KOOL KEITH
Sat, Apr 10
The Starlite Room (10030-102 St.)

Because "Krazy" Keith probably wasn’t cool enough to impress the ladies, Keith Thornton came up with the moniker Kool Keith instead. Old-skoolers know the rapper –who appears possessed with a voice and mind not of this earth–as part of the groundbreaking Ultramagnetic MC’s, while today’s hipsters still praise his Dr. Octagon and Dr. Dooom projects. Keith’s still going strong–a collection of rare and unreleased tracks called White Label Mix Series Vol.1 is out now–and he’s at the Starlite Room on Saturday night.

When you get Kool Keith on the phone, as SEE did, don’t talk–just listen. As with most MCs, it’s best when you just throw them up and let them hit ’em out.

The first album that I’d heard you throw down on was the Dr. Octagon album and then got turned on to the older Ultramagnetic MC’s stuff. You’ve always had your own madness about you. What do you think of the imitators?

I laugh at the stuff today. So many rappers now are "indoor." I grew up in an era that was "outdoor": Tribe Called Quest and De La Soul. EPMD and Public Enemy. And we‘d hang out. Groups don’t do that no more. The gangstas are too scared cause they don’t want to get shot. And, no offense, but now they got nice kids in the suburbs on their computer all day who are like, "Look at me, mom. I found a Jonny Quest sample!" White kids who don’t know what funk is, going with Scooby-Doo loops and a less intimidating sound. Rappin’ about video games and old cartoons. The hard essence of the funk seems to get left out.

Dr. Octagon was a real watershed for hip-hop. It seemed like a million miles away at the time. How did that come together?

As far as Dr. Octagon is concerned, I collaborated with Dan the Automator on some tracks and made him a star. Did the lyrics and some of the basslines. But, I don’t think it was the top project I did. It was just one of the projects I did. Just like Dr. Dooom, just like Black Elvis.

Major labels never recognized what we did with the futuristic sounds. They would always say that it was the Neptunes or Timbaland or something. I was the first, but people don’t say anything about it. Many of these groups think they’re the first to do the new sounds.

Did you like sci-fi as a kid?

I liked Star Trek and stuff. But sometimes I get misinterpreted as some George Jetson kid. Yet there are a lot of different sides. Different times have just attracted me to different things. Dr. Octagon was just a paid for hire thing. I went to Walgreen’s, got some Yoo-Hoo’s, sodas, and donuts, and we did it in a weekend. Tony Isabella and Dan the Automator talked to Dreamworks about the record deal. So I was just for hire. Then they started getting me a bad rep because I didn’t want to tour Lollapalooza and shit because I was work for hire. Then everyone flipped out like it was something that we worked on for five years or something. Just a weekend donut and Yoo-Hoo project, with a couple of bagels thrown in. And the world flipped out.

Did you then use "Black Elvis" to try and empower yourself in response?

I did. But I was setting myself up for other things. People didn’t want to face the real me, so I gave them Black Elvis.

And then Ruffhouse records and Sony signed you?

When I did Black Elvis, I just tried to be the black Elvis Presley. Then Sony, they just wanted me to act just like all the other acts out there and wear the same clothes or just wear crazy shit in addition to Black Elvis. I would probably have committed suicide if I wore some of the outfits that the label they wanted me to wear. In turn, they pulled back on a lot of things because I pissed them off.

Did you like leaving Sony?

I did, because I was working on Dr. Dooom. So I didn’t care. They weren’t really excited about me. They just got excited because other people got excited about me. And then they wanted to do their own thing with me. Other labels have been smarter, though, and have marketed me straight up.

Is there anybody new in hip-hop now that you’d like to work with?

I’d rather work with James Brown or Bootsy or Loleatta Holloway or something. I’m not interested in working with anybody that sounds like me from ’88.

You mention sex, sexuality and porn in your lyrics. How much porn is too much porn?

Porn to me is natural. I collect movies all the time. It’s like collecting records. Some guys buy $20,000 in jazz records in a week. Travel everywhere and carry a Fisher-Price turntable around. I collect porn. I think there’s nothing wrong with that. Now it’s mainstream.

Some women think that porn makes guys lazy and hinders the ability to form serious relationships. What do you think of that?

I watch porn because it’s straight to the point. Some women don’t like it because they don’t understand it. Porn would make them understand sex. A lot of girls just don’t go out and buy lingerie to make themselves feel good anymore. Everything’s just robotically regular.