Dr. Dooom - First Come, First Served (1999) LP Funky Ass Records

Kool Keith is definitely one of those rare performers in music - he just does what he wants and doesn't really care about the consequences. His style is off-beat to say the least - rough and direct, not incredibly crafted, lots of off the cuff rhymes and verses and hooks that are funny and anti-hip-hop intellectual. For a guy who can craft a banging track and deep lyrics, he'll also drop lines like "Starring at me/grabbing my pee-pee" and "Watching Monday Night Football/With my dick all up in her butt" - juvenile humor for sure, but also a reflection of his raison detre - crafting music that absolutely goes against the norm.

First Come, First Served stands as one of his best, a high point in his career which has a lot of high points. He kills off Dr. Octagon, his most successful alias from most successful record since his Ultramagnetic MC's days, right in the first track and proceeds to go for a darker sound, darker lyrics, and all kind of strange skits, wrapped up in some very dope rhymes. He's one of he few MC's I really listen to when it comes to lyrics.

No subject is taboo and he puts himself in the most bizzare of situations, shrugging off any rap-boasting, status booting claims of baller lifestyles, women and money. He'd much rather tell you a story about a disgusting aprartment in the hood and a whole host of weird people - cross dressers, drug addicts, rude neighbors and horror movie heros . It's pretty refreshing.



The production is a bit of the same sound from Dr. Octagon, but Kut Master Kurt brings his own style to them, crafting deeper beats and darker sounds. It's part horror movie soundtrack and part hip-hop record and works perfectly here.

Keith kept dropping smoking records after this release in 1999, most notably 1999's stellarBlack Elvis/Lost In Space, 2001's Spankmaster and the One-Watt Sun produced 2006's The Return of Dr. Octagon.