http://totalorgasm.bandcamp.com/track/total-orgasm-mixtape

Yet another example of an old rapper aging gracefully, Kool Keith will be turning 49 in October. This tape, mixed by DJ Junkaz Lou, dropped in January of 2012, but has gone mostly unnoticed until now. (At least, I hadn’t seen it until recently.) It’s 16 tracks combined into one 52-minute mix, which can be streamed for free or purchased for $1. The nine songs produced by Keith himself are some of the best on here, with my personal favorites being tracks 8 and 9, “Slam Dunk” and “Total Orgasm.”

Since this tape came out, Keith has also released his umpteenth solo album Love & Danger and spit some show-stopping verses on Red Apples 45‘s LUV NY project. He’s definitely had a few missteps over the course of his career, but you have to admit, a guy who’s almost 50 putting out this many dope tracks in one year really belies the notion that rap is only a young man’s game. It’s also comforting to know that Mr. Thornton hasn’t become any less eccentric in his old age. Quite the opposite in fact.

One last note: back in April, Keith claimed that Love & Danger would probably be his last album. On the other hand, as unclebengi pointed out to me, a recent interview with Red Apples 45 co-owner Ray West, the producer behind LUV NY, revealed that he and Keith “recorded maybe like thirty songs.” Here’s hoping those see the light of day.

-Samuel Diamond