The Four Horsemen [PA]

Performer: Ultramagnetic MC's
Engineer: Gary Clugston; Godfather Don; Lisle Leete; T. Bird; Ced-Gee
Distributor: Fontana Distribution

Notes: Ultramagnetic MC's: Kool Keith, Ced Gee, DJ Moe Love, Tr Luv. Producers include: Ultramagnetic MC's, Godfather Don. Includes liner notes by Reginald C. Dennis. Ultramagnetic MC's: Ced-Gee (alto saxophone); T.R Love a.k.a. Tommy Gibbs (piano, percussion); DJ Moe Love (keyboards, drums, scratches); Kool Keith (bass instrument). Personnel: Spaceman Patterson (guitar, wah-wah guitar, Fender Rhodes piano, bass instrument); Ross Schneider (harmonica); Bruce Purse (saxophone, horns); Charlie Beats (keyboards). The last official Ultramagnetic MC's album, (and the only released on the ill-fated Wild Pitch label) FOUR HORSEMEN is a classic Ultramag disc. "One, Two, One, Two" is as devastating as any of the hip-hop classics on their debut album CRITICAL BEATDOWN. FOUR HORSEMEN marks several firsts for the groups #1 emcee, Kool Keith (aka Rhythm X). It represents the premiere of the demented, often scatological stream-of-consciousness rhyme style and fractured sci-fi imagery that later became his trademark (best witnessed here on "Don't Be Scared" and "Two Brothers With Checks"). And some of the album's nicest productions ("Checkin My Style," "Raise It Up," "Saga Of Dandy, The Devil & Day" and "See The Man On The Street") are the results of Keith's first-ever collaboration with Godfather Don. No doubt these developments were factors in his decision to leave the other three, more straight-laced horsemen in the dust when Wild Pitch folded. Ultimately, Keith pursued a solo career as Dr. Octagon, but also engaged in numerous collaborative efforts (with Godfather Don & The Cenubites, Kutmasta Kurt, the Automator, & Peanut Butter Wolf) under his own name.

Vibe (9/93, p.128) - "...this quirky quartet from the Bronx have emerged from the doldrums with an album that updates their signature sound while preserving their seminal flavor..." The Source (9/93, p.81) - 4 Stars - Excellent - "...a real return to the legitimate hardcore excitement that put them on the map....head straight for the album -- it boldly goes where no group has gone before..."

The Bronx-based Ultramagnetic MC's were hip-hop's original weirdos. Formed in the mid 1980s, the UMC's best-known member remains to this day the infamous MC Kool Keith. The group's 1988 full-length debut, CRITICAL BEATDOWN, is a hip-hop classic, and while it wasn't a commercial success, the album's frenetic, heavily layered, sample-heavy production style and off-beat lyrical sensibilities have been lauded as key influences by the likes of MF Doom, Public Enemy, De La Soul, and British techno act Prodigy. Kool Keith has also had a remarkable run as a solo artist, using various aliases to create music that ranges from utterly brilliant to flat-out deranged.

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