Kool Keith’s “Livin’ Astro” is a fluid combination of his Black Elvis/Lost In Space album concepts. Black Elvis was one of his aliases and he rapped about living the life of a rock star while seeing flying saucers. It was Keith’s fourth solo album after leaving the Ultramagnetic Mcs and he did most of the production. He took on four personas for the video including Black Elvis, Orange Man,  Light Blue Cop and The Kid In The Commercial. Keith’s abstract ideas and blazing flow already established him as one of the most original rappers when he donned his Dr. Octagon persona a few years earlier but Black Elvis was more friendly to the mainstream. Roger Troutman, Sadat X, Black Silver, Motion Man and Kid Capri made guest appearances on Black Elvis/Lost In Space. The album got approval from the critics and did better commercially than his other projects but Keith was not happy with the promotional efforts of the Ruffhouse label. “Livin’ Astro” is one of Kool Keith’s most recognized songs and Black Elvis/Lost In Space was released in 1999 but still sounds fresh in the 2020s.  He released his “Alvin Kelly” single in 2022. 

Kool Keith unleashes his new single “Zero Fux” featuring B-Real produced by Psycho Les of The Beatnuts. The song comes at the same time that Keith announces his next album, simply titled KEITH. Les exclusively produced the project that has appearances from Jeru The Damaja and Paul Wall. KEITH comes out July 12th. 

Kool Keith announced a few weeks ago that he was reviving his Dr. Octagon persona after putting it to rest 22 years ago. Moosebumps: an exploration into modern day horroripilation follows the 1996 critically acclaimed Dr. Octagonecologys. Producer Dan The Automator and DJ Qbert crafted the sounds for the first album and they have returned for the 2018 release. 

“Area 54″  is an aural peek into Moosebumps and it delivers the same kind of left field funkiness as the first album. Dan The Automator explains, 

“Dr. Octagon is not a contemporary thing or a retro thing, it’s always looked to the future.“ 

The album will be released April 6th digitally and on CD and double LP. All physical versions of the album include an exclusive 12th track “Aviator Hype.” The official artist store will be carrying a special limited edition version of the double LP, with only 1,000 copies printed worldwide on blood splattered vinyl and alternate gatefold album art.

[youtube id=”lJGXSybL1NY”] Kool Keith’s “Super Hero” featuring MF Doom has a visual full of fast-moving personal kaleidoscopes. Director Kris Merc states “I wanted it to visually speak to the legacy of the artists, and Afrofuturism mixed with comic book concepts. I’m a fan of the unseen, and I was obsessed with the idea of using Doom’s mask and the iconography as a centralized point – as if time and space converged around these strange, sometimes magical tableaus and we were witnessing an ascension.” Kool Keith’s Feature Magnetic is out now.