Kool Keith

During the late '90s, when Underground rap was at the zenith of its "keepin' it real" phase, Kool Keith became Black Elvis. His wardrobe included gargantuan black-and-red superhero boots, an oversized collar, a sculpted pompadour, and a cape. At his shows he would pass out promotional packages consisting of a Capri Sun, a chicken wing, and a wet wipe. Occasionally, the giveaways included transvestite porn. If you're hoping to understand Kool Keith, this explains a great deal. Kool Keith proved that not only can you have second acts in American life, but that you can also have seven of them. Or more. How else to explain the evolution of Keith Matthew Thornton into Kool Keith, Dr. Octagon, Dr. Doom, Black Elvis, and Spankmaster. Rap had been weird before Kool Keith. The late Rammellzee introduced abstractions and the nasal-drip "Gangsta Duck" squawk in 1983. But Kool Keith understood how to merge weirdness with the power of the myth. Ol' Dirty Bastard boasted that there was no father to his style, but the sperm was donated by Kool Keith-the pornographic pioneer of alter egos, non-sequiturs, and tenuous sanity. Examine the last quarter-century of rap music and you'll find Keith everywhere. A Hip-Hop Zelig-with a similar history of institutionalization. If you ask Keith, he will tell you that he invented everything: horror-core, sci-fi rap, porno-core, Underground rap. And he may be right.