Dr. Octagon vs. Dr. Dooom

Kool Keith, right, with DJ Kutmasta Kurt

Photograph: Richard Cermack

Blender Theater at Gramercy; Fri 3

The Dr. Octagon saga is “Kool” Keith Thornton’s personal version of Misery. As with the writer protagonist of that Stephen King novel, the famously eccentric rapper’s initial attempt to kill off his most beloved character—a Jupiter-born gynecologist—didn’t quite stick. On 1999’s First Come, First Served, Thornton dispatched his bloodthirsty alter ego Dr. Dooom to do his dirty work: The intro found Dooom confronting his rival (“You that Dr. Octagon–ass muthafucka, right?”) before unceremoniously gunning him down.

But fans kept protesting, and 2006 saw the controversial release of The Return of Dr. Octagon, allegedly assembled without Thornton’s approval. The MC countered with “R.I.P. Dr. Octagon”—from 2008’s Dr. Dooom 2—which maintained, “He came back alive?/?I stabbed him over 17 times.” Yet despite that seemingly definitive statement, the Dooom-Octagon saga continues Friday at Blender Theater.

Thornton’s embattled relationship with his progeny makes sense when you consider that he has yet to make another record as consistently inspired as Dr. Octagonecologyst, the character’s ’96 debut. Since then, he’s thrown countless themes against the wall—from kinky sex to big-rig trucking—and reunited with his fellow Ultramagnetic MCs, though none of these formulas proved enduring. Even on the new Kool Keith Presents Tashan Dorrsett, billed as a return to no-frills street rap, Thornton’s inimitable eccentricity keeps peeking through. He may view Friday’s showdown as a begrudging concession, but listeners should welcome the good doctor’s resurrection.—Hank Shteamer