way. But will fans accept it? Has Doom taken his illusory persona too far? Is a public unmasking in order? Stay tuned for the next episode!
From Madvillain to Milli Vanilli [Village Voice]