MOG Editorial Review

Though Kool Keith showed shades of unconventional ideas as a member of the Ultramagnetic MC's, no one could have expected him to spawn something as weird and wonderful as his Dr. Octagon persona. Making his full-length debut under the moniker with this 1996 classic, the emcee latched onto science fiction and horror imagery in a way that still feels like a shock to the system today. Turning the gangster rap of the time into cartoon imagery, Kool Keith found a way to mock to the hip-hop norms of the time on tracks like "Real Raw" without ever actually stating it, which is certainly an achievement. Just as noteworthy as his bizarre rhymes, however, is the production from Dan the Automator and DJ Q-Bert, managing to create cinematic sounds on the same wavelength of B-movie bliss.