The mysterious Dr. Octagon (AKA Kool Keith) surfaced Friday night at an Ultramagnetic MCs reunion show held at New York's
Tramps nightclub, after dropping out of sight for nearly two months. Keith's MIA
status cost him (and Dr. Octagon producer
The Automator and DJ Q-bert) a
slot on this summer's Lollapolooza tour, as well as some high profile
dates with Beck in May.
At the Tramps performance, Keith (dressed
inconspicuously in a t-shirt, shorts and a Nike topless visor) didn't explain his absense from pre-Lollapalooza rehearsals which led to Dr. Octagon being dropped from the Lolla line-up. He did say that if he is supposed to be somewhere, he will show up. "I'm here, right?" he said flatly.
Keith cast some ambiguity on the future of Dr. Octagon, telling the
mostly white audience that when they think of Dr. Octagon, they should
think only of him. He informed the crowd that he plans on touring
Europe without The Automator and Q-bert. He didn't say whether he would be using the Dr. Octagon name for this outing.
Not all the members of the Ultramagnetic MCs made it to the reunion. In
addition to Keith, original member Ced Gee was there, but Moe Love
was notably absent. In Moe Love's place was J.C., who spun records in the
simplest way imaginable: he often just dropped the needle on the original
Dr. Octagon or Ultramagnetics platters, occasionally leaving the stage to
get a drink.
The evening was split about half and half between old
Ultramagnetics songs (such as Critical Beatdown's "Ego Trippin'," Funk
Your Head Up's "Poppa Large," and The Four Horsemen's "Raise it Up")
and Dr. Octagon material. Curiously DJ J.C. periodically played non-
instrumental versions of the songs, causing the MCs to compete with their
studio recorded vocals, a situation one audience member called "bad
kareoke Dr. Octagon."
The reunion was apparently a one-shot deal, which seemed to be confirmed by the igroup's tense on-stage interaction. Keith and
the rest of the Ultramagnetics frequently interrupted each
other. For instance, after there was some anti-West Coast talk, Keith
snapped and said, "Fuck this East-Coast West-Coast shit. I'll listen to
Too $hort, Bone Thugs, fuck, I'll even listen to Metallica and Opera."
There was a lot of talk from the stage, though it seemed that many times
they were talking at rather than =to= the audience and each other, with
each member taking care of their own agendas.
After forming in the early-1980s, the Ultramagnetic MCs toiled away for
ten years, existing as the hip-hop equivalent of the Velvet Underground,
in that they were much more influential than commercially
successful. Chuck D and Bomb Squad co-producer Hank Shocklee has acknowledged that the Ultramagnetic's early singles provided the inspiration for It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back's chaotic squeals and sirens. After releasing three records on three different labels the Ultramagnetics called it quits in 1994.
A highlight of Friday's show was a guest appearance by Special K, a member of
the legendary old- school group The Treacherous Three (which launched Kool
Moe Dee's solo career). While Keith has much respect for
old school rappers, he has no patience for hip-hop cliches. After Ced Gee and others
repeatedly exhorted the crowd to "throw ya hands in the air," Keith chided
his group mates, saying, "People's hands are getting tired."
(Chris Corsano contributed to this story.)
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