The Legend of Tashan Dorrsett is a remix album of 2009s Tashan Dorrsett. The original was decent, but in the sea that is Kool Keith's discography, a forgettable album. The Legend of Tashan Dorrsett has been talked about for a while and with the help of several producers sets to change the status from slept on to classic (or legendary if you must).

This time around some fat has been cut, and based on the introduction, the character Tashan Dorssett has been transformed from a "regular New Yorker" to "hip hop's mightiest hero". The overall sound has also been transformed, the original was solely produced by DJ Junkaz Lou and had a very signature sound (which you can still hear on his remixes), in most cases the remixes go in a different enough direction to the originals to make it sound fresh. Agallah Don Bishop's "Above The Sea Level", Domingo's old detective T.V show remix of "Tashan Dorrsett..." and Marley Marl's "Supa Supreme" are some of the impressive reworkings. The only remix which I felt fell a bit short is Domingo's "Black Lagoon", not that the remix is bad, but because the original was already one of my favourites and it would of been good to see him tackle a weaker track. The DJ Junkaz Lou remixes are probably the most disappointing as they all sound a bit too familiar, notably "New Shhhiiit" which ironically sounds a lot like the old shit.

The producers have done a good job and I have no reals qualms with the beats, lyrically the source material still fails to fully captivate the audience. There is nothing wrong with a slightly more down-to-earth and level headed Kool Keith, but being such an eccentric and creative figure you grow accustomed to hearing such entertaining ludicrosities and anything else is a tad uninteresting. Luckily some patented Kool Keith WTF moments still exist to keep things ticking over.

Not much happened in 2010 for Kool Keith fans, so The Legend of Tashan Dorrsett is a good way for him to start off the year 2011. Overall the remix does slightly improve on the original, but next time I would like to hear remixes of some Ultramagnetic and Lost Masters tracks.

7.6 /10

Track Listing

1. The Legend Of Tashan Dorrsett (Prelude)

2. New Shhhiiit feat. Champ (DJ Junkaz Lou Remix)

3. Supa Supreme (Marley Marl Remix)

4. Flow Smooth feat. Ced Gee (DJ Junkaz Lou Remix)

5. The Real Beginner feat. Chem (Ariel "The Cartel" Caban Remix)

6. Above The Sea Level (Agallah Don Bishop Remix)

7. Tashan Dorrsett... (Domingo Remix)

8. Track Runner feat. Marc Live, Raaddrr Van & Tr Love (Tr Love Remix)

9. Glamour Life feat. Marc Live (DJ Junkaz Lou Remix)

10. Booty Clap feat. Big Sche Eastwood (Mr. Sche Remix)

11. Black Lagoon (Domingo Remix)

12. Magnetic Junkadelic (DJ Junkaz Lou Remix)