Dr. Dooom: First Come, First Served

For his 1996 solo debut, Kool Keith (a.k.a. Keith Thornton), formerly of the Ultramagnetic MCs, lined up a cast of underground hip-hop all-stars, securing the services of both Dan Nakamura (a.k.a. The Automator) and Richard Quitevis (a.k.a. DJ Q-Bert). Adopting the persona of Dr. Octagon—a malevolent M.D. whose persona allowed his creator to engage in alternately violent, pornographic, and scatological fantasies—Dr. Octagonecologyst found Thornton laying down his singularly perverse rhymes over The Automator's distinctive, atmospheric production. Having parted ways with Nakamura (apparently less than amicably, if some of the lyrics on this new album are any indication), Keith opens First Come, First Served with a track that unceremoniously dispenses with Dr. Octagon and introduces Thornton's new alter-ego, Dr. Dooom. The split might have had something to do with the tendency of many to give the lion's share of the credit for Octagonecologyst's success to Nakamura, which First Come, First Served suggests might be unfair. Co-producing the album with "Kut Masta" Kurt Matlin, Thornton proves himself no slouch. Without repeating its predecessor, First Come, First Served is evocative of some of the Z-grade horror-movie atmospherics that made Dr. Octagon's album so memorable, but this time out, things are darker. Whereas Dr. Octagon seemed content to abuse his power as a physician, taking advantage of his female patients, performing unnecessary surgery, and generally behaving in an unethical fashion, Dr. Dooom is not nearly as nice. On "Neighbors Next Door," "Body Bag," and other tracks, Dooom makes repeated references to cannibalism and other equally unsavory activities, delivering such difficult-to-forget lines as, "With blood on my fingers I blast a CD by The Staple Singers." Breaking character, Thornton engages in the time-tested practice of dissing sucker MCs and the rap industry in general on "No Chorus" and "Leave Me Alone." But unlike a lot malcontents, Thornton has the beats and the vision to back it up. Kool Keith may not run rap, as he asserts on "I Run Rap," but, with his originality and sick humor (check out that No Limit-esque cover), maybe he should.