RETROSPECTIVE: DR. OCTAGON - Dr. Octagonecologyst
Although generally unknown in the mainstream, Kool Keith’s debut solo record under the persona of his surrealist, extraterrestrial, sexually deranged surgeon has undoubtedly had an indisputable influence on the subterranean rap movement.
The arrival of 1996’s “Dr. Octagonecologyst” acted as a turning point for the wider hip-hop genre, representing the first truly left-field alternative to the commercial ‘gangsta’ rap that dominated the scene of the 1990s. Harkening back to the formative years of rap music and bringing back a sense of originality that had been lost within the genre Kool Keith and his collaborators spurned the self indulgence of ‘gangsta rap’ and created an experimental and surrealist hip-hop masterwork.
The unorthodox nature of the album is in large part due to the futuristic, horror-core production from the underground scene’s brightest rising talent, Dan The Automator. —-“Dr Octagonecologyst” succeeded in bridging the gap between underground hip-hop and the more electronic realms of trip-hop. creative injections of DJ Q-Bert who also had a hand in the conception of hip-hop’s beautiful abomination.
The birth of Dr. Octagon provided a breath of fresh air for all those craving an escapism from the harsh street realism of Nas and Wu-Tang and the materialistic arrogance of the LA scene. Kool Keith’s twisted alter ego instead offered up psychedelic stream-of-consciousness verses with bizarre boundary-skewing bars and a unique intergalactic tone that added extra element of intrigue to an already offbeat and radical release.
Now 20 years later, “Dr. Octagonecologyst” has gained a cult status through its eccentricities and innovation, an album that pushed the doors wide open for experimentation and non-traditional subject matter and almost single handedly revitalised underground hip-hop. One can certainly still make the claim that without Dr. Octagon, the sound of experimental hip-hop as a whole would be decidedly less weird.
