The long awaited 15 week collaboration between the late night Cartoon Network station, Adult Swim, and innovative hip hop artist DOOM/MF DOOM, titled The Missing Notebook Series, has been cancelled 8 weeks into the project. Or as the statement from Adult Swim says, it will, “remain missing.” The full statement on Mass Appeal reads as follows: “Adult Swim is ending our relationship with DOOM, and thus, the remaining Missing Notebook Rhymes will unfortunately have to remain…missing. We are glad to have had the chance to provide the previous free tracks to our fans.”

Beginning on August 7th, one song had been released each week of the project: “Doomsayer,” “True Lightyears,””Negus,” “Notebook 03,” “Notebook 04,” and “Notebook 05.” The tracks featured many collaborations and comebacks: “Negus,” features Sean Price, “Doomsayer,” features Alchemist, “Notebook 04,” features Kool Keith, “Notebook 05,” marks the return of the Viktor Vaughn alias, and “True Lightyears,” marks the return of KMD and features Jay Electronica. KMD, the 1990s trio which gave Doom, then known as Zev Love X, his start is rumored to release an album soon. Each of the following six songs/notebooks has been taken down from all internet sites, and the following nine tracks that were supposed to be released will never see the light of the internet.

It seems odd that the long anticipated and widely supported collaboration has ended all of a sudden. Fans can only speculate as to why the split has happened, since the statements from Adult Swim have yet to indicate any hint as to why the unexpected cancellation has occurred. Some like Consequence of Sound, have guessed that it may have been a publicity stunt.

When the initial songs were released, Adult Swim noted that, “DOOM urges anyone with information on the whereabouts of the missing notebooks contacts GasDrawls.com immediately. The last time they were seen was seven years ago at the METALFACE LA when DOOm was denied entry into the United States.” Now that the songs have been taken down from Adult Swim’s page, an allusive poem titled, “What I Remember of the Crash,” has been posted in its place. Doom poses as an underground villain, so there is a strong chance that this is a way for him to use his persona to create a game that will get listeners more involved and invested in the release. Or it could just be the sad ending to a hopeful beginning. Either way, it is possible that the songs will be released on the collaborators upcoming albums instead (i.e “True Lightyears,” on KMD’s upcoming album, “Negus,” on Sean Price’s upcoming album Imperious Rex and “Notebook 04,” on Justin Tyne’s upcoming EP Iron Barzs etc.)