INTERVIEW: Kool Keith
- Lang Whitaker
As the magnanimous lyrical genius behind some of rap's hottest -- and weirdest -- rhymes from the last decade, Kool Keith has firmly established himself as a hip-hop anomaly, unafraid to experiment or be adventurous. His latest release, an eponymous record recorded under the nom de rap Black Elvis, allows Keith to wear a plastic wig and poke fun at The King of rock and roll.
CONSUMABLE ONLINE: I was looking at your website last night, and you have like eight different personas listed on there. Where do you think of that kind of stuff?
KOOL KEITH: I just have fun with myself. I always try do something different, a movie-type thing. It's all natural basically. Some people try hard to be different, but I let people know that there's not just one thing I could do all my life.
C.O.: Tell me about the Black Elvis idea.
KOOL KEITH: I just said, Yo, I need an image right now that is powerful, that will fuck with the whole materialistic side of rap music. I wanted something that really makes a statement, and who is bigger than Elvis? The king of kings. From all my influences in rap, I don't think anyone was giving me my proper receivings and awards. So, I figured I could blow my own horn with Black Elvis.
C.O.: Why do you think you weren't getting your props?
KOOL KEITH: Lack of education, and false education displayed through the industry. People were probably just plain jealous of what I was doing, creatively. People were more or less stunned. It's like in Terminator when they was always trying to murder that T-1000 guy.
C.O.: What the hell are you talking about?
KOOL KEITH: That's how my music is, and I think the industry hates making the link. They can put me in a ball of fire, and I'll still walk out of it. People always want to have something to say in conversation about whoever is trendy, like, "Oh, this guy is over. He won't come back." And it's like in Terminator. I love that T1000 guy, how he keeps coming back.
C.O.: But he's evil. He's the bad guy.
KOOL KEITH: Yeah, but I like the power of his presence. The best part is when he walks out of that fire, and he's like, "Fuck it." I'll always just walk out and do some new shit.
C.O.: You said people try to keep you in check, and put you down. What's the deal with the rumor last month that they had to put you into an asylum?
KOOL KEITH: Well, that wasn't really true. There were certain people and companies that I avoided, and they would say, "Well, Keith doesn't want to be here. He's crazy." A lot of people made things up.
C.O.: Cool. Are you working on anything new right now?
KOOL KEITH: Nope. I've shut down musically to focus on the Elvis album. But if I didn't shut down, I'd be making another album. My eccentricness, my eclecticness, to book studio time off the top of my head, is amazing. I'll just go bust out two or three tracks a day, and next thing you know there's another guy coming out. So, I have to pull myself back and take a break and sit around and relax, and not record anything for a minute.
C.O.: Do you ever find yourself running low on creativity?
KOOL KEITH: No. Never. I got new stuff in my head. I got brand new, futuristic keyboards that no one else has ever had. It's amazing, because I can go out and create some futuristic-like stuff at any time.
C.O.: Are you feeling that electronica stuff at all?
KOOL KEITH: I'm the funky guy. Just like Prodigy is the funky guy, with their computeristic sounds, I'm the computeristic, new, funky guy. They're the new computeristic electronic, I'm the new computeristic funky.
C.O.: Have you ever done anything that was so far out that you kind of bugged yourself out? Like something so creative that you surprised yourself?
KOOL KEITH: Yeah. It's just the machines I'm using. It's fun because I'm not biting Timbaland's stuff, I'm not biting Swizz Beatz stuff; I'm not taking Dr. Dre's stuff. I'm just going in the studio and doing some shit I'm coming up with, and I'm bugging out on it. It's some energy I've got in myself. It's kind of wild. Naturally, I learned how to use the machines.
C.O.: What is one trait about yourself that you don't like?
KOOL KEITH: When I go out with a fucked up girl, and I be wasting my time, and I be like, "Why am I in this restaurant with this person?"
C.O.: What's your greatest extravagance?
KOOL KEITH: Flying to different places, and sitting on South Beach in Miami and lookin' at some pretty girls, and eating some hot wings, and looking at the world and the pretty girls walking back and forth, instead of being in some hot-ass club battling some MC's. Especially if it's some wack-ass guys or something. You could be on a trip to Costa Rica.
C.O.: What's your most treasured possesion?
KOOL KEITH: My Pentax camera. I love my camera. I take pictures of things, beautiful things.
C.O.: And that could include women?
KOOL KEITH: Yup. Mmm-hmmm.
