Dr. Octagonecologyst is the debut solo studio album by American rapper and Ultramagnetic MCs member Kool Keith, released under the alias Dr. Octagon. Originally titled Dr. Octagon, it was released on May 7, 1996, on Bulk Recordings in the United States and Mo' Wax in the United Kingdom. The album was later reissued with a different track listing by DreamWorks Records in 1997 under the title Dr. Octagonecologyst. The album was produced by Dan "The Automator" Nakamura and featured the work of turntablist DJ Qbert. KutMasta Kurt provided additional production work. The artwork for Dr. Octagonecologyst was drawn by Brian "Pushead" Schroeder. Dr. Octagonecologyst introduces the character of Dr. Octagon, a homicidal, extraterrestrial, time-traveling gynecologist and surgeon. The album's distinctive sound fuses genres such as psychedelic music, trip hop and electronic music. Thornton's lyrics are often abstract, absurd, and avant-garde, using surrealism, non-sequiturs, hallucinatory psychedelia, and horror and science-fiction imagery, as well as sexual humor, absurdist/surrealistic humor, and juvenile humor. The unique sound and lyrics of Dr. Octagonecologyst inspired a wave of alternative music by underground hip hop artists such as Company Flow, Black Star and Jurassic 5.Kool Keith's lyrics and Nakamura's production were highly praised, as was DJ Qbert's innovative scratching. Dr. Octagonecologyst has since been ranked as one of the best hip hop albums of the 1990s. The character of Dr. Octagon has also appeared in Kool Keith projects like First Come, First Served (1999) and Dr. Dooom 2 (2008), both of which contain tracks in which Octagon is murdered by Dr. Dooom, The Return of Dr. Octagon, Moosebumps: An Exploration Into Modern Day Horripilation and Space Goretex. Kool Keith later stated that the album sold around 200,000 copies without any major promotion or marketing budget.
WikipediaThis contains some of the most remarkable hip hop I've ever heard. It's uneven for sure, and it's yet another rap album that seems to have a duration of two weeks, but these quibbles pale when held up against the sheer weirdness herein. Full of eccentric sci-fi and kooky non sequiturs, I found myself straining to hear what the next oddball lyric would be. Finally, 'Earth People' is a hell of a bop, that synth is fucking sick!
I actually bought this album around the time it came out and I 100% guarantee it was mostly due to that Pushead art work. Iâm trying to think now of where I would have even heard a song off of this thing at the time. They werenât playing it on the radio and there was no internet. I mustâve read about it in Alternative Press or some shit. Who knows. But, man, my instincts were right! This is still a ton of fun and super listenable. Now excuse me, I have to go call 1-800-PEEPEE5-1-DOODOO.
Funny and it's got that stream of consciousness lyric flow, what's going on with the sampling is very interesting. I might have an upper limit on butt jokes.
Album literally opens by playing audio from a porn scene with a low-effort beat playing over it. Don't know how this is on the list. "Earth People, New York to California, Earth People, I was born on Jupiter" is a line that gets repeated over and over in a song, like it's just not good. I'll give it a point for the fact that he's trying to rap about science, so at least it's something a bit different, but still really juvenile stuff. I'm Destructive was actually pretty good.
Kool Keith mid / post mental breakdown. This is height of 90s cool for me: Mo Wax, Slam City / Rough Trade, tiny wheels / Tom Penny 411VM
Deltron 3030 is the better Automator project, but this was a fun listen.
A hip-hop acid trip, well I did have a smile on my face for the whole album so there is that. I liked the weird themes and off the wall humour and lyrics, I enjoyed the old school beats and scratching. Most of the album is going on a playlist to listen to again. Favourite tracks 3000, No Awareness, Technical difficulties.
Cool cover. The creepy Intro beat caught my attention, then the whole "F*ck my p*ssy, Doctor" part started and ruined it. His speaking voice sounds like Tracy Jordan. Cool background beats, but the lyrics and theme make it feel like a spoof from 30Rock.
Musically interesting in parts but the gimmicky rap is just as dull and soulless as virtually every other rap album.
I truly donât know how to feel about this record. It is transgressive in a way that seems to veer into almost rape like fantasy that left a bad taste in my mouth. Yet there is something undeniable about the talent on this album. The alien like persona allows the artist to go places he normally wouldnât be able to and thereâs something to be said for that level of creativity.
The beats are decent and the concept is amusing, but the flow is too sleepy and the lyrics seem shocking and gross just for the hell of it (count the number of times words like vomit, rectum and rape show up). Appealing to a very niche audience.
The beats were ok but the central conceit was basically sexual harassment. How many times do you need to say rectum, anal, buttcrack, etc. in a single album? 3/10
I have no idea what this is doing here. Some beats are all right but I don't think it's particularly interesting or groundbreaking. Very low effort, just a lame excuse to use curse words.
It's certainly of a time. My overriding view is it's no Gran Central records production.
Welcome to the first album I did not finish. I liked some of the music at first, but the lyrics and content quickly sent this listening experience in to the trash heap. No thanks.
une pochette horrible, un thĂšme Ă©coeurant, un album interminable : tout y est, bravo docteurâ€ïž
I tend to normally vibe with this weird type of rap. But man, I won't lie it feels like there is supposed to be a certain shock factor to it, But it's just corny as fuck. The corny ass beats with some decent flows honestly. The artwork was real cool. However, I think I hated this one.
Itâs fair to say that these doctorâs orders werenât meant for me. Neither is the humor - if you can actually call it that. The production is solid and thereâs some interesting scratching. Not that impressed by most of the rap in itself⊠And the record itself is just way, way too long! This wouldâve gotten an extra star if not for the non-stop jokes and skits.
When I first heard this record a while ago, I thought that maybe there was something I was missing. Now I am sure. I am not missing anything, it's too long and just not that good.
âa homicidal, extraterrestrial, time-traveling gynaecologist and surgeonâ you say? That is the epitome of immature 90s bullshit right there. This is crap, donât let anyone try to convince you otherwise. Absolute crap. This is the lowest 1 star of all the 1 stars I've rated so far. Toxic garbage that should be burned from our collective pop culture memory.
I did not like this at all. I almost turned it off midway through. To be fair, I don't really enjoy this style of music in general, so it was always going to be an uphill battle to enjoy this.
Just couldnât tried but couldnât. I really canât understand why this tripe is in the top 1001 albums nevermind the top 100001
That first minute really set the tone for the rest. This is really not good - it's a hip hop concept album, based on the concept of a pervy space doctor, and it's just as good as that description makes it sound. The lyrics are either crude, crap, or both - his delivery is pretty good, but there's very little interesting being said. I quite like the idea of a trippy hip hop album like this (and maybe it inspired better ones), but the execution of this is just not great. Some of the sampling, the flow, and the music behind almost lifts this to a 2, but the lyrics just destroy it for me. 1/5.
If you asked me to listen to this 1001 more times or die... well, I've had a good life, no regrets. Can someone please feed the fish?
Flow's out of control, writing's weird as fuck but funny and pretty smart at times - did someone say non sequitur? Production is big trip hop/avalanches sound. Compellingly off putting, upsetting and unsettling. Can't stop listening. Have I been possessed? What a disturbingly intriguing experience. Don't mind me I'm diving in for a second listen, if I'm not back in 1hr 5min send a search party
My favorite kind of hip hop is weird, off-center hip hop that sounds great which is the perfect way to describe this. Kool Keith, Dan the Automator and DJ Qbert really hit my sweet spot. I'm giving it 5 stars notwithstanding the very creepy "A Visit To The Gynecologist"
Damn, this was an amazing album! First thing that I must talk about is the production, since its probably the best part about it. Shit like the violin and the small peddling beats on "Blue Flower" is just amazing to hear. The vinyl scratches are also a great touch, and I'm noticing that most rap albums from the 90s had them. The theme of this album is also cool, since you can hear Dr. Octagon talks about operating people in the tracks and skits. Shit like him saying that they should grab the wires under the water sounds like something a crazy scientist would say, and "halfalligatorsharkhalfman" sounds like the name of a cheesy B-Movie. The cover art of this album is also great. It looks like something that you'd see from a Marvel comic in the 90s and the fact that he is holding a skull, clipper (I forgot the name) and microphone is a great touch. It makes you really get what the entire album is about. Dr. Octagon does also have an amazing design. With the sunglasses, gloves and face mask on, you can't really tell that he is a skeleton. The black doctor outfit is also amazing, since it shows that he isnât a regular doctor. Favourite track would have to be "Blue Flower". Not only does it have the best production on the entire album, but it's also just fun to listen to. Worst track would have to be "Intro". I just hate when rappers feel the need to put a sound clip of them having sex or something, but thankfully it's really short. 10/10
Third is something I'm glad to now know. Delightfully weird af and commentary
this is a fucking crazy album. Iâd heard of it before in passing on Reddit or something and probably listened to one or two songs and wrote it off as too weird, but maybe I was just too lazy to give it a real chance. This sounds like nothing else I think. Even today. I feel like we wouldnât have alternative hip hop like we have it today a la DOOM and Gravediggaz and possibly even the entire horror rap thing that I donât know much about if this didnât come out when it did. Dan the Automator went totally original for all of these beats. Can really hear the Sun Ra Parliament Funkadelic influence in how weird it sounds I vaguely remember Blue Flowers being in a videogame. Thatâs probably my favorite on here. His flow is super different.He almost sounds like Gil Scott Heron with the borderline spoken word thing going on. Iâm thankful this one got recommended to me.
This is cool stuff - I had no familiarity with it, but it is clearly a foundation for future alt rap that I started to enjoy in college. I've been super generous with 5s recently, but DGAF
What a wild ride. 90s rap with sensibilities of West Coast, a dash of Portishead, and more synth than I've ever heard on a radio album.
I loved this album. Great beats, great lines, great entertainment. This goes into regular rotation for sure.
Not necessarily my favorite thing but I really respect it and am glad it exists
4.5/5 Really liked the âold schoolâ rap Just misses a little to make me listen to it again and have favorite songs
Seeing this pop up gave me moosebumps. A little overlong, I tend to skip a couple of the repetitive songs. But a true classic nonetheless.
I love a good dirty story now and again. Would not listen to in the car with kids, but was right for the time
It was ok. I didnât listen to it as carefully as it probably deserved.
Well I have to add myself to the list of white people pissing Kool Keith off by loving this album... I knew the big cuts from this album, but essentially you're getting DOOM before DOOM, which I'm happy with. Earth People, Bear Witness, Blue Flowers are all great. The crazy lyricism is what I miss most from hip hop today...
Porny, medically obsessed, phat beats,pretty wild stuff. Really enjoyed it.
Wonderfully mental with brilliant production and great rapping and bonkers lyrics
Before listening to this album I hadn't heard of Dr. Octagon before, but this has made me interested in listening to more of Kool Keith's personas. I enjoyed the overall theme of the album, although I can't pick a stand-out song.
This album is such a wild ride, as most Kool Keith albums are. The lyrics are absurdist and sometimes just straight-up silly, but the production is killer. 4/5 stars
Another hip hop gem. Fun, bizarre, ingenious and unique. Is it hip hop? Is it trip hop? Whatever it is, it is eminently listenable. 4 đ
Juvenile lyrics and concept stays a little too long, but otherwise subject matter is a fun and unique divergence from typical gangsta or political topics. Tracks are solid and skits are a lot of fun. Great to have another underground artist doing something new and interesting, and apparently he was influential to the likes of Dr Doom.
Holy Schneikies, this is a FANTASTIC album. I was drawn in and mesmerized the whole way through. Again, love this whole 1001 Albums thing -- must remember to hug my dear friend who introduced it to me (good excuse to finally see him after far too long!) -- because here it goes again, sharing with me an artist and an album I otherwise would almost certainly never had heard. I'm coming back to this album. I lost myself so much in the music I didn't always pay attention to the lyrics, and I'd like to focus on those.
Raunchy but Dan the Automator makes for a unique and futuristic sound that gives "Blue Flowers" and "Earth People" classic status. Also what a crazy and creative idea for a concept album. A departure from Ultramagnetic MC's but you could draw some lines for Kool Keith between those albums and this one.
Such a great album. Iâve been an Octo fan for many years. Pro tip: read the lyrics while listening.
Heard "Blue Flowers" on a CMJ CD sampler and was captivated at 15. Bought the album on CD and it was a cult hit amongst me and my friends in high school. I put these songs on more than a few mix tapes. It was a perfect blend of elements for me at that time in my life. The absurd and often immature sense of humor had a lot to do with it, but really, the main things that appealed to me were Kool Keith's sheer willingness to embrace his eccentricity, and Dan The Automator's gorgeous genre bending beats. Both of them dared to defy the mainstream sound of the time, both sonically and lyrically. Their bravery in willing to be themselves paid off, and inspired more to follow, not the least of which was MF Doom.
Another unknown to me. Another diamond discovery. I defo wanna revisit this one. Top Hip Hopping!
Pee pee and doo doo are funny, beats are great, flow is smooth. Don't... *love* the porn samplings but I get it. Happy to have discovered it!
"Dr. Octagonecologyst" is the debut studio album by rapper and Ultramagnetic MCs' Kool Keith, actually Keith Matthew Thornton and alias Dr. Octagon. Other key members were producer Dan "The Automator" Nakamura and turntablist DJ Qbert (additionally produced by KutMasta Kurt). I will say the production and scratching are absolutely fantastic. This had to be one of the weirdest albums I've listened to and, of course, I liked it quite a bit. The album introduces the character Dr. Octagon who is a homicidal, extraterrestrial, time-traveling gynecologist and surgeon. Yeah. The songs pretty much piece together his story with weird and eerie music, lyrics, noises and sampling. The lyrics are very unique being absurd, funny, non-related to each other, something rapped and other sometimes spoken. The music is considered as fusing pyschedelic, trip-hop and electronic. I actually think it's some of the best combination of rap and electronic music I've heard. The album begins with "Intro" with its creepy music and has the doctor talking with a nurse he entually has sex with. Spoken word and we're off to a good start which then transitions into the second single "3000." More of a straight-forward hip-hop rap song and, yeah, we're in the year "3000." Remember the time travel. The fourth overall song and first single is "Earth People" with its heavy organ intronand transitions into a funky beat. One of the best combos of rap and electronic music as the later half of the song sounds like Kraftwerk. Tremendous scratching. And yes, he's from Jupiter Earth People. Songs continue to fill in his story and we get to "Wild and Crazy," maybe my favorite song on the album. Just a great groove. Deeper beats and bass. Great scratching and eerie production. The album ends with "1977" and we're back in the Disco era with more straight-forward rappin', a pyschedelic feel and mentions Grandmaster Flash. This album was quite the ride. I don't know about the overall story but the music and production were great. Recommended for anyone willing to sit enjoy the beats and music and maybe laugh a bit.
really, really cool Blue flowers may have just become one of my favourite hip hop tracks this album has further reinforced that old school hip hop is best hip hop B] Unexpectedly good, I went into this knowing nothing about the album or the artist. Perhaps in some way that made the listening experience better. Will definitely be revisiting this, it had humour, witty/dark/clever lyrics, good rapping and awesome album art.
Production was interesting, perhaps the vocals would have caught me 25 years ago, but it did nothing today. Randomness.
If you want an insane, expansive, accessible introduction to a certain kind of underground, look no further. While it's gonzo and not always in good ways, Octagonecologyst has aged surprisingly well. The strings sustain the production, a fact I failed to notice during my first listen. The plot, such as it is, is choppy, but Mr. Octagon is nothing if not consistent with his themes. Hard light.
Mad rhymes, crazy beats, awesome scratching, Kool Keith makes records like nobody else sustaining this mad character for an entire album. The lyrics are funny and caustic and stunningly inventive - Keith can likely rap about any dang thing. Unusually for a rap record, the skits are actually funny (and fit the album concept). The is a fun, mad journey.
Interesting. Some plunderphonics, trippy slow backtracks. Rap is some random words, some silliness (doodoo), sexual stuff.
Dr. Octagon, get out of my vagina, you beast! You horrible little perv, I told you not to touch me there. You sex pest. I'm nine years old. It's all coming flooding back to me now. The horror.
so this album has shown me that i don't necessarily hate all skits. i hate skits that are about the size of the rappers schlong, how good they are at making love to a beautiful woman, hating on someone else or generally any other aggressive caterwauling. the skits in this are absurd and borderline surreal which is like a magnet to my vic and bob addled brain. overall its good hip hop and his lilt is really listenable.
Solid early horrorcore rap vIbes, sounds like one of the two strains of rap that would go on to inform artists like G-Mo Skee (the other being the Psychopathic Records crew helped by ICP,) and inherently listenable with numerous flows and a dumb, dark sense of humour. A few tracks drug it down from a 5 to a 4 star album, cuz it got a little long and they were the subpar cuts, bit pretty near a perfect rating. Like a 4.25 or so.
Super fun hip-hop album that feels like a precursor to MF Doom with the conceptual aspect. You probably couldn't get away with a lot of these lyrics nowadays. Or is hip-hop immune from woke mobs? Either way, thoroughly enjoyable listen and I will likely go back to it