KOOL KEITH
BRIEFING LOG #59113
Stardate 5.16.2354: Your mission as an Imperial space-
ninja is to aid in the elimination of the rebel Hip-hop
faction that threatens to topple the totalitarian rule of
the Empire. Your target is the faction's grand elder,
code name: Kool Keith AKA Dr Octagon AKA Poppa
Large AKA The Black Elvis AKA Dr Doom. His rise to
power began in the 1980s when he operated with a
group of like-minded musical meddlers known as the
Ultramagnetic MCs. They gained some fame with their
albums Critical Beatdown, Funk Your Head Up, and The
Four Horsemen. But then Kool Keith splintered off. His
first major coup as a solo rebel elder was with the
manifesto Dr Octagonacologyst. But it was with
his next projects, Lost in Space/Black Elvis
and Dr Doom, First Come First Served, that
his political power began to gain danger-
ous momentum. The following data is
excerpted from an interrogation that
took place at the time of those albums'
releases in 1999. Read it carefully and
look for any hints of weaknesses that
you might exploit on your assassination
mission. Good luck and be careful of
the remote-controlled alligators that
guard his underground lair.
Tell me about your new album.
I'm very advanced. This is one of the most
advanced albums I've worked on.
In what way advanced?
Futuristic sound. It's not like anybody else's
album where they're just using the standard
jazz loops or old '70s records.
What about lyrically?
Yeah. From Sex Styles I came back into a
variety of
of different cadences. I just did differ-
ent things and experimented more, with a lot
of different tempos that I wouldn't normally
rhyme with. I've matured over time, and I felt
I had to do some songs that fit me. I get a lot
of feedback from the streets, and most fans
from back in the day don't even buy records.
They want me to bring back the Critical
Beatdown stuff, and that shit is old. I grew up;
my voice changed. People think you're
still that person from back then. I
can't just give people another
Ultramagnetic album. It's
impossible. People don't
know how to leave any-
thing alone.
Back
then the space
vibe was pretty hot.
Do you feel like
that's coming back,
with the new Star
Wars and The X-Files,
stuff like that?
What do you listen to now?
A lot of drum 'n' bass.
Are you trying to move away from listen-
ing to hip-hop altogether?
I don't really listen to hip-hop. It's not
advanced anymore-it's the same shit con-
stantly. The beats are stagnant. I listen to E-40
Deals &
because it's something different, and Canibus
says some clever stuff. But everybody is on
the same wavelength now.
but
Do you see that as an advantage for you?
t then it's a disadvantage because the
world is so slow to pick up on advanced things.
A lot of the cable stations and the radio are
that's
the stuff and
the
saying "This
stuff,"
in America.
and it's fooling people out
ut there in
Television persuades everyone. A middle
American white kid doesn't know any better.
know where something originated
They don't know
or who started what. It makes me different.
You've always had a weird relationship
with the music industry. It looks like
you're always changing up; every time
you read an interview they say that Kool
Keith is so hard to get a hold of.
Because I don't hang out with the average
Joe Neckbone in the business. I'm not at the
release parties or fashion shows. You don't see
me hugging everyone and taking pictures with
this guy and that guy. I won't be there. The
average rapper doesn't see me but somehow
still gets information. They call LA and ask,
We were so ahead of
"What is he doing? What shirt is he wearing?
our time
time back then; people What's his image like this year?" People steal
your decor.
weren't ready for it. Now
I can't e
't even walk New York City or
that we're moving into the California streets most of the time, for image
year 2000, it's time. What else purposes; there are so many uncreative spies
can you rap about? People out
People out there. Rude sharks in the industry.
either rap about the gangsta stuff
or the champagne, and those
subjects have been going on
for the last five or six
years. It's getting tired.
It seems that you would be happier not
even in the industry.
Yes. I make music, and that's it. I couldn't
care less about the after-party.
Are you afraid of the Y2K computer
meltdown?
You know what I think about computers?
How wil
How can man make a machine that's smarter
than he is? People tell me all the time I need to
get on
on the Internet and use my charge
accounts and my Versateller and computerize
my money. I see people getting so carried
away, so computered out. It gets ridiculous.
There's big-ass line in the store, and some
guy's up ahead of you getting Bazooka gum
with his credit card. Come on, man, pull out a
put out a
fucking dollar. I s
I spend cash on a pair of pants.
a
some
I don't want to be fooling around with a damn
card, waiting an hour for it to be securitized
and cleared. People sit down all day looking at
and cleared.
a computer with little-ass words on the screen,
s on the scree
having fun writing little notes to each other.
Everybody wants to download their albums
off the Web site. It takes the fun out of
records. Go to stores and look at CDs and the
covers. Life would be boring if everyone sat at
a computer every day. -True 54
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