Digital DJPool Music for DJs

Some Earth People Will Feel Alienated...

But that's because Keith is an alien himself. When a collective of hip hop enthusiasts from the Ego Trip staff ranked Kool Keith as the number 19th greatest emcee of all-time (one ahead of Tupac) in there book of lists, they were not taking it lightly. He wasn't your standard A-B rhymer. He was shattering rules of rhyme structure since his glory days with the Ultramagnetic Mcs. He always possessed an unorthodoxed off-beat flow, passionate vocal tone, and boasts so brazen they stunned his listener into silence. Who would have thought that the leader of that group would turn into a perverse alien who happened to have his record drop from another planet to turn from thermal nuclear residue to Earth in compact format (read the album cover notes to understand where i'm comin' from).

Dr. Octagon is a groundbreaking release that is best enjoyed after countless listens. The best records are the ones you have to go back over and decipher new meanings. Never one to waste a rhyme, Keith opens up with "3000" on some bugged out wordplay, "Channels and handles Automator's on the panels/ turnin knobs you slobs suckers like Baskin Robs/carvel don't tell your whole crew is ice cream fudge/rappers that budge makin moves step in grooves/and ride the pace like at thirty-three dark shades/ now you seein me/ rap moves on to the year three thousand". Just a few bars of his breathless liners doesn't do the space alien gynocologist much justice. You could spend your whole summer vacation trying to get a grasp on these otherworldly phrases.

Even with the off the wall lyricism, the album wouldn't be the nearly enjoyable experience if it wasn't for Dan Automators genius turntable techniques and sci-fi horror backdrops. Just peep "Halfsharkhalfalligatorman" (long winded title!) and the incredible "Blue Flowers" for proof! The album is just filled with surprises at every corner. However, no other song on Dr. Octagon captivated me more than "Girl, Let Me Touch You". To this day, it stands as one of my personal all-time favorite non-singles on any hip hop record. Automators production is effortlessly hypnotic, Keith's persona is as abstact as ever, and no matter what mood I was in...the song would just set things straight.

In conclusion, Dr. Octagon is a stone cold classic. I don't care how many non-believers this record sparked. So what if he's different. His individuality separates Keith from the rest. How many emcees have the ability to go as far to credit "Kelly Wootang" on drums and "Curt Kobane" on vocals (you should be buggin' out with those references). Besides, too many hip hop records take themselves way too seriously with yet far too many more gimmicks. Kool Keith doesn't care. He wouldn't take sides, regarding the Tupac Biggie beef. He would rather diss both of them and be done with it (Pluckin' Cards ring a bell)? Keith would put out some good material after this, but after "Sex Styles", there was far too much B.S. Hell, even DJ Shadow got in on one cut and this was the same year he put out the timeless, "Endtroducin'". Grab this record anyway you can before it criminally goes out of print.