Kool Keith
Although his reputation for tardiness and general erratic behavior tends to precede him wherever he goes, Kool Keith’s last Milwaukee performance became a debacle for reasons entirely unrelated to the legendary rapper’s much gossiped-about eccentricities. A dubious anonymous tip about overcrowding and a somewhat heavy-handed response from the Milwaukee Police Department shut down Keith’s concert this summer at the Riverwest Public House after only a couple of songs. Thankfully though, it seems the experience hasn’t left the creatively schizoid MC with any ill will while planning his current tour, as Saturday he made his triumphant return to the city, albeit at a roomier venue.
The venue in question is a relatively new one, The Cooperage, a mid-size (and music-video ready) space of the sort Milwaukee is sorely lacking, one that could conceivably host the countless touring acts who are equally unsuited to either hole-in-the-wall clubs or spacious theaters, of which we have many. First to grace the stage this particular evening was St. Louis rapper Rec Riddles, whose skills working the mic and the crowd were ably matched by his backup, DJ Johnny Bravo, who bolstered his flow with a heady mix of unpredictable samples, classic rock riffs and plenty of bone-rattling bass.
Next up was some local flavor in the form of Dana Coppafeel, whose energy and sheer exuberance easily belies his many years as a Milwaukee hip-hop staple. Given the fun he seems to be having with party-starting tracks like “88,” alongside his willingness to share the spotlight with equally talented friends like Michael Mic Check, it was no surprise that the crowd’s spirits were riding high by the time his set ended, at which point DJ Madhatter, like many turtablists before him, took the opportunity to scratch his own personal signature onto the stone-cold Dr. Octagon classic “Bear Witness.”
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While there was some chatter questioning whether things would proceed as planned, the man of a million aliases soon emerged. Considering his usual sartorial choices, he was dressed rather conservatively aside from a pair of large, round glasses rimmed with color-changing, presumably ultramagnetic LEDs. The glasses proved strangely unnerving as he veered casually through a set that managed to channel a great many of his musical personalities, though sometimes only in frustratingly short bursts. Eventually the classics gave way to something pitched inexplicably between freestyle rap and free association, and things gradually wound to a close, all without any hassles from the fuzz.
