From Madvillain to Milli Vanilli

He then went on to note that several different actors, from Adam West to George Clooney, have played Batman. His note concludes, "In the world of hip-hop music on-the-other hand things might be considered even stranger although not at all unusual. When you have artists 'playing' themselves, pun intended while having someone else more qualified to write the story (beats and or rhymes). To each is owns, after all its just entertainment right?"

Entertainment or not, Independent patrons aren't getting refunds, and neither is the club— absent any proof that he wasn't actually there, a lip-synching Doom wouldn't have violated the terms of his contract, Scott says, adding that attendees can exchange their stubs for another performance, or return for the rescheduled Doom show on September 18. "We've had some great shows with this artist," he says. "I have to assume [the August 15 show] was an anomaly."

Regardless, Doom's name is tainted. Lip-synching is bad enough—the possibility that he sent a replacement may sound deliciously Andy Kaufman–esque to some, but the majority of his devotees aren't laughing. "Doom just totally shit on his fan base," says Pete Babb, who also performed at the ill-fated show under his DJ moniker, Enki.

"It's hard to figure out how I feel about it," says jilted Portland resident Schwab. "He's definitely still one of my favorite MCs. I feel disrespected, because I own all his music. I don't go and bootleg it.

"It's almost amusing," he goes on. "It almost seems like he hatched a plan to see if he could get away with it. Why else would he do something like this?"