Tag: Kool Keith

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Known as a co-founder of renowned hip-hop Ultramagnetic MCs and for a lengthy and uncompromisingly weird solo career in which he has taken up a number of aliases and personas while collaborating with an incredible array of emcees and producers, Kool Keith is arguably one of hip-hop’s strangest and most unique artists as he’s continually perfected and expanded upon an inimitable flow full of surreal, fantastic tangents, grimly violent and nightmarish imagery, pop cultural references — while frequently and effortlessly switching perspective, moods and points of view within the same song. Future Magnetic, the prolific Bronx-based emcee’s forthcoming effort is slated for a September 16, 2016 release through Mello Music Group and the album features Kool Keith collaborating with Ras Kass, Atmosphere’s Slug, MF Doom and Dirt Nasty.

Now if you had been frequenting this site last month, you may recall that I wrote about “World Wide Lamper,” a single consisted of a menacingly sparse and hypnotic production featuring winkling synths and subtle yet propulsive drum programming paired with Kool Keith, B.A.R.S. Murre and Dirt Nasty trading braggadocio-filled bars full of insane punchlines that make references to pop culture, the profane, the grisly violent and the surreal. “Super Hero,” the album’s latest single has the renowned and prolific emcee spitting incredibly visual  bars full of his signature pop cultural and comic book references over a Madlib production consisting of wobbling and undulating synths, stuttering drum programming and looped chimes around the song’s infectious hook. Much like “World Wide Lamper,” Future Magnetic‘s latest single should serve as a reminder to the listener that Kool Keith is arguably one of the most mischievously inventive and challenging artists in hip-hop — and that sadly you won’t hear this kind of gloriously weird music on your multinational, conglomerate hip-hop radio station.

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Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Kool Keith is known as a co-founding member of renowned hip-hop act Ultramagnetic MCs, and an even lengthier and uncompromisingly weird solo career in which he has taken up a number of aliases and personas and collaborated with countless emcees while seeming to continually perfect and expand upon an inimitable style full of surreal and fantastic tangents, grimly violent and nightmarish imagery, and a rare ability to effortlessly switch perspective, moods, point of views  — sometimes within the same song.  Future Magnetic, the prolific Bronx-based emcee’s forthcoming effort is slated for a September 16, 2016 release through Mello Music Group and has the renowned and uncompromising strange emcee and producer collaborating with the likes of Ras Kass, Atmosphere‘s Slug, MF Doom and Dirt Nasty.

“World Wide Lamper”Future Magnetic‘s latest single is a collaboration that consists of the incredibly dexterous Kool Keith trading bars full of braggadocio, couplets that with insane punchlines that touch upon pop culture, the profane, the grisly violent, and the surreal with B.A.R.S. Murre and Dirt Nasty over a menacingly sparse and hypnotic production consisting of twinkling synths and subtle yet propulsive drum programming. Listening to this track should remind all listeners of several things — that Kool Keith is one of the most inventive and challenging emcees around; and that everything receiving airplay on your local multinational conglomerate hip-hop station is complete bullshit.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Mello Music Re-Releases Another Single from a Rare Early 200os Collaborative Effort Featuring Ice-T, Kool Keith and Others

. The third and latest single “More Freaks” features a collective of emcees rhyming about pimping, hustling, being a bigger badass than anyone else, complete with ridiculous pop culture references, surreal imagery and punch lines that are both hilarious and morally bankrupt over a sample that features a looped horn sample and enormous, old school-leaning boom bap drum programming reminiscent of a sleazier version of Mary J. Blige’s “Real Lov

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

 

As the story goes, back in 2000 Ice-T, Pimp Rex, Kool Keith, Marc Live and Black Silver teamed up for a project that they dubbed Analog Brothers, and they recorded an extremely rare album together Pimp to Eat; in fact, the album is so rare to me at least, that I didn’t know it existed — and I bet that you didn’t know it did either. According to Ice-T, the original masters of Pimp To Eat were delayed when Kool Keith’s vocals were stolen during the melee that followed the Indiana Pacers vs. Los Angeles Lakers NBA Finals game on June 19, 2000. Of course, no one actually knows if that’s some insanely true and legendary story or if it’s something someone just made up.

In any case, Mello Music Group will be re-releasing Pimp to Eat on June 10, and the re-release’s first single “We Sleep Days” feat. Jacky Jasper possesses a acid-tinged and futuristic production that paris shimmering and oscillating synths and stuttering boom-bap beats with some of the most talented emcees out there trading fiery bars about pimping, hustling and drug dealing. Sonically, the song sounds as though it evokes a hip-hop alternate universe in which Outkast and Too Short managed to collaborate together.

 

 

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Mega Ran’s Latest Single “RNDM Is Out Now” Channels HIp-Hop’s Golden Age

Now, if you’ve been frequenting JOVM over the past couple of months you may be familiar with the Philadelphia-born, Phoenix-based emcee, chip tune DJ and producer Mega Ran (also known as Raheem Jarbo), who up […]

Uncategorized by William Ruben Helms

Over the last ten or fifteen years or so, there’s been a trend within underground hip-hop to get increasingly psychedelic and outright weird – think of MF Doom, Kool Keith, Shabazz Palaces and others. The […]

Uncategorized by William Ruben Helms

The Brooklyn-based act Gangstagrass deftly mixes old fashioned bluegrass with hip hop – and it works. in some way, it’ll be reminiscent of Everlast’s incredible Whitey Ford Sings the Blues, Bubba Sparxxx and others. Although, the band […]