Dr. Octagon
Encyclopedia
Dr. Octagon was a persona
created and used by American
rapper
Keith Matthew Thornton, better known as Kool Keith
. First appearing on Thornton's 1996 debut solo album
, Dr. Octagonecologyst
, Dr. Octagon is an extraterrestrial
time travel
ing gynecologist
and surgeon
from the planet Jupiter
. Thornton performed and released three albums under the alias. The character was murdered by Dr. Dooom on Thornton's 1999 album First Come, First Served
, and was briefly revived before once again being killed on Thornton's 2008 album Dr. Dooom 2
, in response to the release of The Return of Dr. Octagon, an album largely produced without Thornton's involvement.
, Dr. Octagon is described as having yellow eyes, green skin, and a pink-and-white Afro
. Further tracks detail a list of services offered by Octagon, who claims to treat chimpanzee
acne
and moose
bumps
, and relocate saliva gland
s. Octagon is described as being incompetent, as many of his surgery patients die as he conducts his rounds. Octagon also pretends to be a gynecologist and often engages in sexual intercourse
with female patients and nurses. Octagon's uncle, Mr. Gerbik, is described as being half shark, having the skin of an alligator, and is 208 years old.
On First Come, First Served
, Dr. Dooom posed as a patient and murdered Dr. Octagon. Pages from "top secret documents
" written by Fanatik J for The REAL Return of Dr. Octagon Mix Tape reveal a storyline in which Dr. Dooom's influence over Los Angeles has grown, and Dooom and a "Hybrid" set out to resurrect the long deceased Octagon as part of "a final bid for total Industry Chaos". Octagon took a blood sacrifice, an A&R representative from a classified record label represented by hillbillies
under the direction of the penal colony
of Oceania
.
A "hasty deal" was struck between Dooom, the Hybrid, and the label. When the Hybrid revealed that Dooom had made a deal with actual hillbillies, the Oceanic Penal Colony Overlord exerted his desire to destroy Octagon, and relations between the label and Dooom became hostile. Dooom instructed the Hybrid to "turn over use-less acapella and early versions" to facilitate a final payment from the label. The Hybrid gave the label intentionally distorted and obscured tracks, neutralizing the label's advantage, and created an internet portal to leak the tracks.
According to the story published in eight chapters to promote The Return of Dr. Octagon, a package containing new songs by Octagon arrived at the offices of OCD International, who hired "interpreters" to decipher the meaning of each song. Three weeks after receiving the package, and still unable to decode its meaning, OCD received a phone call from an unknown source, tracked to Los Angeles
, New York
, Australia
and Saturn
. The caller claimed to have received the same package five years ago, and that it had brought destruction and chaos upon the society that received it, and warns that they will come after Octagon.
OCD received a message from a hacker
identifying himself as Cassettes Won't Listen
, who stated that eight years ago, himself and five friends were abducted
by aliens, tortured, cloned and kept in isolation. The last survivor was killed by one of the clones, and Cassettes Won’t Listen went underground to fight the clones. Cassettes Won’t Listen reveals that Dr. Octagon was imprisoned in the cell next to him, as "a prime candidate to study all things regarding grill
s, pills and bills". Octagon was cloned, and his clones have been sent out to destroy the universe.
Rob Sonic
learned that the clones were created by a giant gorilla driving a pickup truck, who intend to steal the package to prevent the world from hearing Octagon's message, allowing him to destroy the Earth. OCD's staff escaped with the package on Kid Loco's plane. An intern briefly saw a figure standing on OCD's rooftop, wearing a labcoat with stethoscope around his neck, holding the head of "some black hairy creature" in his hand.
According to "R.I.P. Dr. Octagon", Dr. Dooom made multiple attempts to murder Octagon, and multiple music critics and record producer
s made attempts to keep him alive, until Dooom returned to finally kill off Octagon.
s, as well as producer Dan "The Automator" Nakamura
, resulting in the production of Dr. Octagonecologyst. The album featured the work of turntablist
DJ Qbert and additional production by KutMasta Kurt
. An instrumental version of the album was released under the title Instrumentalyst (Octagon Beats)
.
In promotion of the album, Thornton toured under the Dr. Octagon billing. These performances featured a full live band, an on-stage breakdancer and appearances by Invisibl Skratch Piklz
. Nakamura has referred to Dr. Octagon as a three-person group rather than an alias of Thornton, and these claims were reported by the press.
Thornton later expressed some frustration with the "Dr. Octagon" nickname, saying, "Octagon wasn't my life...I've done a lot of things that were totally around different things other than Octagon. Are some people just afraid to venture off into my life and see that I do other things which are great? I think people stuck me with something."
In 2002, Thornton announced The Resurrection of Dr. Octagon, a proposed sequel to Dr. Octagonecologyst, that would reintroduce the character.
Los Angeles
-based producer Fanatik J was chosen to create the music for the album. Thornton himself took part in the production of early material for the project, playing bass
, guitar
, and keyboards
on many of the tracks.
After shopping around demos for the proposed album, Thornton signed a contract with CMH Records
to release the album.
On July 23, 2002, Rolling Stone
reported that a new Dr. Octagon album would be released in February 2003. As production on the album was underway, Thornton had a falling out with Fanatik J over contract rights, and the One-Watt Sun production team was hired to create the album's music. After completing three vocal tracks with the label, based upon rough sonic themes created by the production team, Thornton had a falling out with the label, and gave the label recordings he had made two years previously, consisting of Thornton rapping and goofing off, in order to complete his contract. The resulting album, The Return of Dr. Octagon, was largely produced without Thornton's involvement, and did not resemble the direction Thornton had initially intended for the album.
Promotional materials, including music video
s, were produced without Thornton's involvement. Thornton states that he was "shocked" by the label's misrepresentation. Following the release of the album, Thornton performed under the Dr. Octagon billing, but did not promote the album. Dr. Dooom 2
, Thornton's 2008 follow-up to First Come, First Served, was produced in response to The Return of Dr. Octagon. In the music video for "R.I.P. Dr. Octagon", the appearance of Dr. Octagon resembles the character design used in promotional materials by CMH Records
.
Persona
A persona, in the word's everyday usage, is a social role or a character played by an actor. The word is derived from Latin, where it originally referred to a theatrical mask. The Latin word probably derived from the Etruscan word "phersu", with the same meaning, and that from the Greek πρόσωπον...
created and used by American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
rapper
Rapping
Rapping refers to "spoken or chanted rhyming lyrics". The art form can be broken down into different components, as in the book How to Rap where it is separated into “content”, “flow” , and “delivery”...
Keith Matthew Thornton, better known as Kool Keith
Kool Keith
Keith Matthew Thornton, better known by his stage name Kool Keith, is an American rapper from The Bronx, New York. A founding member of Ultramagnetic MCs, Kool Keith has recorded prolifically both as a solo artist and in group collaborations. Kool Keith is the self-proclaimed inventor of...
. First appearing on Thornton's 1996 debut solo album
Solo album
A solo album, in popular music, is an album headlined by a current or former member of a band. A solo album may feature simply one person performing all instruments, but typically features the work of other collaborators; rather, it may be made with different collaborators than the artist is...
, Dr. Octagonecologyst
Dr. Octagonecologyst
Dr. Octagonecologyst is the debut solo album of American rapper Keith Thornton and the first album he released under the alias Dr. Octagon. It was released May 6, 1996, on Bulk Recordings in the United States and Mo' Wax in the United Kingdom, and re-released in the US on DreamWorks Records in...
, Dr. Octagon is an extraterrestrial
Extraterrestrial life
Extraterrestrial life is defined as life that does not originate from Earth...
time travel
Time travel
Time travel is the concept of moving between different points in time in a manner analogous to moving between different points in space. Time travel could hypothetically involve moving backward in time to a moment earlier than the starting point, or forward to the future of that point without the...
ing gynecologist
Gynaecology
Gynaecology or gynecology is the medical practice dealing with the health of the female reproductive system . Literally, outside medicine, it means "the science of women"...
and surgeon
Surgeon
In medicine, a surgeon is a specialist in surgery. Surgery is a broad category of invasive medical treatment that involves the cutting of a body, whether human or animal, for a specific reason such as the removal of diseased tissue or to repair a tear or breakage...
from the planet Jupiter
Jupiter
Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest planet within the Solar System. It is a gas giant with mass one-thousandth that of the Sun but is two and a half times the mass of all the other planets in our Solar System combined. Jupiter is classified as a gas giant along with Saturn,...
. Thornton performed and released three albums under the alias. The character was murdered by Dr. Dooom on Thornton's 1999 album First Come, First Served
First Come, First Served
First Come, First Served is the third studio album by American emcee Keith Thornton, better known as Kool Keith. Released in 1999, it is his first release under the alias Dr. Dooom.- Production :...
, and was briefly revived before once again being killed on Thornton's 2008 album Dr. Dooom 2
Dr. Dooom 2
Dr. Dooom 2 is the eleventh studio album by Keith Thornton, better known as Kool Keith. Released in 2008, it is his second release as "Dr. Dooom", following First Come, First Served.-Lyrical themes:...
, in response to the release of The Return of Dr. Octagon, an album largely produced without Thornton's involvement.
Biography
In Dr. OctagonecologystDr. Octagonecologyst
Dr. Octagonecologyst is the debut solo album of American rapper Keith Thornton and the first album he released under the alias Dr. Octagon. It was released May 6, 1996, on Bulk Recordings in the United States and Mo' Wax in the United Kingdom, and re-released in the US on DreamWorks Records in...
, Dr. Octagon is described as having yellow eyes, green skin, and a pink-and-white Afro
Afro
Afro, sometimes shortened to fro and also known as a "natural", is a hairstyle worn naturally by people with lengthy kinky hair texture or specifically styled in such a fashion by individuals with naturally curly or straight hair...
. Further tracks detail a list of services offered by Octagon, who claims to treat chimpanzee
Chimpanzee
Chimpanzee, sometimes colloquially chimp, is the common name for the two extant species of ape in the genus Pan. The Congo River forms the boundary between the native habitat of the two species:...
acne
Acne vulgaris
Acne vulgaris is a common human skin disease, characterized by areas of skin with seborrhea , comedones , papules , pustules , Nodules and possibly scarring...
and moose
Moose
The moose or Eurasian elk is the largest extant species in the deer family. Moose are distinguished by the palmate antlers of the males; other members of the family have antlers with a dendritic configuration...
bumps
Goose bumps
Goose bumps, also called goose flesh, goose pimples, chill bumps, chicken skin, funky spots, Dasler Bumps, chicken bumps or the medical term cutis anserina, are the bumps on a person's skin at the base of body hairs which may involuntarily develop when a person is cold or experiences strong...
, and relocate saliva gland
Salivary gland
The salivary glands in mammals are exocrine glands, glands with ducts, that produce saliva. They also secrete amylase, an enzyme that breaks down starch into maltose...
s. Octagon is described as being incompetent, as many of his surgery patients die as he conducts his rounds. Octagon also pretends to be a gynecologist and often engages in sexual intercourse
Sexual intercourse
Sexual intercourse, also known as copulation or coitus, commonly refers to the act in which a male's penis enters a female's vagina for the purposes of sexual pleasure or reproduction. The entities may be of opposite sexes, or they may be hermaphroditic, as is the case with snails...
with female patients and nurses. Octagon's uncle, Mr. Gerbik, is described as being half shark, having the skin of an alligator, and is 208 years old.
On First Come, First Served
First Come, First Served
First Come, First Served is the third studio album by American emcee Keith Thornton, better known as Kool Keith. Released in 1999, it is his first release under the alias Dr. Dooom.- Production :...
, Dr. Dooom posed as a patient and murdered Dr. Octagon. Pages from "top secret documents
Classified information
Classified information is sensitive information to which access is restricted by law or regulation to particular groups of persons. A formal security clearance is required to handle classified documents or access classified data. The clearance process requires a satisfactory background investigation...
" written by Fanatik J for The REAL Return of Dr. Octagon Mix Tape reveal a storyline in which Dr. Dooom's influence over Los Angeles has grown, and Dooom and a "Hybrid" set out to resurrect the long deceased Octagon as part of "a final bid for total Industry Chaos". Octagon took a blood sacrifice, an A&R representative from a classified record label represented by hillbillies
Hillbilly
Hillbilly is a term referring to certain people who dwell in rural, mountainous areas of the United States, primarily Appalachia but also the Ozarks. Owing to its strongly stereotypical connotations, the term is frequently considered derogatory, and so is usually offensive to those Americans of...
under the direction of the penal colony
Penal colony
A penal colony is a settlement used to exile prisoners and separate them from the general populace by placing them in a remote location, often an island or distant colonial territory...
of Oceania
Oceania
Oceania is a region centered on the islands of the tropical Pacific Ocean. Conceptions of what constitutes Oceania range from the coral atolls and volcanic islands of the South Pacific to the entire insular region between Asia and the Americas, including Australasia and the Malay Archipelago...
.
A "hasty deal" was struck between Dooom, the Hybrid, and the label. When the Hybrid revealed that Dooom had made a deal with actual hillbillies, the Oceanic Penal Colony Overlord exerted his desire to destroy Octagon, and relations between the label and Dooom became hostile. Dooom instructed the Hybrid to "turn over use-less acapella and early versions" to facilitate a final payment from the label. The Hybrid gave the label intentionally distorted and obscured tracks, neutralizing the label's advantage, and created an internet portal to leak the tracks.
According to the story published in eight chapters to promote The Return of Dr. Octagon, a package containing new songs by Octagon arrived at the offices of OCD International, who hired "interpreters" to decipher the meaning of each song. Three weeks after receiving the package, and still unable to decode its meaning, OCD received a phone call from an unknown source, tracked to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and Saturn
Saturn
Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest planet in the Solar System, after Jupiter. Saturn is named after the Roman god Saturn, equated to the Greek Cronus , the Babylonian Ninurta and the Hindu Shani. Saturn's astronomical symbol represents the Roman god's sickle.Saturn,...
. The caller claimed to have received the same package five years ago, and that it had brought destruction and chaos upon the society that received it, and warns that they will come after Octagon.
OCD received a message from a hacker
Hacker (computer security)
In computer security and everyday language, a hacker is someone who breaks into computers and computer networks. Hackers may be motivated by a multitude of reasons, including profit, protest, or because of the challenge...
identifying himself as Cassettes Won't Listen
Cassettes Won't Listen
Cassettes Won't Listen is the Indie rock and Electronic one-man project of multi-instrumentalist and producer Jason Drake based out of Brooklyn, New York. Over the last few years Cassettes Won't Listen has received press from the likes of Spin, Perez Hilton, and URB. Cassettes Won't Listen has...
, who stated that eight years ago, himself and five friends were abducted
Abduction phenomenon
The terms alien abduction or abduction phenomenon describe "subjectively real memories of being taken secretly against one’s will by apparently nonhuman entities and subjected to complex physical and psychological procedures." People claiming to have been abducted are usually called "abductees" or...
by aliens, tortured, cloned and kept in isolation. The last survivor was killed by one of the clones, and Cassettes Won’t Listen went underground to fight the clones. Cassettes Won’t Listen reveals that Dr. Octagon was imprisoned in the cell next to him, as "a prime candidate to study all things regarding grill
Grill (jewelry)
thumb|A gold dental grillIn hip hop culture, a grill is a type of jewelry worn over the teeth. Grills are made of metal and are generally removable. They began to be worn by hip hop artists in the early 1980s, but they became widely popular during the mid-2000s due to the rise of Dirty South rap...
s, pills and bills". Octagon was cloned, and his clones have been sent out to destroy the universe.
Rob Sonic
Rob Sonic
Rob Sonic is a hip hop artist from The Bronx, born in Washington DC. As a child growing up, he devoted himself to many styles of music and was a follower of artists such as The Beatles, Run DMC, Kraftwerk, Talking Heads, Led Zeppelin, Public Enemy, Muddy Waters, Ultramagnetic MC's, The Clash among...
learned that the clones were created by a giant gorilla driving a pickup truck, who intend to steal the package to prevent the world from hearing Octagon's message, allowing him to destroy the Earth. OCD's staff escaped with the package on Kid Loco's plane. An intern briefly saw a figure standing on OCD's rooftop, wearing a labcoat with stethoscope around his neck, holding the head of "some black hairy creature" in his hand.
According to "R.I.P. Dr. Octagon", Dr. Dooom made multiple attempts to murder Octagon, and multiple music critics and record producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
s made attempts to keep him alive, until Dooom returned to finally kill off Octagon.
History
Thornton produced two songs under the alias Dr. Octagon, "Dr. Octagon" and "Technical Difficulties." Thornton mailed the songs to radio stations as a teaser, as well as giving copies to several DJDisc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
s, as well as producer Dan "The Automator" Nakamura
Dan the Automator
Daniel M. Nakamura , better known by the stage name Dan the Automator, is a Japanese-American hip hop producer. He founded the record label 75 Ark, which was distributed by Tommy Boy Records during its short existence....
, resulting in the production of Dr. Octagonecologyst. The album featured the work of turntablist
Turntablism
Turntablism is the art of manipulating sounds and creating music using phonograph turntables and a DJ mixer.The word 'turntablist' was coined in 1995 by DJ Babu to describe the difference between a DJ who just plays records, and one who performs by touching and moving the records, stylus and mixer...
DJ Qbert and additional production by KutMasta Kurt
KutMasta Kurt
Kurt Matlin, professionally known as KutMasta Kurt, is an American hip hop producer, best known for his work with Kool Keith.-Collaborations:*Kool Keith - Sex Style *Dr Dooom - First Come, First Served...
. An instrumental version of the album was released under the title Instrumentalyst (Octagon Beats)
Instrumentalyst (Octagon Beats)
Instrumentalyst is a remix album by American emcee Keith Thornton, credited under the title Dr. Octagon. Released in 1996, it is the instrumental version of Dr. Octagonecologyst. It is Thornton's second album under the Dr. Octagon alias...
.
In promotion of the album, Thornton toured under the Dr. Octagon billing. These performances featured a full live band, an on-stage breakdancer and appearances by Invisibl Skratch Piklz
Invisibl Skratch Piklz
The Invisibl Skratch Piklz were a group of Americans of Filipino Ancestry turntablists.The members of the group were originally hip-hop DJs, who were among the pioneers of the turntablism movement in the 1990s; turntablists create musical pieces by mixing samples from records, by using multiple...
. Nakamura has referred to Dr. Octagon as a three-person group rather than an alias of Thornton, and these claims were reported by the press.
Thornton later expressed some frustration with the "Dr. Octagon" nickname, saying, "Octagon wasn't my life...I've done a lot of things that were totally around different things other than Octagon. Are some people just afraid to venture off into my life and see that I do other things which are great? I think people stuck me with something."
In 2002, Thornton announced The Resurrection of Dr. Octagon, a proposed sequel to Dr. Octagonecologyst, that would reintroduce the character.
Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
-based producer Fanatik J was chosen to create the music for the album. Thornton himself took part in the production of early material for the project, playing bass
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, and keyboards
Keyboard instrument
A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
on many of the tracks.
After shopping around demos for the proposed album, Thornton signed a contract with CMH Records
CMH Records
Founded in 1975, CMH Records is a Los Angeles based independent country and bluegrass label with several subsidiary labels, including Vitamin Records, Crosscheck, Dwell, and Rockabye Baby!, which release diverse styles of music including string quartet tributes, punk, metal, and lullabies,...
to release the album.
On July 23, 2002, Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
reported that a new Dr. Octagon album would be released in February 2003. As production on the album was underway, Thornton had a falling out with Fanatik J over contract rights, and the One-Watt Sun production team was hired to create the album's music. After completing three vocal tracks with the label, based upon rough sonic themes created by the production team, Thornton had a falling out with the label, and gave the label recordings he had made two years previously, consisting of Thornton rapping and goofing off, in order to complete his contract. The resulting album, The Return of Dr. Octagon, was largely produced without Thornton's involvement, and did not resemble the direction Thornton had initially intended for the album.
Promotional materials, including music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
s, were produced without Thornton's involvement. Thornton states that he was "shocked" by the label's misrepresentation. Following the release of the album, Thornton performed under the Dr. Octagon billing, but did not promote the album. Dr. Dooom 2
Dr. Dooom 2
Dr. Dooom 2 is the eleventh studio album by Keith Thornton, better known as Kool Keith. Released in 2008, it is his second release as "Dr. Dooom", following First Come, First Served.-Lyrical themes:...
, Thornton's 2008 follow-up to First Come, First Served, was produced in response to The Return of Dr. Octagon. In the music video for "R.I.P. Dr. Octagon", the appearance of Dr. Octagon resembles the character design used in promotional materials by CMH Records
CMH Records
Founded in 1975, CMH Records is a Los Angeles based independent country and bluegrass label with several subsidiary labels, including Vitamin Records, Crosscheck, Dwell, and Rockabye Baby!, which release diverse styles of music including string quartet tributes, punk, metal, and lullabies,...
.
External links
- Talkin Back to Back: Dr. Octagon at Metal Lungies