Dr. Octagon Biography

According to the lyrics of R.I.P. Dr. Octagon, Dr. Octagon was drowned, stabbed 17 times, electrocuted by an electric razor and beaten to death with rocks by his arch nemesis, Dr. Dooom. As troubling as that may seem, what makes the story even more twisted is the fact that both Dr. Dooom and Dr. Octagon are alter egos of the same rapper, one Keith Thornton, who over the years has taken on multiple other personas (among the most common are Mr. Gerbik, Rhythm X and Kool Keith, though his website lists as many as 60 aliases). Needles to say, Keith Thornton's music is often described as demented. He even spent some time in a psychiatric ward, which undoubtedly helped to build hype surrounding the artist's persona. It also provided a gold mine of resources for his song lyrics.But before Dr. Octagon was hypothetically murdered, Kool Keith Thrornton built his career in rap through work with the group Ultramagnetic MC's, a pioneering new-school ensemble based out of New York. Beginning in the mid 1980s, Keith received rave reviews for his imaginative associations, creative rhymes and natural rapping ability while with the MC's, and it wasn't long before he gained a substantial underground following across the country. Kool Keith released a few low-profile singles before eventually scoring a major success in 1996's Dr. Octagonecologyst, which was released under the stage name Dr. Octagon. In 1997 Sex Style was released with the artist calling himself Kool Keith, but in 1999 First Come, First Served saw the introduction and hostile personality takeover of Dr. Dooom. It wasn't until 2006 that Dr. Octagon was revived from mental incarceration with Return of Dr. Octagon.Over the years Keith Thornton's Kool Keith, Dr. Dooom and Dr. Octagon characters have been the leading voices for the acid rap genre. Although this artist does receive mainstream praise for originality, the underground has always been his natural habitat.