Three 65, Day 36
Dr. Octagon, Dr. Octagonecologyst

Dr. Octagon is a freaky, homicidal gynecologist from the year 3000. Or he's rapper Kool Keith under one of his many aliases. Take your pick.

Kool Keith is a polarizing figure - either you can take his brand of horrorcore hip-hop, or you can't. Some people dismiss him as a near novelty, a sort of non-schizophrenic Wesley Willis, but he's more than that. A former member of seminal NYC rap group Ultramagnetic MCs (and, to hear him tell it, patient at Bellevue Hospital - haven't we all been there?), Keith was a huge figure in underground rap, but he didn't really make big waves until the debut of this album, under his Dr. Octagon moniker.

Which makes a certain amount of sense - Keith isn't the only genius on display here. The beats and background music are provided by Dan the Automator (Handsome Boy Modeling School, Deltron 3030, etc.), who incorporates everything from funk to classical music in his kitchen sink approach to hip-hop.

Lyrically, Keith is all over the place. He's truly one of the most scatological people in music today. Numerous samples from various pornographic films pop up (the "Intro" is just Christy Canyon getting fucked), "I Got To Tell You" finds Keith offering "rectal rebuilding" and "relocated saliva glands," and the skits are hysterical - a rarity for a rap album, whose skits are usually little more than fodder meant to pad out an insubstantial release. And Keith's flow is just amazing. He makes it sound easy, when in fact he's dripping rhymes smooth as butter.

Now out of print, for the most part, Dr. Octagon's album remains a highpoint in the careers of both Kool Keith and Dan the Automator. They never worked together again, and Kool Keith, wary of the success his new alias brought him, quickly distanced himself from the material, deigning only to perform a few tracks at his live shows as time went on. More's the pity.