Kool Keith: Kooler Than You

Hip hop is a lot of things these days, but rap, not so much. Producing is where the real groundbreaking is done, hell, the advent of rap came about through the constantly evolving role of the disc jockey. The two roles, rapper and DJ, were not mutually exclusive, but rather worked with each other to create new ways of combining poetry and music. There seems to have been a split somewhere however, and now the two are rarely excelled at in conjunction today, the former if at all.

Fuck it, I'll say rappers suck nowadays, There, it's out in the open at the beginning so I don't have to ease you into the notion of a white guy complaining about rap music, shocking as it is, I know. I don't even really have a problem with the music, hip hop production has been constantly evolving with new sounds and rhythms. And back in the day, sure, there was something crucial to be said in gangsta rap as it evolved out of the early stylings of Stetsasonic and what have you, it's political message being violent and cathartic if a bit ill-wielded. However, this dual progression seems to have been left behind in the good-ole-days of hip hop and rap, as it were, the path of Double Dee and Steinksi influencing such innovative acts as DJ Shadow (such a Bay legend people forget he's form the Bay, but just listen to The Outsider), NWA and Ice T have left us with the poor legacy of Fitty and Eminem. Later, with De La Soul and Tribe we get the feel good rap: music about getting fucked up and fucking bitches in a nice way, or just about how great of a rapper you are. Even later comes the political hip hop, touched on by Tribe and Soul's Afrocentrism but really outplayed by guys like Immortal Technique to the point whiny bitchiness. (Oh and if you want point for genre reference, Kanye West is dance music, nothing more.)

It's either this... Photo by QXZ.

... or this. Well, fuck, not much of a choice. Photo by Dan Figueroa.

However, there are still a few MCs out there that don't take themselves too seriously, at least to the point of shooting each other over locational disputes. And with this article I shall praise one of my favorites: Kool Keith aka Dr. Octagon aka The Rhythm X aka Dr. Dooom aka Black Elvis aka Big Mac Wingdings aka Bono II aka some of the finest aliases the world of hip hop has ever seen. Yes, that's right, I'll be praising something instead of violently debasing it with this post! Well, except for the previous two paragraphs... but it's a start!

The man himself, in appropriate golden shawl and
epic rapping pose. Photo by Krispijn Larrison.

Kool Keith is, simply, the shit. Coming out as a rapper praised for his technical ability on early Ultramagnetic MC releases (the group he came to national attention with). And if there's one thing to say about Kool Keith, it's that he has evolved through an incredible amount of incarnations, if proven only by his multitude of fucking ill aliases. However, there does seem to be a thematic layering of his works, with the very base being a complete and utter obsession with sex (I mean, for Christ's sake, he was credited with the invention of the pornocore genre). He was even rumored to have spent some time in Bellevue for nymphomania (a rumor I would not so readily dismiss).


This is evident to an extreme degree in all of his works, however it is not overplayed: Kool Keith rapping with Ultramag and Tim Dawg about running a train on a girl after a show is a much different experience than listening to Dr. Octagon rap about performing space gynecology on an alien babe. Very different in-motherfucking-deed. And even the former example trumps such attempts by later rappers, there being not one hint of violence on the track "Porno Star" (a boner jam I recommend to all my good friends), and while exploitative, well, I can let that pass in favor of lines such as: "I just chill and cold mack at the jam / I'm butt naked, the woman say 'god damn / He's x-rated, I seen him in the video / He's jerkin off on my girlfriend's booty though' / You want the dick too? Then come to me though." Not one mention of a ho or a skank, just pure appreciation for some fine, fine pussy. Now that is art.


Transition from the pure lyrical fuckery of Ultramag to the smooth and bizarre style of the one and only Dr. Octagon, and now you've got a bonified rapper artiste. Take these pieces of lyrical gold, for instance: "Honey, let's talk about / Did he lick you there? / Percolate you atmosphere? / I got a mask at home / Boots and some leather gear / How about me and you and black / I'm hittin' from the back / Tail in my face and all juicy brown booty / I'm the master rubber / Please, let me do my duty." Maybe it's just the submissive in me, but a rapper going off about how he loves to munch the rug (especially in a culture that seems practically afraid to do so or talk about it), as well as how he is a sex-tool to be used, is particularly refreshing. This mix of dark lyrical thematics with light-hearted sci-fi romps with pure debased sexual obsession leads to some interesting cultural references overall (for example, his group with Godfather Don was named "The Cenobites", a reference to perhaps my favorite horror anthology, the Hellraiser series, a series also ripe with sadomasochistic sexuality).

Yes, That is Kool Keith. Yes, he's
wearing a chainmal coif. Photo by
Daniel Perlaky.

Kool Keith has always had a plethora of great producers at his fingertips, or rather, he at theirs. This is the kind of dual evolution that modern producer-rapper relations seem to lack. While a split production responsibility was shared amongst Ultramag, Ced-Gee took primary responsibilities with Godfather Don later adding his beats to a good amount of tracks, though the raps were always what shined about this collective. However, with the nigh-legendary production of Dan The Automator, Kool Keith found a producer whose style matched his own, and the ambient percussion combined with knife-point precision lyrics of their album Dr. Octagonecologyst rocked the dual worlds of hip hop and rap for years to come. Hell, this album was my own introduction to legitimate hip hop, and is probably half of the reason why white kids in NoVA even listen to rap music. It opened the doors of hip hop to those persuaded by a more alternative taste and whose palettes were simply unsatisfied by previous attempts at this alternativity (Wu Tang Clan, Jeru the Damaja, etc). Then, you have the pure epic urban awesomeness of a Kutmasta Kurt track, with whom Kool Keith often partners, notably in his later career.


Sure, Kool Keith might have dropped a bit off in recent years, fallen victim to the same poor money management as most, resulting in his exploitation of the Dr. Octagon name, however even this led to a collaboration between himself and a European house production collective, a movement in hip hop that Kool Keith was eager to explore. His multiple reinventions have led to some confusing messages: his "murder" of Dr. Octagon on a Dr. Dooom album, his reversal of the entire concept on Nogacto Rd., his gangster friendly but far more complex Spankmaster album. However, all this means is that there is in incarnation for everybody, a Kool Keith everyone can enjoy in their own special way.


So, in a wasteland where Snoop Dogg raps on Katy Perry tracks and chart-topping rappers have more bullet wounds (fake or real) than legitimate tracks, there is a shining beacon of sex, aliens, and dope raps. I swear this guy is why I love eating pussy so much.


Crucial Albums:
Funk Your Head Up - Ultramagnetic MCs - 1992 
(Stop Jockin' Me, Poppa Large, Porno Star)
Dr. Octagonecologyst - Dr. Octagon - 1996 
(3000, Earth People, Girl Let Me Touch You)
Sex Style - Kool Keith - 1997 
(Sex Style, Make Up Your Mind, The Mack is Back, Keep It Real... Represent)
Black Elvis/Lost in Space - Kool Keith - 1999 
(Rockets on the Battlefield, Supergalactic Lover) 
Pimp to Eat - Analog Brothers - 2000 
(Kool Keith rapping with Ice-T as robots in the future? Yes, please!)
Diesel Truckers - Kool Keith and Kutmasta Kurt - 2004 
(The Legendary, I Drop Money, Mane)

I wish this was the future I lived in... Photo by Paulimus J.