Thom Yorke has shared a statement mourning the death of beloved rapper MF DOOM.

In a tweet over the holiday weekend, the Radiohead frontman wrote that he’s “so sad to hear” about DOOM’s death, which was announced on New Year’s Eve. The rapper, who was 49, was known for his creative lyrical style, and his comic book-inspired mask.

“He was a massive inspiration to so many of us, changed things,” Yorke writes of DOOM. “For me the way he put words was often shocking in [its] genius, using stream of consciousness in a way I’d never heard before.”

Yorke collaborated with DOOM on multiple occasions, including on remixes and production work, and named him as his favorite rapper in a 2013 interview with Dazed.

“Ultimately to me it’s not rapping at all, it’s poetry,” Yorke said. “The way he freeforms his verses and puts it all together, I don’t think anyone else quite does it like that.”

By Josh Johnson
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