Talk:MF Doom
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Why doesn't Wikipedia write "MF DOOM" in all caps?
Wikipedia has its own manual of style, and does not write things in BLOCK CAPS. See MOS:ALLCAPS for more information. But that's how Doom wrote his own name! Isn't he the most reliable source?
On Wikipedia, secondary sources (such as coverage in Rolling Stone, New York Times etc) are more important than primary sources (such as Doom's albums, singles etc). In other words, how Doom chose to write his own name isn't as important to Wikipedia as how other reliable sources write it. See WP:PSTS for more information. Can't we make an exception?
Per MOS:BIOEXCEPT, Wikipedia only makes exceptions to its style guide when an overwhelming majority of reliable secondary sources use that exceptional style. This is not the case for Doom. Many reliable sources write DOOM uppercase, while many of them write Doom lowercase. For examples of how the name is written in secondary sources published since 2020, see this non-exhaustive list. Why does Wikipedia say MF Doom was British-American?
Wikipedia is based on reliable secondary sources. These sources variously describe Doom as American, British-American or British-born. The consensus among Wikipedia editors is that "British-American" is the best compromise for the lead sentence. It reflects the plurality of sources and is a reasonable interpretation of his identity. The complexity of MF Doom's nationality and citizenship is described in detail in the article body. |
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Please change the capitalization of his name to be all caps.
The reasoning in the FAQ is really dumb. "how DOOM chose to write his own name isn't as important to Wikipedia as how other sources write it". He himself is the most reliable source there is. You're going to value some other source's opinions more than his own words?
He made an entire song about how his name is spelled in all caps, called "All Caps". Even if it doesn't follow Wikipedia's style and guidelines, this change would be entirely harmless and it would make fans satisfied. Please just respect his legacy. Tylertcfan758 (talk) 12:36, 24 December 2024 (UTC)
- Wikipedia has rules. This article is on Wikipedia. This article follows the rules of Wikipedia. Popcornfud (talk) 13:28, 24 December 2024 (UTC)
- "Wikipedia has no firm rules" Wikipedia#Policies and content. Smirkjuice (talk) 05:42, 6 February 2025 (UTC)
- @Popcornfud Annoying post. Beyond what @Smirkjuice pointed out, WP:IGNOREALLRULES, and the fact that the article title that you claim "follows the rules of Wikipedia" already has one word fully capitalized, where exactly in the rules are capitalization schemes for nicknames mentioned? I've seen plenty rendered with no caps, which violates english grammar conventions; I'm confident that this article's title falls exclusively under WP:COMMONNAME, and MF DOOM would appear to be the common name. Kaotao (talk) 08:44, 16 February 2025 (UTC)
- Thank you, DOOM deserves respect. Musicmf (talk) 05:11, 11 March 2025 (UTC)
- If you look at the sources, many of them have "MF Doom", and none of them have "Mf Doom". That is why Wikipedia capitalizes the first two letters. jlwoodwa (talk) 00:51, 6 April 2025 (UTC)
- DOOM spells his name as MF DOOM in every single album he did throughout his career Cxuzush (talk) 03:58, 27 April 2025 (UTC)
- Wikipedia doesn't care how he spelled it. See the FAQ. Popcornfud (talk) 15:13, 27 April 2025 (UTC)
- @Popcornfud
- Articles that have his name spelt as MF DOOM:
- https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/mf-doom-madlib-madvillain-egon-1142507/
- https://www.msn.com/en-gb/entertainment/music/estate-of-late-rapper-mf-doom-sues-temu-over-alleged-counterfeit-merchandise/ar-AA1Krh1U
- https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/madvillain-madvillainy-demos/
- https://www.vice.com/en/article/mf-doom-handwritten-notebooks-returned-widow-legal-battle/
- https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/kurious-mf-doom-rap-new-album-interview-1235113062/
- https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/mf-doom-mm-food-20th-anniversary-edition/
- https://pitchfork.com/features/article/untangling-mf-dooms-lifelong-struggle-with-the-us-immigration-system/
- https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/madlib-mf-doom-madvillainy-accordion-sample-1234709391/
- https://pitchfork.com/thepitch/10-songs-that-show-why-mfandnbspdoomandnbspwas-the-ultimate-rappers-rapper/ Veberet (talk) 18:31, 10 December 2025 (UTC)
- Wikipedia doesn't care how he spelled it. See the FAQ. Popcornfud (talk) 15:13, 27 April 2025 (UTC)
- DOOM spells his name as MF DOOM in every single album he did throughout his career Cxuzush (talk) 03:58, 27 April 2025 (UTC)
- Oppose See also discussions at:
- 2009: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:MF_Doom/Archive_1#Requested_move_(2009)_Move_%22MF_Doom%22_to_MF_DOOM
- 2015: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:MF_Doom/Archive_1#Requested_move_7_February_2015
- 2015: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:MF_Doom/Archive_1#All_Caps
- 2021: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:MF_Doom/Archive_2#DOOM_vs._Doom
- 2021: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:MF_Doom/Archive_2#Semi-protected_edit_request_on_6_January_2021
- 2022: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:MF_Doom/Archive_2#All_caps
- Again MF DOOM should be in all caps, every reason given to date for not doing so has been of absolutely no substance 86.111.160.242 (talk) 11:23, 16 September 2025 (UTC)
Semi-protected edit request on 20 November 2025
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In order to fix a typo of "... health appeared into improve." to "... health appeared to improve.", change:
An inquest by the Leeds Teaching Hospital NHS Trust found that the hospital's care plan was not sufficiently detailed and that doctors were misled when Dumile's health appeared into improve.
to:
An inquest by the Leeds Teaching Hospital NHS Trust found that the hospital's care plan was not sufficiently detailed and that doctors were misled when Dumile's health appeared to improve. Shuffling3145 (talk) 19:54, 20 November 2025 (UTC)
Semi-protected edit request on 4 December 2025
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In the 'Family' section of 'Personal life' "and for nearly two years,he saw them only via video calls" needs a space after the comma. ~2025-38495-83 (talk) 16:13, 4 December 2025 (UTC)
British-American
Per MOS:ETHNICITY, his nationality should be "British and American". I have no issues with the rationale of presenting both countries here but feel it is important to follow the MOS to make it clear that both countries are of equal standing. Having it as it is implies he is British of American descent, or American of British descent, so to avoid that confusion it is best to write "and". orangesclub 🍊 21:24, 13 December 2025 (UTC)
- I'm on the fence here, as I can't figure out how the MOS guidance should be applied to the case of Doom.
- The MOS cites Arnold Schwarzenegger and Peter Lorre as examples of "X and American", but in both cases it's because they had dual citizenship. But Doom didn't have dual citizenship, so does this apply?
- As far as I can tell, the MOS doesn't cite any other circumstances when the "X and Y" phrasing be used, but I might not be interpreting it correctly. Popcornfud (talk) 12:55, 19 December 2025 (UTC)
- @Orangesclub I agree ~2025-34710-17 (talk) 17:25, 24 January 2026 (UTC)
