Word O.K.

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, Mr. Muthafuckin' eXquire.[2]

Word O.K.
Studio album by
Kool A.D.
ReleasedMarch 20, 2014 (2014-03-20)
RecordedOakland, California
GenreHip hop, alternative hip hop
Kool A.D. chronology
Not O.K.
(2013)		 Word O.K.
(2014)		 O.K.
(2015)

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 Media6.7/10[11]
The Skinny[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 Moi3:48
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 Grease6:44
11."Word O.K."Amaze 883:09

[1]

References
  1. "Word O.K. by KOOL A.D." Bandcamp. 2014-03-20. Retrieved 2014-04-15.
  2. Mike Ayers (March 20, 2014). "Kool A.D. Taps Toro Y Moi, Talib Kweli for Free 'Word O.K.' Mixtape". Spin. Retrieved 2014-04-15.
  3. Lizzie Plaugic (June 9, 2014). "Kool A.D. Is Making A Music Video For Every Song On Word O.K." CMJ. Retrieved 2014-07-20.
  4. Tom Breihan (March 20, 2014). "Stream Kool A.D. Word O.K." Stereogum. Retrieved 2014-05-29.
  5. Tom Breihan (April 21, 2014). "Kool A.D. – "Tight" (Feat. Lakutis & Mr. Muthafuckin' eXquire) Video". Stereogum. Retrieved 2014-05-29.
  6. Tom Breihan (May 9, 2014). "Kool A.D. – "I'm On A Plane" Video". Stereogum. Retrieved 2014-05-29.
  7. Tom Breihan (May 28, 2014). "Kool A.D. – "Word" Video". Stereogum. Retrieved 2014-05-29.
  8. Prashanth Kamalakanthan (June 30, 2014). "Kool A.D.'s Bizarre Pop-Culture Carnival". Mother Jones. Retrieved 2014-07-20.
  9. Tom Breihan (June 9, 2014). "Kool A.D. – "Word O.K." Video". Stereogum. Retrieved 2014-07-20.
  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 2014-04-22.
  12. Bram E Gieben (March 25, 2014). "Kool A.D. – Word, O.K." The Skinny. Retrieved 2014-04-15.
  13. Chris Coplan (March 20, 2014). "Download: Kool A.D.'s new album Word O.K." Consequence of Sound. Retrieved 2014-04-15.
  14. Lizzie Plaugic (March 20, 2014). "Snap Judgement: Kool A.D. – Word O.K." CMJ. Retrieved 2014-04-15.
  15. Christgau, Robert. "Ballots". The Village Voice. Archived from the original on January 19, 2015. Retrieved January 19, 2015.
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