SATURDAY MORNING STREAM-OF-CONSCIOUSNESS HIP-HOP TRIPLE FEATURE

Remember back on I.C.'s one year anniversary, when I promised to end all ongoing series on this site, including the dreaded 'Saturday Morning Double Feature'? Well, I keep my promises. Enjoy today's TRIPLE FEATURE...

Illogical Contraption has shown a reprehensible amount of neglect for the realm of hip-hop in the past, and the situation needs to be rectified. Whether it be through sheer accidental neglect or perhaps an underlying sense of subliminal racial shame (right), rap's presence on this blog has been minimal. Which is strange. I like hip-hop, and have been listening to it more and more often lately (ya feel me, Peter?). I even kinda dig the new Jay-Z album. WTF?
The last time I posted about rap, it was a Kool Keith/Dr. Octagon/Dr. Dooom double feature. Let's start there and see where today's post takes us...


KOOL KEITH - SEX STYLE (1997)


Kool Keith is and always will be one of my favorite rappers. Sure, his live shows are inconsistent at best, and his discography is spotty and full of aliases, name changes, and uncredited appearances. But it's all part of the Keith Mystique.
Sex Style was the second album he put out after his departure from the Ultramegnetic MC's (the superb Dr. Octagonecologyst was his first). I'm no big fan of sex raps, but for some reason, when they're delivered by Kool Keith, they're far from erotic. Packed with equal parts obtuse humor, lyrical mysticism, and a clumsy tough-guy swagger, Sex Style is more comedic outsider art than pornocore, and is an essential element in the Kool Keith legacy.

Download HERE
Purchase HERE
Kool Keith on Myspace

"Make Up Your Mind"



And while we're on the subject of Kool Keith...


KUTMASTA KURT feat. KOOL KEITH & MOTION MAN - MASTERS OF ILLUSION (2001)


Longtime I.C. reader and Illogical Bro Steven uploaded this amazing disc for me after the last Kool Keith post, and I thank him gratefully. I had somehow managed to remain ignorant of its existence for the last 8 years, and despite its horrible cover art and early-00's "trip-hop" trappings, it remains a completely solid and complex bit of psychedelic effluvia. Technically billed as a Kutmasta Kurt release, Keith and Motion Man are nonetheless featured on every track, and everyone carries their weight equally.
The term "trip-hop" itself probably brings to mind nausea-inducing images of suburban college kids wearing backpacks and sideways ballcaps for lots of you, and with good reason. But a musical artist or genre can't be blamed for their fans. Swallow your pride, man up and check out Masters of Illusion. And don't be afraid to "trip out" on it a little bit.

Download HERE
Purchase HERE
Kutmasta Kurt on Myspace
Motion Man on Myspace

"We All Over"



And while we're on the subject of GOOD "trip-hop" getting a bad "rap"...


BUSDRIVER - TEMPORARY FOREVER (2002)


Busdriver combines the inside-out, upside-down fractalizations of a good acid trip with the unsettling speed and confusion of an 8-ball to the head. He is probably best known for the song "Imaginary Places" that he contributed to Tony Hawk 3, but he is far more than a one-hit wonder. Though he's been rapping for nearly two decades, he has only been releasing albums under the Busdriver moniker since 1999, while tossing off the occasional collaboration single or album in the process. I really can't do much to decribe this guy's hyperspeed, spaced-out sound, so if you've never heard him, take a minute to check out the video below.
I imagine this sort of stuff might be conducive when experiencing prolonged exposure to delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol or other psychoactive substances, if you're into that sort of thing.

Download HERE
Purchase HERE
Busdriver on Myspace

"Imaginary Places"