Matthew

by John BushThere's a point when even the outrageous and bizarre becomes expected, even boring. With yet another LP of tuneless piano riffs and skeletal beats overlaid with his dense, paranoid raps, Kool Keith approaches the point of sounding like the same broken record he keeps sampling. True, he's just as original as on past masterpieces like Dr. Octagon, but the obtuse references and metaphors have grown just as tired as a Will Smith pop hit. He's also much more violent than on previous records, lashing out at the music industry as well as unnamed playas on "I Don't Believe You," "Operation Extortion," and "Lived in the Projects." The hilarious "Baddest MC" and "Extravagant Traveler" have the same self-effacing irony as "Supergalactic Lover" and "Master of the Game" (from 1999's Black Elvis/Lost in Space), but like Busta Rhymes -- another notable super-freak rapper whose work grows less entertaining with each album -- Kool Keith faces growing as predictable as a No Limit record.