Dr. Octagon - Moosebumps: An Exploration Into Modern Day Horripilation

Bulk Recordings: 2018

And I thought the wait for a Deltron 3030 sequel took forever. Right, Dr. Octagon has popped up here and there throughout Kool Keith's career, but what folks truly clamoured for was Dan The Automator getting back in the studio with him, rekindling the same twisted synergy that made Dr. Octagonecologyst the cult classic it remains to this day. The concept is just so strange, that all the weirdo conceptual rappers ever since haven't quite matched the bizarro sci-fi horrorcore porn world that Dr. Octagon inhabits. And those who do almost inevitably sound like they're trying too hard to be shocking and twisted for its own sake, never finding the effortless cool that Kool Keith brings to the project.

Somehow though, the stars, planets, stethoscopes and Venus mounds all aligned once more to bring Keith and Dan back together for the follow-up album every was hoping to hear... oh, around twenty years ago, if we're being honest. Yeah, fans of Dr. Octagon are happy they've gotten anything at this point, but they'd also long made their peace that odds were slim it would happen at all. Keith had moved onto plenty other things, Dan had moved onto plenty other things (with some unexpected commercial success along the way), and even DJ Q-Bert was having a successful solo career, with little need to be The DJ in an antiquated notion of what constitutes a 'rap group' these days. Heck, all you need is a bunch of mumbling autotune and some bare-bones 808 drum synths for a hit these days. Who's got time for cryptic lewd lyrics about... y'know, I couldn't explain what Dr. Octagon's going on about even if I tried.

What I can tell you, however, is this new album of Moosebumps: An Exploration Into Modern Day Horripilation, is just about everything I could have hoped for in a proper follow-up of the project. I've never met an Automator beat I didn't like, and though Dan could have gone overboard on production as he did in the Deltron sequel, he keeps things mostly on that classic boom-bap simplicity, throwing in mint break samples, orchestral swells, twitchy violin touches (one of the first album's defining characteristics), aggressive guitar licks (care of Gary Holt), and quirky sci-fi clips as needed. Though filled with vividly weird imagery and off-kilter wordplay, Keith doesn't have quite the same level of instantly memorable “WTF?” lines in this outing. Still, he rides Dan's beats with trademark effortless cool, making you wonder why the Hell they didn't reconvene sooner. Meanwhile, Q-Bert does his usual scratch trickery, and even gets another extended solo showcase in Bear Witness IV.

You know what I always hoped to hear though? A back-and-forth between Automator's two famed cult classic projects, Dr. Octagon and Deltron 3030. And holy shit, we get it in 3030 Meets The Doc, Keith and Del delivering all that I could have wished for! And wait... is that...? Is that!? Oh my, a scratch battle between Q-Bert and Kid Koala! Nnnnggyyaaaahhh!!!

Deltron 3030 - Event 2

Bulk Recordings: 2013

Yeah, it came out, been on the shelves for a week now. Not a big deal, though, nope, uh-uh. I mean, do you see massive hype plastered all over the interwebs for it? True, the first Deltron album has always been something of a cult-classic, a release that never garnered much praise beyond those who actually heard the damn thing (a might too few, it seems). Plus, it's not like a monumental musical leap forward was necessary. Deltron 3030 was well ahead of its time, practically timeless, but it never spawned copycats – really, who could top it but the original crew of Del Tha Funkee Homosapien, Dan The Automator, and Kid Koala. That said, why should the group re-invent the wheel when most of the hip-hop world still seems stuck with rolling boulders?

So if you're expecting Event 2 to be light-year leap forward from its predecessor, forget it. Instead, they’ve narrowed their focus, opting to tell a specific story rather than provide a broad overview of our world in the 31st Century. Gone are Deltron's excursions into intergalactic rap battles, chilling on the downswing, or fighting the mega-corporation-man. For sadly, the mega-corporation-man blew it all up, leaving Earth in a sorry state for Deltron's crew to survey the aftermath.

As such, quite a bit of melancholy permeates Event 2. There are still moments of that Futurama humor – The Lonley Island turn in a skit that sounds like really old Beastie Boys dropping mad science skills from head-jars – but by and large we’re visiting a world that, having barely survived utter disaster, has seen better times. If you need proof, just gander at opening track The Return, a piece far less triumphant than the first album’s 3030, but no less epic in narrative scope.

Lyrically, Del’s sci-fi wordplay is as strong as ever, though not quite as ridiculously unpredictable since he’s not jumping between so many topics. He’s settled into more of a storyteller’s role, one that he seldom does (observational and battle raps are his main strengths), a loss of energy the result; yet, it perfectly adds to the somber outlook of Event II. Automator, too, has taken a step back from his various hip-hop fusion antics, opting for symphonic flourishes and guest collaborations. He can still write a damn catchy hook though (The Agony, What Is This Loneliness, City Rising From The Ashes, so many more), but those dense, sampling hip-hop cuts that thrived on the first album have mostly been jettisoned in favour of tighter song writing. Kid Koala, meanwhile… is still Kid Koala. Don’t you ever change, Kid.

Has it been worth the wait? Yes. They were never gonna replicate Deltron 3030, as the creative forces involved (all three players at the top of their game) made it an LP that could only be created once. By building upon the concept with a fresh environment to play in, however, Event 2 owns just as an unique place within hip-hop’s canon. What more could you ask for?