MUSIC REVIEW: KOOL KEITH & REAL BAD MAN - SERPENT

A surprise from one of the Golden Era’s most recognizable and oft-kilter voices fused with the live instrumentation sample selection of Real Bad Man, Kool Keith’s “Serpent” has arrived just in time to celebrate the Spring Equinox ringing in the year of the Snake. Surrounded with the loose narration of a therapy session with a trained hypnotist, Keith embodies just that as he makes a concentrated effort to put forth his most cohesive project to date.

“Serpent” is as serious as Keith has ever sounded, especially since his UltraMagnetic inception, Keith has been known to have some of the most crude and cartoonish subject matter put on wax to date, inspiring the likes of Rock and Roll Hall of Famer’s such as Eminem. But here in “Serpent”, listeners are treated to the stream of conscious raps that inspired the Bad Half of Bad Meets Evil as one can compare a track from here to any of Royce Da 5″9’s recent verses and see the influence.

“Serpent” is not overloaded with features, but Slug shines on the back and forth “Fire And Ice” as he speaks on the comfort he has found over the years in his Twin City home, while Cool Calm Pete (“Sleep”) and Edan (“Rugged Rugged”) get metaphysical and meet Black Elvis in space to the beyond. “Serpent” is a Kool Keith record, so there isn’t too many catchy hooks here. Most of the songs feature a couple of verses filled in by jazz solos that only Real Bad Man can provide, but when there is a hook, Keith delivers pieces that could be played in stadiums, such as the Super Sonic’s ode “Off The Glass”. “Jungle Fever” is another cut with a chorus, that questions the fetishization of U.S. “black” culture from it’s pains and pleasures, while Ice-T pops in on both “Fire And Ice” and the D.I.D. expose “Battle” to string together the verses, not offering a 16 of his own, but becoming an integral part of the record like on Roc Marciano and ALC’s latest “The Elephant Man’s Bones”.

The only issue with “Serpent” is the abrupt ending to the druggy anthem “Trippin Over Flowers”. Other than that, Keith and Bad Man’s sonic adventure is a twisted as the orobis and layered as the many skins on top of a snake. With plenty of hidden meanings coded into Keith’s lyrics, “Serpent” is some new blood bringing out the venom from one of the most original acts from the borough of Hip-Hop’s originators.

Score : 4/5

Artists: Kool Keith, Real Bad Man

Album: Serpent

Released: 2023

Genre: Hip-Hop/Rap