Apparently this album is some treacherous betrayal (not the first, mind you) of an aborted three-year-old project featuring legendary underground New York rapper Kool Keith, a onetime Bellevue psych-hospital patient and “pornocore” pioneer. Rumor has it that a dastardly country label gained control of Keith’s lyrics and backtracked them with a mysterious production team dubbed One Watt Sun. Kool Keith’s signature was allegedly forged, the country label created a front company to put out the disc, and the fanatics are definitely pissed off. This sort of thing happens, though, when you create nine fucking alter egos under a bajillion different labels with all manner of collaborations. Maybe it’s all a ploy to drum up controversy. Who knows? Regardless, The Return of Dr. Octagon entertains, leading with “Our Operators Are Masturbating” and closing with Princess Superstar commanding her jihadi boyfriend to eat her out, while funky breaks and bright digital flourishes dazzle in between.
Kool Keith plays the Bowery Ballroom September 9 and 10.