Kool Keith

Editor's Review:

It's hard not to love Kool Keith. Sure, he's a bit freaky, but his twisted genius is too much to ignore, and his position in the world of hip-hop is something like that of the crackhead in the ghetto: Nobody fucks with him because they never know how he'll react. Crazy people have nothing to lose.

On this album, Keith unveils his latest alter-ego, Black Elvis, and writes yet another chapter in the ultra-weird Kool Keith story. As is the case with many other Kool Keith releases (Dr. Octagon, Cenobites, Dr. Doom, etc.), subject matter runs on the weirder side of things, with references to space flight, science fiction and cyber-related things. But it's not like tech geek stuff-Keith comes up with some truly unique rhymes, and tells twisted tales that don't necessarily always make sense.

But even when Keith isn't rapping about cloning or rockets or traveling in unconventional ways, his stuff is a bit odd. Tracks like "Supergalactic Lover" and "Master of The Game" reveal Keith's penchant for musical cheese and kinky sex. Funked-out, computerized voices and other sounds that smack of '70s futurism identify Keith as a pimpin' lothario, while he pieces together wonderfully inexorable rhymes in his signature off-timed rhyme flow, one which, though it jumps around in chaotic time, never misses a beat and never comes across as unnatural.

Despite Kool Keith's freaky nature, his appeal as a rapper is hard to escape. He may a bit too weird for the mainstream, but if you're down with underground hip-hop and you don't mind a little freak with your funk, you may wanna keep Black Elvis in the building.

-Philip Bole


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Record Label Ruffhouse / Columbia Released August 1998

Tracks 1 Intro 2 Lost in Space 3 Rockets on the Battlefield 4 Livin' Astro 5 Supergalactic Lover 6 Master of the Game 7 I'm Seein' Robots 8 Static 9 Intro 2 10 Black Elvis 11 Maxi Curls 12 Keith Turbo 13 Fine Girls 14 Girls Don't Like the Job 15 Clifton 16 All the Time 17 I Don't Play