Dr. Octagonecologyst

A couple of decent tracks on here but mostly nothing to write home about. Felt like it went on for an eternity.

Top Track - I’m Destructive

So I have heard Kool Keith, albeit sampled for the refrain of The Prodigy's "Smack My Bitch Up". He started as a founding member of the Bronx-based hip-hop group Ultramagnetic MC's before pivoting to a solo career. While Keith has released albums under his own name, he often performs under several aliases with distinct stage personalities. One of his well-known personas is Dr. Octagon, an extraterrestrial, time-traveling, unhinged surgeon and gynecologist. That character is introduced on Kool Keith's solo debut, Dr. Octagonecologyst.

Let me make this clear: this is an underground hip-hop sci-fi horror comedy concept album, filled to the brim with Keith's abstract, surrealist lyricism, largely presented through the lens of Dr. Octagon. It is very niche; I will readily admit that. But as someone who has grown to appreciate underground hip-hop through the likes of Mike Ladd, Aesop Rock, Deltron 3030, Jedi Mind Tricks, Mos Def & Talib Kweli, billy woods, Open Mike Eagle, and many others, I can adjust well to this record. I recognize that Kool Keith has a masterful flow, as he showed how crazed and incompetent Dr. Octagon is, slipping in some cool science-fiction elements and even shots taken toward the rise of G-funk. It certainly helped that Dan the Automator handled the production wonderfully, blending organic instrumentation and samples scratched around the mix by turntablist DJ Qbert. Tracks like "Earth People", "Real Raw", and "Blue Flowers" have such a twisted bounce to them amidst the eerie strings, whirring synths, and hard-hitting percussion. I didn't even mind the interlude skits on this record. They were layered and mixed well, adding to the album's humor by showing how irresponsible and reckless Dr. Octagon is toward his patients. Even the instrumental break with "Bear Witness" was such an intriguing deviation.

All that said, I didn't like everything on the album. I think I already got a good sense that Dr. Octagon was a pervert from the "A Visit to the Gynceologist" skit; I did not need the doubling down on that notion with "Girl Let Me Touch You". Also, I'm not sure what to make of the ending track "1977", because it seemed like Kool Keith dropped the Dr. Octagon narrative to insert himself into the early hip-hop canon alongside Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five and Afrika Bambaataa and the Zulu Nation. I'm sure it served as a neat little tribute to the artists that Keith was inspired by, but it was a weirdly abortive ending to the larger concept.

Still, I had a relatively good time with Dr. Octagonecologyst. Kool Keith continued to rap under the Dr. Octagon persona over multiple records, even after killing off the character with another of his aliases, Dr. Dooom. Dan the Automator saw further production success with acts like Primal Scream, Gorillaz, and Deltron 3030. Even DJ QBert saw more prominence with the release of his turntablism-based musical Wave Twisters. It's amazing how these guys rose to fame off this incredibly bizarre record.

So goofy but so fun

Eh.

ou pior que eh bão também

um climinha mais soturno, umas letra mais besta, sem se levar mto a sério, mas fazendo um trabalho mto pica. beat e flow impecáveis!!

4.25 had to get past the intro them it was all gravy.

I think if I’d heard it back in 1996, there’s a strong chance I would have loved it, but in 2026 I thought it was decent if overlong.

Funny concept, but it was a bit too dirty and too long. It might work on a song or two, but a whole album was too much for me.

more crude, less talented version of mf doom. 3.5

3.63

I understand it's legacy - and help create a sub-genre...but so so so much better 90's hip hop out there that this isn't. From Tribe to Jurassic 5 this aint it. Ramblings of a super horny 16 yr old boy into weird science fiction - idk, i'll pass.

It's decent music and a shake-things-up-enough listen, little weird sometimes, but nothing's really giving it the spice to stand out amongst everything else. Just sort of at a level of consistent but not particularly enthusiastic "good"

Still weird and wild, like it more now than I did back in the day

Well it’s not great musically, it makes light of assault by medical providers, and it’s freaking odd. I would give it one star but it definitely made me listen to see what he was going to say next. It takes stones to release something this bizarrely nasty. I fully understand the “why is this on the list?” reaction to some albums. In this one’s case I think the answer is you have to hear it to believe somebody made this- and other people apparently bought it!

This was pretty decent, but not as good as yesterday's Ghostface Killa. The beats were pretty good, I was less excited by the rapping. A middle-to-high three.

Fine. I liked “earth people” and “blue flowers,” but the song that actually made me sit up, my clear favorite, was “bear witness,” which barely has any lyrics. Maybe says something about something, that.

Reveal reaction: Oh HELL yes! I used to listen to the shit out of this album, but it's been a long time. This album was never meant for general consumption, so I'm sure the overall rating is going to be dogshit, but I cannot wait to revisit this and see how it stands the test of time!

It's still really good to me. A little corny at times, but still interesting and unique. I think it's a 3.5, but I'm going to give it 4 stars because I'd happily listen to it again and again.

I'm on-board with this! I really like the style of beats and rapping. It's quite funky in places, but it also veers off into weird asides, with sci-fi and spooky synths. I like the trip-hop beats and scratching. Some of it is really funny. The album as a whole is definitely quite unique, and one I'll revisit.

Favourite tracks: Blue Flowers, I'm destructive.

"Dr. Octagonecologyst introduces the character of Dr. Octagon, a homicidal, extraterrestrial, time-traveling gynecologist and surgeon" so you know we're getting low level porno skits and a rough theme thats held together by hopes and dreams.

In reality its shit level hip hop, even with Dan The Automator at the desk

I really appreciate the production and instrumentals on here, being a big fan of DJ Shadow, Unkle and MF Doom. But the lyrics and vocals don't do much for me, and I really could have done without the porn samples. It's a somewhat interesting concept, and I don't think it's meant to be taken too seriously. He's playing a character, like Doom and other rappers often do. However I think a lot of the jokes and bars are pretty immature and cringe inducing. It's also way too long. The title track, Bear Witness, Real Raw and Blue Flowers are pretty good though. It should be mentioned as well, I think there are more proctology references on here than gynaecology ones. Maybe Dr. Octagon is multi-disciplined?