Keith Thornton may be the quintessential musical schizophrenic. Over the course of his 20-year career, he has recorded under many surnames, each with their own well-developed personality, including Kool Keith, Dr. Octagon, Dr. Dooom and Black Elvis. Of these incarnations, Dr. Octagon garnered the most critical acclaim; his 1996 Dr. Octagonecologyst record gets a lot of credit for the revitalization of post-gangsta underground hip-hop. This unexpected (and seemingly unwanted) popularity resulted in Thornton killing off Dr. Octagon on a subsequent release, a sign that this MC likes his audiences small and his records under the radar. Hence, The Return of Dr. Octagon is a bit of a puzzler.
One gets the sense that Thornton is only half sold on the idea of resurrecting his most commercially successful incarnation. The album is a paltry 34 minutes long, and the only moments that truly fit the Dr. Octagon character—a time-traveling, intergalactic, impostor gynecologist—are four skits. For these reasons, it’s tough not to believe the conspiracy surrounding the album, namely that this is an unsanctioned label concoction that was never approved for release by Thornton.
But if you put all the drama aside and listen to the damn thing, you’re in for a deliciously phantasmagorical half-hour. After the perverted galactic hold music of the opening skit “Our Operators Are Masturbating,” Dr. Octagon gets oddly environmental with “Trees,” warning of the consequences of wrapping paper consumption over a Neptunes-meets-Depeche Mode beat, courtesy of production team One Watt Sun. “Al Green” is a spaced-out denunciation of modern hip-hop, anchored by the bizarre accusation, “All you motherfuckers want to be Al Green.” “Aliens” is the most adventurous of the bunch (which says a lot) with an apocalyptic landscape of slasher-flick synths, dissonant pianos and a horn section hitting strategically placed octaves. The track also contains one of the most skillfully executed tempo shifts in hip-hop history, revving its engines on an incredible, frenetic ska outro.
If this is actually a record company hack job of throwaway vocal tracks and not the “real” return of Dr. Octagon, as many of his fans seem to believe, it’s even more of a testament to his talents. The record may be unforgivably short, but it’s rife with the MC’s inimitable non-sequiturs and twisted sense of humor, and it spotlights some seriously adventurous production. Here’s hoping this is only the first of many happy returns.
Appeared in the July 27, 2006, issue of Artvoice.