Kool Keith Biography
Springing out of the eclectic old-school rap outfit the Ultramagnetic MCs, "Kool" Keith Thornton has followed the minor hip-hop trend of adopting different pseudonyms to deliver eccentric and often totally obscure albums on a myriad of different labels. Whether he's donning a wig and assuming his "Black Elvis" character, or presenting himself as the space-traveling gynecologist known as "Dr. Octagon," Kool Keith has consistently proven himself to be one of the most intriguing rappers in hip-hop, aligning himself with some of the best DJs and producers in the business only to cut ties with them, furthering his often erratic image. Schizophrenic, hard to track down, and even rumored to once be a former patient of New York's Bellevue psychiatric ward, Keith is in a totally different league from the Nelly's and Ludacris' of the world. He once told the Boston Herald, "I can rap on any kind of beats, and I can rap on those beats better than those cats. It’s like basketball."
Keith got his start rapping with the Bronx-based group Ultramagnetic MCs. Along with members Ced-Gee, Maurice Smith, and TR (DJ Moe) Love, Kool Keith and company released three albums of smart and funky hip-hop that never quite made it into the mainstream. Cited by the likes of the Wu-Tang Clan, the Prodigy (who sampled the Kool Keith line "Smack my bitch up" for their hit "Smack My Bitch Up"), and the Neptunes as early influences, the MCs debuted in 1988 with the album Critical Beatdown on Plateau Records.
As one of the first groups to employ a sampler as an actual instrument, the group came up around the same time as contemporaries like the group Public Enemy, who were also experimenting with the device. Featuring the group rhyming over James Brown-styled beats and rhythms, Critical Beatdown never quite received the praise it deserved until it was re-released in 2003 by Roadrunner Records. Upon its re-release, Alternativecuts.co.uk's Gordon Peppard said, "The rhymes are solid, the beats murderous and the samples as tasty as they come, mostly in the same vein as Public Enemy but with a playfulness that they never had. I must have been sleep walking or something to have missed this."
Keith got his start rapping with the Bronx-based group Ultramagnetic MCs. Along with members Ced-Gee, Maurice Smith, and TR (DJ Moe) Love, Kool Keith and company released three albums of smart and funky hip-hop that never quite made it into the mainstream. Cited by the likes of the Wu-Tang Clan, the Prodigy (who sampled the Kool Keith line "Smack my bitch up" for their hit "Smack My Bitch Up"), and the Neptunes as early influences, the MCs debuted in 1988 with the album Critical Beatdown on Plateau Records.
As one of the first groups to employ a sampler as an actual instrument, the group came up around the same time as contemporaries like the group Public Enemy, who were also experimenting with the device. Featuring the group rhyming over James Brown-styled beats and rhythms, Critical Beatdown never quite received the praise it deserved until it was re-released in 2003 by Roadrunner Records. Upon its re-release, Alternativecuts.co.uk's Gordon Peppard said, "The rhymes are solid, the beats murderous and the samples as tasty as they come, mostly in the same vein as Public Enemy but with a playfulness that they never had. I must have been sleep walking or something to have missed this."
Profile
Born Keith Thornton in the Bronx, NY.
Contact Information
Address: Record company--Dmaft Records, P.O. Box 404, Redondo Beach, CA 90277
Website: http://www.dmaft.com
Website: http://www.dmaft.com
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