“I’m always trying to show versatility. I’m juggling, and I’m flipping fire, and I’m chewing gum and rhyming at the same time… on a unicycle, while playing the drums.”

I’m back – now watch this!’ It all boils down to the music. The mask is a slight theme for people to enjoy, and it adds mystery.

The ‘Doom’ thing is to be able to come at things with a different point of view. I decided the mask would just add to the mystique of the character as well as make Doom stand out.

I might as well use it to control the story. So why not do something like throw a mask on?

I liked being able to speak to somebody and throw it back and forth, and they can’t predict what you’re going to say next.

Being older now, grown, I’m like, ‘What do we really do that’s fun?’ I’m kind of corny when you think about it. What could I rhyme about? Let me see, um, I gotta pay the rent today.

I spent 35 years growing up in the U.S., and it had its ups and downs.

I liked different etymologies, different slang that came out in different eras. Different languages. Different dialects.

Doom is a classic supervillain, akin to the Phantom of the Opera. It’s not about revenge so much as, like.

I’m doing the shows. The stage is my canvas; I’ll put whatever up there for the visible eye.

A visual always brings a first impression. But if there’s going to be a first impression.

I get that mainly from novels and that style of writing or movies where there’s multiple characters who carry the storyline.

I can’t perform without the mask or be seen without it on stage, or else it’ll distract from the whole persona.

We all tend to be in the same circles – people like my Wu-Tang brothers, or Black Thought from The Roots.

Hip-hop is so saturated with the same old same old that people always expect the guy to actually be the guy. They want you to be real and straight from the streets and all that.

When I listen to hip-hop, I listen to Just Ice, Boogie Down Productions, Ultramagnetic MCs.

Prince Paul is another good friend; he’s like an older brother. He’ll criticise and be brutally honest with you. That’s what I like about Paul.