Hip-hop heads behind the Redwood Curtain will get a chance to sample both Kool Keith and Lyrics Born’s music this week compliments of Humboldt State’s CenterArts. Kool Keith, birth name Keith Matthew Thornton, will play Humboldt Brews on Tuesday, Feb. 24 at 10 p.m. Lyrics Born, Tom Shimura to his family, will perform at the Van Duzer Theatre on Friday, Feb. 27 at 9 p.m.
Kool Keith broke onto the scene in 1988 with the seminal rap group Ultramagnetic MCs. Their debut album, Critical Beatdown, is considered a hip-hop classic and featured his strange lyrical imagery on cuts like “Ego Trippin’” and “Traveling at the Speed of Thought.” Following unsuccessful subsequent releases by Ultramagnetic MCs and his rumored stint at Bellevue, Kool Keith released his first solo effort, Dr. Octagonecologyst, in 1996 under the new moniker Dr. Octagon. Produced by the prolific audio engineer Dan the Automator and featuring the turntable skills of San Francisco’s famed DJ Qbert, the album was critically acclaimed. Dr. Octagonecologyst was followed by nearly a dozen more solo albums, the latest of which is Tashan Dorrsett, scheduled to hit store racks the same day he performs in Arcata. Kool Keith has a proclivity for switching up his persona often, a ploy that works well with his off-the-wall lyrics and image. Following the disbandment of Ultramagnetic MCs, Keith has released albums as Dr. Octagon, Dr. Dooom (who killed Dr. Octagon on his 1999 album First Come, First Served), Mr. Nogatco and even donned a plastic, pompadour-like hair piece for his Black Elvis/Lost in Space album.
“Their rhymes are pathetic, they think they copacetic,
You’s a nerd that returns, at least, not poetic.
As the record just turn, you learn, plus burn,
By the flame of the lyrics which cooks the human brain.
Providing overheating knowledge, by means causing pain.
Make a migraine, hated yourself, start to melt,
While the Technics spin, the wax is on the belt.”
— Kool Keith on “Ego Trippin’”
Lyrics Born, formerly known as Asia Born, started his hip-hop career as a DJ at KDVS, the UC Davis campus radio station. He polished his skills working with fellow students Xavier Mosley (now known as Chief Xcel, one half of the lauded hip-hop duo Blackalicious) and Joshua Davis (the illustrious DJ Shadow), among others. His solo debut, Later That Day, was released in 2003 and featured the hit single “Callin’ Out.” A big year for Lyrics Born, 2005 saw the releases Lyrics Born Variety Show Season One and Same !@#$ Different Day, and also marked a turning point in his career as he dropped his DJ and opted to perform with a live band. His latest album, Everywhere at Once, fuses hip-hop with funk, rhythm and blues, and even reggae.
“Top of the echelon of MCing.
And I think on the topic we all in agreement.
I’m never running from a challenge, never been sheepish.
You gotta see me do my thang son I’m too fiendish.
My life’s a combination of my past achievements,
With a lotta heavy lifting, lotta deep breathing,
A lotta courage, lotta doubts, a lotta mixed feelings.
A lotta love, a lotta luggage, for a lotta reasons.”
—Lyrics Born on “Callin’ Out”
For tickets to either Kool Keith on Tuesday, Feb. 24 or the Lyrics Born on Friday, Feb. 27, contact the CenterArts ticket office at (707) 826-3928 or online at www.humboldt.edu/~carts.