On December 31, 2020, music legend Daniel ‘MF DOOM’ Dumile passed away. However, the Twitch stream from his record label memorializing his work was removed amid rumors of DMCA issues, but that turned out not to be the case.
While for many December 31 marked the triumphant end of a rocky 2020, hip hop fans everywhere were devastated by the news that the legendary MF DOOM had passed away that day. Yet another victim of 2020’s devastation, fans across the globe mourned the musician on social media.
Twitch was DOOM’s record label’s platform of choice to distribute their memorial to the rap icon, playing his songs for fans to gather and share their love for DOOM.
In a shocking turn of events, the remembrance stream was rumored at first to have been hit with the DMCA hammer, with the channel being taken down shortly after going live. That turned out not to be the case, however.
The rapper passed away at age 49.
Twitch memorial stream goes wrong
Amid a swirl of divisive DMCA issues and claims that have been plaguing the major streaming platform, Twitch has been caught up yet again in another controversy, but not because of the reason most were thinking.
A lot of fans noticed that the memorial stream to the hip hop icon was taken down within minutes. The broadcast shown by BRAINFEEDER, MF DOOM’s official record label, was removed from the site along with being suspended, which sparked mass outrage from internet users and fans alike.
However, Dexerto has since confirmed that it was actually a video running afoul of Twitch’s hardline nudity policy that was shown during the stream that was to blame. That didn’t stop the backlash from fans, however.
The infamous Twitch ghost now haunts BRAINFEEDER’s channel.
Fans hit back
Reacting with sheer disgust, fans took to Twitter to attack the streaming platform for the unprecedented suspension, even though the actual reason wasn’t known.
One fan wrote that “Twitch is f*cking trash” if DMCA issues were really to blame for the stream and account being removed.
They really DMCA a tribute to MF DOOM tribute, twitch is fucking trash
— Ego (@Egomusicishere) January 1, 2021
Another user appealed directly to Twitch’s Twitter account, asking them to “please fix this immediately.”
@Twitch it looks like this channel https://t.co/19Hk26PrTE got auto DMCA’d while trying to do a tribute show for MF DOOM. Please fix this immediately. https://t.co/mLFu8Dy7aF
— Andrew Hake (@andrewhake) January 1, 2021
Popular musician Kenneth Charles Blume III, better known as KennyBeats, was watching the remembrance broadcast live on stream as it was taken down, and his reaction echoes that of fans everywhere.
While a DMCA strike didn’t end up being the reason behind the strike, it is telling that it was the first thing everyone immediately assumed had happened after all that went on with the new rules to end out 2020.