If you had any doubts as to whether or not this is the best rap album ever made, please keep in mind that Pushead did the cover art and the lyrics mention Gorefest, Autopsy and Spazz.
I have the UK edition with the shitty artwork. Fucking Mo' Wax. Anyway, great album. Shoulda done a Mr Gerbick one, the 'Half-man alligator half-shark' guy.
I love this one, too. I dig most of the stuff Dan the Automator puts out, but this one is tops. Most of the friends I have that listen to rap hate this because of the nonsense lyrics, but I get caught up in the flow. Meanwhile, everyone I know that "hates rap" loves this. I've been meaning to pick up the instrumental version of this for years, though. Even without Kool Keith's rambling lyrics, this album reigns supreme.
Internets tells me it came out in 96. I think I first heard it in 98. I bought it because of Automator and Shadow. Re-sold it at a used rec store a year later because I couldn't get into it.
But its legacy grows and grows. And I can't let go. Whenever it is mentioned, accolades follow in generous heaps.
I can't let it beat me.
So I'm going to try this one more time.
On the other hand, I have a feeling that Sex Styles is the superior record.
Sex Styles is a fantastic record, but the two are totally different animals. This one is less playful, more menacing and abstract. Give it another go, maybe try it with PCP.
Stoked to check this one out, been meaning to. Lately, the hip-hop I've been into has been Wu-Tang Clan. Took me way too long to actually buy 36 Chambers this past summer, but goddamn...
oh man what an album, this is by far the best hiphop album ive seen posted ANYWHERE as of late. also i always wondered whether him mentioning autopsy gorefest and spazz was referring to the bands!
sidenote:el farolito is one of the best songs of all time.....not sure if everyone out there knew that or not...just sayin..
Mr. SIck, it is most definitely a reference to the bands. A source close to the man told me once that he wasn't a fan, he just thought the names were cool. He was living in SF at the time and possibly had an awareness of Autopsy and Spazz both from the Bay Area.
Oh and "El Farolito" is just GnR's "Sweet Child O Mine" with better lyrics, seriously, check it.
what's all this apologetic "rappers that white people like" shite? Kool Keith stands head n shoulders above rappers that most white/black/whichever dullards like, because his mind is elevated above the usual drugs/bling/macho twitterings of the pack, and he has a fuckin twisted sense of humour, which most rappers would do well to develop if they want to see some sales to people with brains...
I've never been able to get into this. I'd rather spin a Raekwon album for the umpteenth time than listen to DR OC. I mean, I like Keith but where's the appeal?
We used to drink w/ Keith at Andy Boy's Drunk Tank back in the day on Market St. alot. Andy Boy (Attitude Adjustment singer) played guitar on "I'm Destructive".
There was alot of Mickey's drank there, and the jukebox had Cro-Mags-Age of Quarrel on it, but it wasn't listed - you had to press 69 to access it...
Keith Thornton will always be uunderrated & misunderstood by most heads. The only other motherfucker who kills it for me these days is Sean Price/Sean P of Boot Camp Clik/Heltah Skeltah fame. I'm gonna get my shit together & make you a grit-ass mix & send it your way. One of these days...
to clarify the spazz reference... dan from spazz is also a hip hop producer (check out his group Grand Invincible, sick as fuck!)and was doing some work with dan the automator when this was being recorded and met kool keith, i guess automator mentioned that dan was in some sort of metal band and keith really wanted to hear it, so dan played some tapes for him and they started talking about metal when keith mentioned he was a big autopsy fan. a while later the album came out and dan was shocked to hear that reference, i guess the track was recorded right after that conversation. so there. and aesop, i clicked on the "rap" tag on the side of your blog, and yes, you are hopelessly caucasian. no black people listen to any of these records.
"My number's 70975560l3 computer file 93"
ReplyDelete"Now my helmet's on/you can't tell me I'm not in space with the national guard united states enterprise"
"A digital master was given to Sam Cooke and Jimmy Castor"
"Is H2O a gas or a liquid - perhaps concepts cannot explain..."
ReplyDelete"Your whole crew is ice cream fudge"
I have the UK edition with the shitty artwork. Fucking Mo' Wax. Anyway, great album. Shoulda done a Mr Gerbick one, the 'Half-man alligator half-shark' guy.
ReplyDeleteAnything Kool Keith related is awesome in my book!
ReplyDeleteArmed with six rounds of space-doodoo pistols!
ReplyDeleteHis ZX-9 has not yet been invented!
For my money, Kool Keith is the best out of the "Rappers White People Like" category.
I would also say that Nickatina is one of the better rappers that white people like as well. I could do without Common, Aesop Rock or Murs.
ReplyDeleteMore namedrops:
ReplyDelete"Dr. Octagonecologyst and Chewbacca Uncircumcised perform with Kurt Cobain and Roger from Zapp"
Dude i was totally gonna post this same album today... i think we are sharing some psychic wavelengths, broseph.
ReplyDelete"Oh shit, there's a horse in the hospital!!!"
I agree with Schultz. He's got every direction covered that I care about...SciFi, drugs, sex.
ReplyDelete"Tough like dirt bikes!"
Kool Keith's a fucking genius in any guise, but this was always my favorite. haven't heard it in ages. nice to have it again. muchas gracias!
ReplyDeletethat's keith on the bass guitar on a bunch of the tracks also
ReplyDeleteI like the variety of music you post, I think that's what makes this the best music blog I have encountered.
ReplyDeleteShelby, it happens. Me and Jason (Lo Res Viscera) are constantly doing it to each other. It's because we all 3 live in SF.
ReplyDeleteI crank up the Mr Thornton's "Collabs Tape" first thing this morning, stroll by the 'Hearse', and see this. Big smile.
ReplyDelete"Your mind is splattered, already headed for corruption."
Keith makes music, dare I say "art". The rap industry makes disposable product.
I love this one, too. I dig most of the stuff Dan the Automator puts out, but this one is tops. Most of the friends I have that listen to rap hate this because of the nonsense lyrics, but I get caught up in the flow. Meanwhile, everyone I know that "hates rap" loves this. I've been meaning to pick up the instrumental version of this for years, though. Even without Kool Keith's rambling lyrics, this album reigns supreme.
ReplyDeleteI still don't know how to feel about this record.
ReplyDeleteInternets tells me it came out in 96. I think I first heard it in 98. I bought it because of Automator and Shadow. Re-sold it at a used rec store a year later because I couldn't get into it.
But its legacy grows and grows.
And I can't let go. Whenever it is mentioned, accolades follow in generous heaps.
I can't let it beat me.
So I'm going to try this one more time.
On the other hand, I have a feeling that Sex Styles is the superior record.
Sex Styles is a fantastic record, but the two are totally different animals. This one is less playful, more menacing and abstract. Give it another go, maybe try it with PCP.
ReplyDeleteYou and Jason are "constantly doing it to each other"?
ReplyDeleteheh, um, yeah. We have sex.
ReplyDeleteNiiiiiiiiiiiice.
ReplyDeleteStoked to check this one out, been meaning to. Lately, the hip-hop I've been into has been Wu-Tang Clan. Took me way too long to actually buy 36 Chambers this past summer, but goddamn...
ReplyDelete"oh shit there's a horse in the hospital"
ReplyDelete"grateful dead.........rock wit it.."
oh man what an album, this is by far the best hiphop album ive seen posted ANYWHERE as of late. also i always wondered whether him mentioning autopsy gorefest and spazz was referring to the bands!
sidenote:el farolito is one of the best songs of all time.....not sure if everyone out there knew that or not...just sayin..
thanks bud!
Mr. SIck, it is most definitely a reference to the bands. A source close to the man told me once that he wasn't a fan, he just thought the names were cool. He was living in SF at the time and possibly had an awareness of Autopsy and Spazz both from the Bay Area.
ReplyDeleteOh and "El Farolito" is just GnR's "Sweet Child O Mine" with better lyrics, seriously, check it.
what's all this apologetic "rappers that white people like" shite? Kool Keith stands head n shoulders above rappers that most white/black/whichever dullards like, because his mind is elevated above the usual drugs/bling/macho twitterings of the pack, and he has a fuckin twisted sense of humour, which most rappers would do well to develop if they want to see some sales to people with brains...
ReplyDeleteI was in Spazz and actually wrote up the whole story on how this went down on my blog:
ReplyDeletehttp://rippedopenbymetalexplosions.blogspot.com/2007/10/kool-keith-autopsy-def-leppard-and.html
Dope blog, Aesop! Been following it for a minute. Now I need to cop another hard drive!
Thanks, Eon, will definitely read on.
ReplyDeleteOh shit there's a horse in the hospital...
ReplyDeleteI agree 100%... best rap album ever made.
ReplyDelete"Oh fuck! Patient just died in room 105... cirrhosis of the eye." Hahaha! Kills me every time.
I've never been able to get into this. I'd rather spin a Raekwon album for the umpteenth time than listen to DR OC. I mean, I like Keith but where's the appeal?
ReplyDelete"There are bees flying around your rectum."
ReplyDeleteWow, I haven't heard this one since it came out. Thanks!
ReplyDeletePure genius. Thanks a billion times over.
ReplyDelete"Face the fact, I fly on planets every day "...
ReplyDeleteWe used to drink w/ Keith at Andy Boy's Drunk Tank back in the day on Market St. alot.
Andy Boy (Attitude Adjustment singer) played guitar on "I'm Destructive".
There was alot of Mickey's drank there, and the jukebox had Cro-Mags-Age of Quarrel on it, but it wasn't listed - you had to press 69 to access it...
Keith Thornton will always be uunderrated & misunderstood by most heads. The only other motherfucker who kills it for me these days is Sean Price/Sean P of Boot Camp Clik/Heltah Skeltah fame. I'm gonna get my shit together & make you a grit-ass mix & send it your way. One of these days...
I wish you would. I remember Drunk Tank, that place, my 24th birthday, I got totally laid. I put my cape and helmet on.
ReplyDeleteIt's been a long time since I've listened to Dr. Octagon. Cheers!
ReplyDeleteVery good blog
ReplyDeleteHere's mine with a post with Dr. Octagon's blue flower and 3000 uk eps from mo wax @ 320 kpbs & the Bulk ep
Please enjoy.
http://r5turbo2.blogspot.com/2009/03/dr-octagon-eps-96-bulk-ep-95.html
to clarify the spazz reference... dan from spazz is also a hip hop producer (check out his group Grand Invincible, sick as fuck!)and was doing some work with dan the automator when this was being recorded and met kool keith, i guess automator mentioned that dan was in some sort of metal band and keith really wanted to hear it, so dan played some tapes for him and they started talking about metal when keith mentioned he was a big autopsy fan. a while later the album came out and dan was shocked to hear that reference, i guess the track was recorded right after that conversation. so there. and aesop, i clicked on the "rap" tag on the side of your blog, and yes, you are hopelessly caucasian. no black people listen to any of these records.
ReplyDeleteoh, hey, looks like dan already commented and you already knew all that and i just wasted 5 minutes or so typing. whatevs.
ReplyDeleteI don't mind being very caucasian in my rap choices, I mean, what are the real niggaz listening to these days? Garbage like T.O.
ReplyDelete