Sometimes wearing a mask can benefit an MC beyond merely helping develop a recognizable image. According to an army of pissed-off indie hip-hop bloggers and message board scribes, MF Doom pulled an advanced Ashlee Simpson move last night at a sold-out show at San Francisco’s Independent venue. Apparently, a masked “Doom” took to the stage, and lip-synched over a prerecorded mix. According to blogger Fucs Jones:

“The only thing that was actually live about the show was the hypeman’s mic. Everything else ran straight off a recording, and fake Doom pretended to rap and walked up and down the stage doing rapper hands. He faked his way through a set of about 20 minutes, walked off the stage, and jetted out the back door.”

It’s one thing to jump on stage and fake it because you’re too wasted or feeling exhausted, but it’s another when there’s an entirely different dude performing for a sold-out crowd. Evidently, there’s another show tonight, so we recommend checking back for the scoop.