Of every rapper that fought their way through hip-hopâs genesis, there is rarely any dispute that âKoolâ Keith Thornton was the most unpredictable, and for many operating in the genreâs experimental fringes, the most influential.
Back in the late ’80s and ’90s Keith was a formidable force, with his twisted, abstract flows acting as the blueprint for Wu Tangâs RZA and Ghostface Killah, MF Doom and a laundry list of young rappers with a penchant for the surreal or the disturbing (weâre looking at you Necro). These days youâd be forgiven for thinking nothing has changed – itâs hard to imagine that the current generationâs horde of rap weirdos, from prolific Berkley outsider Lil B to Odd Future figurehead Tyler, The Creator with his vivid, often shocking rhymes would have been able to thrive without Thorntonâs crucial early groundwork.
Keith shot to notoriety thanks to his tenure as the figurehead of golden age innovators the Ultramagnetic MCs, and his unique style was a breath of fresh air in a climate that almost encouraged the ârespectfulâ regurgitation of ideas. He was progressive in a way that most emcees simply werenât, and next to Ced Geeâs equally prominent productions the band were an unstoppable force, for a time. With a barrage of boastful rhymes and a cadence and rhythm you could recognize a mile away, Keithâs chants made the bandâs debut album Critical Beatdown an enduring success, and one that surprisingly still sounds essential 25 later. It was around this time that Keith began perpetuating the rumour that he had been committed to the notorious Bellevue psychiatric hospital, a sliver of trivia that sat well with fans captivated by his distorted personality. Occasionally performing in a straightjacket, he later claimed that the whole thing was simply an inside joke, but the hospitalâs records still note that a Keith Matthew Thornton was indeed committed.
This concept bled into a solo career that granted Keithâs manic personality – or personalities – the opportunity to really shine, and that career blossomed with the invention of murderous alien time traveller and gynecologist Dr. Octagon. Here was the point where Keith fully embraced the unusual surrealism that would become his calling card, and the point where we were granted access to the exemplary Dr. Octagonecologyst, an album that still stands as one of the rapperâs most fully formed statements. Hailing from Jupiter and entertaining a voracious sexual appetite, Dr. Octagon was fleshed out with a rich tapestry brightly coloured rhymes that drifted from the conceptual to the outrageously psychedelic. The success of this record, albeit critically rather than commercially at first, was something of a shock to Keith, and in a typically off-kilter move he laid waste to the character not long later by using another alter ego (Dr. Dooom) to murder him. This push and pull, and the continuous drift between the streets and the stars has characterized Keithâs career since the very beginning, and grants his seemingly endless catalogue with a rare edge of impulsiveness.
It would be incorrect not to recognize that Keithâs form was dented significantly in the early â00s with a run of average if not out-and-out awful releases that he never really recovered from. Still, amongst the clutter of unnecessary compilations and half-realized concepts there were always moments of brilliance if you looked hard enough. Keithâs still plowing away, operating just outside his despised record industry in 2013, and his latest album Magnetic Pimp Force Field, a collaboration with Memphis producer Mr. Sche is his finest in far too long. The following list is a selection of Keithâs most outstanding moments, and while itâs predictably a little bottom-heavy (which letâs be honest, the Spankmaster himself probably wouldnât mind) itâs charted chronologically to allow you to follow Keithâs sprawling narrative a little easier.
Enjoyed this? Check out Mr. Beatnick’s 2012 interview with Kool Keith here.
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01. ULTRAMAGNETIC MCS
‘KOOL KEITH HOUSING THINGS’
(from Critical Beatdown, 1988)
âKool Keith Housing Thingsâ isnât the best-loved track on Critical Beatdown (that would probably be âEgo Trippinâ) but it does act as a decisive introduction to Keithâs inimitable style, kicking off with the immortal âWell Iâm sonically, high bionicallyâ â a line that lent a surprisingly prescient look into Keithâs sci-fi obsessed future. Ced Geeâs soul-laced production was fundamental, and along with Boogie Down Productionsâ Criminal Minded (that Gee also had a hand in) informed the wider rap world that you could actually dissect and abuse a sample, you didnât just have to loop it and walk away. Honestly, you could pick almost any cut from the record and it would serve as a worthy introduction to Keithâs manic flow, but âKool Keith Housing Thingsâ feels like the point where it became shockingly obvious that the rapper had the personality to carry a track all on his own.
02. THE CENOBITES
‘LEX LUGOR’Â
(from The Cenobites, 1995)
After he assisted Ced Gee with the production of Ultramagnetic MCsâ third LP The Four Horsemen, NYC rapper/producer Godfather Don teamed up with Kool Keith under the name The Cenobites (or Cenubites) and the duo issued a single devastating EP. Sporting a sound that characterizes the early ’90s NY blueprint (think 12-bit kicks, horns and organ) fluently, Keithâs ruthless, biting dissection of rapâs major label domination was not only smart, it was prophetic. âAny rapper on a major label should resign and quitâ is a line from a man who knew what needed to happen to get the creativity flowing once more, and we know now that he was right on the money. It was to be a theme that would stick with Keith throughout his career.
03. DR. OCTAGON
‘BLUE FLOWERS’
(from Dr. Octogonecologyst, 1996)
Itâs just impossible to have a list of Kool Keith classics without repping the insane and resounding genius that is Dr. Octagonecologyst. Produced by innovative Cali weirdo Dan the Automator and featuring some cunning turntablism from Invisible Skratch Pikl DJ Qbert and a young DJ Shadow, the album is still Keithâs best-loved and possibly most coherent collection of tales, and âBlue Flowersâ stands at the top of the pile. Rap just didnât sound like this in â96 â we were still fixated on the East/West feud, listening to Jeruâs DJ Premier-produced Wrath of the Math, Jay-Zâs debut Reasonable Doubt or Tupacâs crucial double-album All Eyez On Me.
The underground was there, but it took Dr. Octogonecologyst to give rappers the boost they needed to do things differently. It was a massive fuck you to the mainstream, and Keithâs often nonsensical, always abstract rhymes (âCybernetic microscopes and metal antidote/Two telescopes that magnify the size of a roachâ) gave a new wave of MCs the courage to do things differently. Itâs hard to imagine the rap landscape making a place for Company Flow or Cannibal Ox a few years later without Dr. Octogonâs initial groundwork.
04. KOOL KEITH
‘PLASTIC WORLD’
(from Sex Style, 1997)
Whilst he had lent his production talents to Kool Keith and Tim Dogâs short-lived Ultra project (never mind having an uncredited position on Dr. Octogonecologystâs production team), Sex Style was really the point where it became disarmingly obvious what a fruitful partnership KutMasta Kurt had with Keith. It was to be a long-running collaboration, and the chemistry is obvious throughout the album. Kurtâs beats are tough as nails, a long way from the intergalactic accompaniments of Dan the Automator or Ced Geeâs brittle funk. They serve as an appropriate backbone for Keithâs self-styled porno-core, and âPlastic Worldâ finds the rapper on familiar territory as he cuts down pathetic copycat rappers and producers (âEverybody clear with beats trying to be Premierâ), stopping briefly to sing the praises of a young E-40 who was back then almost unknown outside of the Bay.
05. DR. DOOOM
‘APARTMENT 223’
(from First Come, First Served, 1999)
From the hilarious Pen & Pixel parodying artwork to the unceremonious dispatch of acclaimed alter-ego Dr. Octagon on the albumâs opening track, Dr. Dooomâs First Come, First Served was maybe not the album Kool Keith fans wanted at the time, but it was certainly what we needed. Again joined by producer Kutmasta Kurt, Keith dragged us even deeper into horror and despair, and if Dr. Octogenocologyst was fixated with the surreal, First Come, First Served replaced that quality with vivid pictures of a reality that we didnât want to know existed.
New persona Dr. Dooom is portrayed as a vicious, murderous cannibal, and on âApartment 223â Keith doesnât pill any punches with his descriptions: âApartment 223 with body parts under my bed/Cut your abdomen out, stab your fuckin leather coat/I chant while candles burn with robes on, you will learn.â It was his definitive answer to the fake rappers he had spent most of his career railing on, a massive horror-core statement that told stories of a street life that was not only frightening, but at times a little too real. Needless to say, the track stands as one of the finest achievements in Keithâs long career.
06. KOOL KEITH
‘I’M SEEIN’ ROBOTS’
(from Black Elvis/Lost in Space, 1999)
Black Elvis/Lost in Space found Keith again fixated on the sci-fi themes many of us thought had been nixed for good after Dr. Dooomâs slaughtering of Dr. Octagon. It marked a point in the rapperâs career where he became confident enough with his production choices to take on a while record on his own, and while he had assistance from KutMasta Kurt, itâs the albumâs bizarre backdrop that really sets it apart from Keithâs catalogue of superior tomes. âIâm Seeinâ Robotsâ is, production wise, the recordâs most outstanding achievement, and pre-dating dubstep by a good few years augments a wobbling, distorted bassline with a typically dusty, minimal beat. Lyrically heâs on familiar turf, calling out phonies (robots) with his usual wordy panache, but itâs the beat thatâs the draw here.
07. MASTERS OF ILLUSION
‘SCARED STRAIGHT’
(from KutMaster Kurt Presents Masters of Illusion, 2000)
Masters of Illusion was a producer project at its core, and headed up by KutMaster Kurt itâs hardly surprising he managed to rope in Keith, as well as Bay Area vet Motion Man, who both share duties on the mic. Itâs the beats though that make it such a crucial recording: seemingly forgotten by anyone save a few core Kool Keith devotees, theyâre dripping with the kind of gloomy, neck-snapping snares and crumbling, vinyl-ripped samples that just donât crop up any more in an era of FL Studio and YouTube. âScared Straightâ isnât the albumâs most well-known cut, but itâs one of its most effective. Based around an eerie, otherworldly b-movie piano snippet, the track is grounded by the two emceesâ flawless performances, but still manages to sound as if any moment a trap door will spring open to reveal some unsightly horror.
08. ANALOG BROTHERS
‘MORE FREAKS’
(from Pimp to Eat, 2000)
Often maligned and noted as the point where Kool Keith well and truly jumped the shark, Analog Brothersâ sole full-length Pimp To Eat is still well worthy of investigation. A collaboration between Keith, Ice-T, Marc Live, Black Silver and Pimp Rex, itâs a messy collection of tracks, but one that nevertheless has its high points â and letâs be honest here itâs hardly as disappointing as the vitriolic Matthew.
âMore Freaksâ is a clear winner, and quickly blasts out the bandâs concept with thick analogue synths and a beat so dusty it sounds as if it was pulled from a floppy disc found in the back room of a charity shop. Keithâs on particularly oversexed form here, out-freaking the rest of the team with a vomit of lines like âVenereal protector, automatic selector/Verbal butt taster with vanilla flavor.â They give it a good shot, but honestly, they never really stood a chance.
 09. KOOL KEITH
‘DRUGS’
(from Spankmaster, 2001)
Spankmaster is hardly Keithâs most successful collection of tracks, but produced mostly by Keith himself it stands as one of the rapperâs most eccentric and bizarre offerings. âDrugsâ is the recordâs clear standout, and both production wise and lyrically sounds like a lube-smeared summary of Keithâs career up to this point. A brittle, cheap beat made up of plastic piano, weedly FM synth twinkles and awkwardly syncopated beats, the fact that it works so well almost seems accidental. As Keith falsettos âAll the crack and the drugs, make me feel, the way I feelâ you get the sense that âDrugsâ is his answer to the Neptunesâ lurching futuristic funk, filtered through his splintered multiple personalities. Keithâs vivid depictions of Hollywoodâs seamy underbelly of excess cling to the mind like leeches, and if you find yourself wandering the streets mouthing âFreebasinâ eighteen pounds of coke with Marvin Gayeâ donât say I didnât warn you.
10. PROJECT POLAROID
‘SPACE 8000’
(from Project Polaroid, 2006)
The mid ’00s was something of a wasteland for Keith: he released a lot of music, but very little of it had any kind of staying power. Aside from the unexpectedly good collaboration with KutMasta Kurt, Diesel Truckers, the period was fraught by vapid misfires like Kool Keith presents Thee Undatakerz and disappointing sequels such as The Return of Dr. Octagon and Dr. Dooom 2. It was a pleasant surprise then when Project Polaroid appeared on the shelves, pairing Keith with yet another unorthodox producer in Bay Area DJ TOMC3. This is undoubtedly the jewel of Keithâs low period, and finds the rapper reinvigorated alongside TOMC3âs full-bodied lo-fi beats. Itâs not that heâs even saying anything particularly different, but with his head back in the clouds dropping lines like âWith heavy symmetrical industrial and various impetuous construction/With adventurous introductionâ itâs hard not to fall for Keithâs stargazing surrealism all over again.