I often like to test the interest in new projects by old rappers in this section. This week, we have a little “old meets new” situation as Kool Keith and producer L’Orange have come together to make an album called “Time? Astonishing!”. It features J-Live, Mr. Lif, Open Mike Eagle, and a few others.
There was a time when Kool Keith was the most prolific rapper not named Lil B I had ever seen. in the late 90’s , he was pumping out albums bi-yearly. Not all of them were great but he never made an all out dud. Since that era of crazy productivity, he’s become more human. He still put out music but it’s nowhere near the rate he used to. I won’t lie, I kinda stopped checking for Keith in the last 5 years. Not cause I think he fell off , more cause I just haven’t been paying attention. Every now and then, a new song would pop up, I’d peep it and think “Yup, he’s still doing it…” then I’d forget about. I think part of that dismissiveness had to do with his production choices. Keith has always been all over the map, with the types of beats he uses. From the heavy breaks and samples of “Dr.Octagon” to the more simplified synth based sounds of “Matthew”. So, when he drops something new, you don’t really know what to expect. Well, in the case of “Time? Astonishing!” , he teams up with producer L’Orange who is a guy that will make the Dr. Octagon fans very happy. He’s a sample based guy (Hooray!) whose sound lands somewhere between Madlib and The Automator.
If you’re a Kool Keith fan, this is possibly the album you’ve been waiting years for. If not, you’re probably not reading this part anyway. But , regardless, check it out
Now, tell me what you think. You can pick more than one answer, btw.
I saw him live last week. It was… Well you know… I still like some of the old albums though
What does a rapper do when they’ve already said everything and rapped every rap..?
This…
I like Kool Keith, but I think I’m more geeked to hear J-Live.
I feel like he’s become too serious. Maybe he started taking his meds or something. He’s not terrible but definitely past his prime. The beats and the featured emcees are really what stand out. I really like the track with O.M.E. and Keith wasn’t on it.
I’m into this. L’Orange is my shit and it makes some sense that he would pair with an old school rapper. L’Orange uses so much old timey samples and he pull vocals samples from what seems like old radio and tv shows. It feels like a good match, new age producer with old school samples and an old school rapper with modern lyrics.