Nitish Pahwa wears his Doom mask to the grocery store.
The legendary Kool Keith—former Ultramagnetic MC, certified Octagonecologyst, doctor of Dooom, resident of Nogatco Rd, Black Elvis, Analog Brother—is releasing a new solo effort, Feature Magnetic, later this month — released through Mello Music Group (Oddisee, Open Mike Eagle, Red Pill). Over the past few months, Keith has dropped several singles to preview the album, including “Super Hero,” an electric track featuring the elusive MF DOOM. This is not the first time the two have collaborated— Keith guested on MF DOOM/Viktor Vaughan’s Venomous Villain, and the two featured together on Atmosphere’s Fishing Blues.
Produced by Keith himself under the moniker Number One Producer, “Super Hero” holds a futuristic metropolis of echoing bells, synths, and dark bass. Over this dystopian background, the two rappers spill multiple comic book references over typically dense flows. As one could expect, Keith acts the hero, a braggart vigilante presiding over New York City (“I come from a place where superheroes meet up/The X-Men drinking tea watching chicks with D-cups”). DOOM serves as a foil by retaining his villainous Viktor Vaughan persona (“Vik in the sick captain pilot’s suit”), though he signs off his verse with the classic Stan Lee “excelsior!” It’s a fitting track for the two rappers, who tailor their understated, unorthodox styles perfectly to the ambience. “Super Hero” proves that more than thirty years into a prolific career, Kool Keith is still tirelessly creative.
