Word O.K.

Last updated

Word O.K.
Word O.K. cover art.jpg
Studio album by
Kool A.D.
ReleasedMarch 20, 2014 (2014-03-20)
Recorded Oakland, California
Genre Hip hop, alternative hip hop
Kool A.D. chronology
Not O.K.
(2013)		Word O.K.
(2014)		 O.K.
(2015)

Word O.K. is an album by Kool A.D., released March 20, 2014. [1] The album features guest appearances from Sir DZL, Ladybug "Santos Vieira" Mecca of Digable Planets, Toro Y Moi, Talib Kweli, Boots Riley of The Coup, and Mr. Muthafuckin' eXquire. [2]

Contents

Videos

Kool A.D. has stated that Word O.K. is a visual album, like Beyoncé's Beyoncé . [3] The video for the song "Open Letter," directed by Nick Knight, who had previously directed Kanye West's "Bound 2" accompanied the release of the album. [4] The videos for "Tight" and "I'm on a Plane" were released later that year on April 21, and May, 9, respectively. [5] [6] On May 28, Kool A.D. released the video to "Word," an animated video in which Kool A.D. imagines himself as a weed-smoking cartoon dog. Stereogum described the video, which Kool A.D. co-directed (along with Teddy O'Connor), as "hysterically perverse in that Fritz The Cat sort of way". [7] Mother Jones magazine described the video as "a three-and-a-half minute, highly NSFW animated short that feels like an acid-fueled journey through a dystopian corporate carnival. It pans smoothly from Bart Simpson wearing a McDonald's tee and smoking a joint to a sexualized, anthropomorphized rabbit doing the same. Yin-yangs, peace signs, and other pop symbols breathe in and out of cartoon orifices." [8] On June 9, 2014, Kool A.D. released the video for the title track, "Word O.K.", which was also directed by Nick Knight. [3] [9]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Cuepoint (Expert Witness)A [10]
Pitchfork Media 6.7/10 [11]
The Skinny Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [12]

Word O.K. received generally positive reviews from critics. Consequence of Sound called it "more focused of an effort, featuring tighter, doubly succinct examples of Kool’s genre-leaping hijinks". [13] CMJ praised the album, noting that "Kool A.D. hasn’t lost his dry sense of humor and ability to charmingly fit words into places they shouldn’t really fit." [14] Robert Christgau named it the 9th best album of the year in his ballot for the Pazz & Jop critics poll. [15]

Track listing

No.TitleProducer(s)Length
1."Open Letter"Amaze 885:20
2."I'm on a Plane"Sha-Leik5:00
3."Tight" (featuring Lakutis and Mr. Muthafuckin' eXquire) Toro y Moi 3:48
4."Naughty by Nature"Mike Finito4:24
5."Word"Blesone3:36
6."Look" (featuring Kassa Overall)Issue3:43
7."The Front" (featuring Toro y Moi and Amaze 88)Toro y Moi4:20
8."Life and Time" (featuring Del the Funky Homosapien as Sir DZL and Ladybug Mecca as Santos Vieira)Amaze 887:16
9."Hickory" (featuring Talib Kweli and Boots Riley)Amaze 884:04
10."Special Forces" Dame Grease 6:44
11."Word O.K."Amaze 883:09

[1]

References

  1. 1 2 "Word O.K. by KOOL A.D." Bandcamp. March 20, 2014. Retrieved April 15, 2014.
  2. ↑ Mike Ayers (March 20, 2014). "Kool A.D. Taps Toro Y Moi, Talib Kweli for Free 'Word O.K.' Mixtape". Spin . Retrieved April 15, 2014.
  3. 1 2 Lizzie Plaugic (June 9, 2014). "Kool A.D. Is Making A Music Video For Every Song On Word O.K." CMJ. Retrieved July 20, 2014.
  4. ↑ Tom Breihan (March 20, 2014). "Stream Kool A.D. Word O.K." Stereogum . Retrieved May 29, 2014.
  5. ↑ Tom Breihan (April 21, 2014). "Kool A.D. – "Tight" (Feat. Lakutis & Mr. Muthafuckin' eXquire) Video". Stereogum. Retrieved May 29, 2014.
  6. ↑ Tom Breihan (May 9, 2014). "Kool A.D. – "I'm On A Plane" Video". Stereogum. Retrieved May 29, 2014.
  7. ↑ Tom Breihan (May 28, 2014). "Kool A.D. – "Word" Video". Stereogum. Retrieved May 29, 2014.
  8. ↑ Prashanth Kamalakanthan (June 30, 2014). "Kool A.D.'s Bizarre Pop-Culture Carnival". Mother Jones . Retrieved July 20, 2014.
  9. ↑ Tom Breihan (June 9, 2014). "Kool A.D. – "Word O.K." Video". Stereogum. Retrieved July 20, 2014.
  10. ↑ Christgau, Robert (January 9, 2015). "Expert Witness". Cuepoint . Retrieved January 24, 2015.
  11. ↑ Jonah Bromwich (April 21, 2014). "Kool A.D. - Word O.K." Pitchfork Media . Retrieved April 22, 2014.
  12. ↑ Bram E Gieben (March 25, 2014). "Kool A.D. – Word, O.K." The Skinny . Retrieved April 15, 2014.
  13. ↑ Chris Coplan (March 20, 2014). "Download: Kool A.D.'s new album Word O.K." Consequence of Sound . Retrieved April 15, 2014.
  14. ↑ Lizzie Plaugic (March 20, 2014). "Snap Judgement: Kool A.D. – Word O.K." CMJ . Retrieved April 15, 2014.
  15. ↑ Christgau, Robert. "Ballots". The Village Voice. Archived from the original on January 19, 2015. Retrieved January 19, 2015.
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