From the archives: Hip Hop Hump Days #4: Dr Octagon – Dr Octagonecologyst (1996)

Originally published on It Is Happening Again on April 16, 2014

“Hello, this is the offices of Dr Octagon. If you have insurance or medical problems, I’m here for you for any type of intestine surgery, rectal rebuilding, relocated saliva glands… and chimpanzee acne. And, of course, moose bumps. You can call 1-800PP51 Doodoo. I’m in your corner.”

And there we have it: the tone is well and truly set for an album which, while not exactly breaking any sales records, is still held up as one of the finest examples of what can be achieved when hip hop is allowed to have a little imagination.

So, who is Dr Octagon? On record, he’s an extra-terrestrial, time-travelling gynaecologist and surgeon who takes something of a sledgehammer approach (literally) to his patients. As a doctor, he is either highly incompetent (“Oh fuck! Patient just died in room 105… nurse/Fuck it, he’s dead/Oh shit, there’s a horse in the hospital”) or downright homicidal (“You need a bad operation… gimme the scissors, hammer, flame/Okay, I’m getting ready to stab… jam it in”).

It’s become a bit of cliché to talk about an album sounding like nothing else released at the time, but in the case of ‘Dr Octagonecologyst’ (see what they did there?) it would be wrong to pretend otherwise. It also pains me to describe it as a concept album, but how else would you describe a record which documents the exploits of a murderous doctor from outer space?

The voice of Dr Octagon is, of course, the reliably eccentric Kool Keith, formerly of Ultramagnetic MCs and the supposed inventor of the ‘horrorcore’ sub-genre of hip hop. The abstract, stream-of-consciousness lyrics, non-sequiturs and vivid horror and sci-fi imagery throughout ensure that Keith truly shines as a rapper who is unafraid to let his imagination run away with him. Sure, the humour can be a little juvenile in places (“What would you do if I hit your face with dog doodoo?”) but it all adds to the surreal, dream/nightmare-like charm of the record.

Although technically Kool Keith’s first solo album, it would be unfair to overlook the contribution made by Dan The Automator, who provides the cinematic, psychedelic and often unsettling soundtrack, and Q-Bert, whose scratching demonstrates why he won so many successive world titles for his turntable skills. It’s to their credit that an instrumental version of the album was released later that same year and still managed to sound like a complete record, even without Kool Keith’s vocals.

‘Dr Octagonecologyst’ didn’t reach anywhere near the sales of, say, 'The Chronic', but then who says Dr Octagon set out to make friends in the first place? This isn’t about following the rules. This is about doing something completely different JUST BECAUSE YOU CAN. Hip hop is all about expression and if you can’t express yourself then you may as well just give up.

The doctor will see you now.