Victor Vazquez (born November 16, 1983), also known by his stage name Kool A.D., is an American rapper, record producer, author, and artist. He is from the
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...
of California. Vazquez is best known for being a member of the New York-based
rap
Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...
group
Das Racist
Das Racist was an American alternative hip hop group based in Brooklyn, composed of MCs Heems and Kool A.D. and hype man Ashok Kondabolu (a.k.a. Dapwell or Dap). Known for their use of humor, academic references, foreign allusions, and unconven ...
, though he has also been a member of the bands
Boy Crisis
Boy Crisis was an American band that was influenced by the post-disco–post-punk sound of the early 1980s.
Based in Brooklyn, New York, Boy Crisis consisted of members Tal Rozen, Alex Kestner, Victor Vazquez, Lee Pender, and Owen Roberts. Vic ...
and Party Animal. Vazquez has also released his own solo material, including numerous mixtapes. ''
Mother Jones
Mary G. Harris Jones (1837 (baptized) – November 30, 1930), known as Mother Jones from 1897 onwards, was an Irish-born American schoolteacher and dressmaker who became a prominent union organizer, community organizer, and activist. She h ...
'' magazine described his work as "a thoughtful effort to deconstruct and rearrange cultural objects in ways that challenge our deepest assumptions about society and cultural products".
[
]
Background
Vazquez, who is of Afro-Cuban and Italian descent, originally hails from the San Francisco Bay area
The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...
of California. He attended high school at the Arthur Andersen Community Learning Center in Alameda
An alameda is a Avenue (landscape), street or path lined with trees () and may refer to:
Places Canada
*Alameda, Saskatchewan, town in Saskatchewan
**Grant Devine Dam, formerly ''Alameda Dam'', a dam and reservoir in southern Saskatchewan
Chile
...
and college at Wesleyan University
Wesleyan University ( ) is a Private university, private liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut. Founded in 1831 as a Men's colleges in the United States, men's college under the auspices of the Methodist Epis ...
in Middletown, Connecticut
Middletown is a city located in Middlesex County, Connecticut, United States, Located along the Connecticut River, in the central part of the state, it is south of Hartford, Connecticut, Hartford. In 1650, it was incorporated by English settler ...
, where he earned a bachelor's degree in English. While at Wesleyan, Vazquez played drums for the band La Spanka and formed the group Boy Crisis
Boy Crisis was an American band that was influenced by the post-disco–post-punk sound of the early 1980s.
Based in Brooklyn, New York, Boy Crisis consisted of members Tal Rozen, Alex Kestner, Victor Vazquez, Lee Pender, and Owen Roberts. Vic ...
.[ At Wesleyan, Vazquez met future ]Das Racist
Das Racist was an American alternative hip hop group based in Brooklyn, composed of MCs Heems and Kool A.D. and hype man Ashok Kondabolu (a.k.a. Dapwell or Dap). Known for their use of humor, academic references, foreign allusions, and unconven ...
bandmate Himanshu Suri[ as well as ]Andrew VanWyngarden
Andrew Wells VanWyngarden (born February 1, 1983) is an American musician. He is the lead vocalist, guitar player and songwriter for the band MGMT, praised for (according to ''Interview Magazine'') "an uncanny knack for producing pop music that s ...
of MGMT
MGMT () is an American indie rock band formed in 2002 in Middletown, Connecticut. It was founded by multi-instrumentalists Andrew VanWyngarden and Ben Goldwasser. Alongside VanWyngarden and Goldwasser, MGMT's live lineup currently consists of ...
.
Music career
Boy Crisis
While a student at Wesleyan University in 2005, Vazquez formed the group Boy Crisis
Boy Crisis was an American band that was influenced by the post-disco–post-punk sound of the early 1980s.
Based in Brooklyn, New York, Boy Crisis consisted of members Tal Rozen, Alex Kestner, Victor Vazquez, Lee Pender, and Owen Roberts. Vic ...
, originally playing drums, and then later moving to vocals. Although Boy Crisis signed a record deal with B-Unique Records
B-Unique Records is a London-based record label, and publishing company founded in 2001 by Mark Lewis and Martin Toher.
B-Unique's current roster includes John Newman, Kodaline, James Bay, The Mispers, Darlia, Benjamin Francis Leftwich, Luk ...
in 2008, B-Unique never released the album.
Das Racist
During his second year in college, Vazquez served as Himanshu Suri's resident advisor. Following graduation, Vazquez returned to Wesleyan several times to practice with a Boy Crisis
Boy Crisis was an American band that was influenced by the post-disco–post-punk sound of the early 1980s.
Based in Brooklyn, New York, Boy Crisis consisted of members Tal Rozen, Alex Kestner, Victor Vazquez, Lee Pender, and Owen Roberts. Vic ...
bandmate, who still attended the university. It was during this time that he became friends with Suri, and following Suri's graduation, the two moved to New York City, where they shared an apartment.
With Ashok "Dapwell" Kondabolu serving as their hype man, Vazquez and Suri formed the rap group Das Racist
Das Racist was an American alternative hip hop group based in Brooklyn, composed of MCs Heems and Kool A.D. and hype man Ashok Kondabolu (a.k.a. Dapwell or Dap). Known for their use of humor, academic references, foreign allusions, and unconven ...
. Das Racist first found success on the internet with their 2008 song "Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell", and then quickly established themselves within the underground rap scene with their 2010 mixtapes '' Shut Up, Dude'' and '' Sit Down, Man'', both of which earned them critical acclaim, the latter of which received '' Pitchfork''s designation of "Best New Music" as well as spawning tours across North America, Europe, and Asia. In 2011, the duo released their first studio album, '' Relax''. After signing a deal with Sony
, commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...
/Megaforce Records
Megaforce Records is an American independent record label founded in 1982 by Jon Zazula and his wife Marsha Zazula to release the first works of Metallica, and devoted primarily to hard rock and heavy metal. It has offices in New York City (w ...
in mid-2012 Vazquez then left Das Racist before they could release their first album with Sony.
Party Animal
Party Animal is a hardcore band in which Vazquez plays the drums.[ It consists of Vazquez, Loren Moter, and Malosi, all former members of New Earth Creeps – a band Vazquez was a founding member of in high school. In 2011, they played the Northside Festival in Brooklyn, New York, and in early 2012, Das Racist member Dapwell mentioned that Vazquez was working on material with his "other band" Party Animal.] Their eponymous debut album was released online on February 28, 2013, and the band toured the U.S. in March and April of the same year.
In July 2015, Party Animal released their second album ''Avant Garbage''.[ They released a video for the song "Saving All My Money (Just to Buy a Gun)" in September 2016.]
Solo work
On January 3, 2012, Vazquez released his debut solo mixtape ''The Palm Wine Drinkard
''The Palm-Wine Drinkard'' (subtitled "and His Dead Palm-Wine Tapster in the Dead's Town") is a novel published in 1952 by the Nigerian author Amos Tutuola. The first African novel published in English outside of Africa, this quest tale based on ...
''. ''The Palm Wine Drinkard,'' which featured several R&B tracks and other experimental music styles, received mixed reviews from critics. In April 2012, Vazquez released his second solo mixtape, '' 51,'' which received positive reviews from critics. In 2012, Vazquez stated that he had three new albums that he was working on. Two of them – titled ''19'' and ''63'' (like ''51'', the albums are named after Bay Area bus lines) – he released as a double-album on February 7, 2013. The albums include collaborations with Pictureplane
Travis Egedy (born May 1, 1985), better known by his stage name Pictureplane, is an American electronic musician, visual artist and fashion designer based in Brooklyn, New York. He first appeared in the music scene of Denver, Colorado, making a ...
, Young L, Skywlkr, Keyboard Kid, Trackademicks Trackademicks is an American Hip-Hop artist. He was born and raised in Alameda, California and is also part of the San Francisco-Bay Area music collective, the Honor Roll Crew.
Biography
Trackademicks was born in Alameda, California, to a Filip ...
, Fat Tony, Mike Finito, Lakutis, and Spank Rock, as well as a beat Ad-Rock of the Beastie Boys
Beastie Boys were an American rap rock group from New York City, formed in 1978. The group was composed of Mike D, Michael "Mike D" Diamond (vocals, drums), Adam Yauch, Adam "MCA" Yauch (vocals, bass), and Ad-Rock, Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz (voca ...
originally made for Das Racist.[ '']Vice
A vice is a practice, behaviour, or habit generally considered immoral, sinful, criminal, rude, taboo, depraved, degrading, deviant or perverted in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character tra ...
'' described ''19'' and ''63'' as "taking the discursive and funny work he was doing with Das Racist and stripping it of any sense of structure or formula, but also work ngto free him from the label of 'Dude in Das Racist.'" '' Pitchfork'' also praised the mixtapes, calling them "organically avant-garde". Vazquez and Kassa Overall released a collaborative mixtape as Kool & Kass entitled ''Peaceful Solutions'' on April 30, 2013. In December 2013, Vazquez released the mixtape '' Not O.K.'', composed of tracks that did not make it on his then-forthcoming album, entitled '' Word O.K.'' (released in 2014), and featuring guest appearances from Sir DZL and Ladybug "Santos Vieira" Mecca of Digable Planets
Digable Planets () is an American hip hop trio formed in 1987. The trio is composed of rappers Ishmael "Butterfly" Butler, Mariana "Ladybug Mecca" Vieira, and Craig "Doodlebug" Irving. The group is notable for their contributions to the subgenre ...
. In November 2015, Kool A.D. released a 100-song mixtape titled ''O.K.
''OK'' (spelling variations include ''okay'', ''O.K.'', ''ok'' and ''Ok'') is an English word (originating in American English) denoting approval, acceptance, agreement, assent, acknowledgment, or a sign of indifference. ''OK'' is frequently ...
'' as a soundtrack to his forthcoming novel ''O.K., A Novel''. 2016 saw a flurry of new releases from Kool A.D. with seven mixtapes coming in the first nine months of year, including two 100-track mixtapes (''Zig Zag Zig'' and ''Peyote Karaoke'').
Other work
Visual art
Vazquez is also a visual artist. While working at 826 Valencia
826 Valencia is a non-profit organization in the Mission District of San Francisco, California, United States, dedicated to helping children and young adults develop writing skills and to helping teachers inspire their students to write. It was ...
in 2006, he drew the cover to Dave Eggers
Dave Eggers (born March 12, 1970) is an American writer, editor, and publisher. He wrote the 2000 best-selling memoir ''A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius''. Eggers is also the founder of ''Timothy McSweeney's Quarterly Concern'', a lite ...
's ''Some Things You Should Know About Captain Rick''.[ He has also published his own comic, ''The Continuing Adventures of Boy With a Fish for a Head''.
In the summer of 2009, Vazquez responded to '']The New Yorker
''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
'' cartoonist Farley Katz's poking fun at Das Racist for "Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell" by challenging Katz to a "cartoon-off". Katz accepted, and the competition consisted of the two each drawing three cartoons: a day in the life of a rapper, a day in the life of a cartoonist, and a futuristic utopia where racism does not exist. Vazquez submitted the same drawing of domestic slackerdom for the first two, and a person in a Ku Klux Klan
The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is an American white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and ...
hood asking, "What, too soon?" for the third. Rob Harvilla of the ''Village Voice
''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the creat ...
'' declared Vazquez the winner, saying he "destroyed" Katz, and Vazquez was widely considered to have won the cartoon-off.[
Vazquez also draws pictures and sells them on ]Instagram
Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...
and Twitter. His primary medium is Sharpie on paper.
Vazquez has exhibited work in galleries in New York City and Oakland, California.
Writing
A zine of his writing titled ''Joke Book'' was published by Spencer Madsen
Spencer Madsen is a contemporary American poet and small press publisher. He is a Brooklyn-based contemporary writer as well as the founding editor of Sorry House, an independent publishing press in New York City. Madsen is part of a genre of ind ...
of Sorry House
Sorry House is an independent, small press publishing company based in Brooklyn, New York (state), New York that was founded by writer Spencer Madsen in 2012. Sorry House publishes poetry and fiction in print only.
Sorry House's debut publicatio ...
in February 2013. Praised as "a satirical criticism of our modern society that was both refreshing and thoughtful, as well as uproariously hysterical,"[ the zine sold out in its first run, necessitating a second run three months later.
From July 2015 through February 2016, Kool A.D. wrote a bi-weekly column for '']Vice
A vice is a practice, behaviour, or habit generally considered immoral, sinful, criminal, rude, taboo, depraved, degrading, deviant or perverted in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character tra ...
'' about parenting, called "Yeah Baby".
In November 2016, Kool A.D. released a novel, titled ''O.K., A Novel''. Kool A.D. had originally written the novel as a 442-page experimental narrative, with multiple narrators and other unconventional elements such as lists, screenplay-style scripts, dictionary entries, tweets, and fake ad copy,[ but he scrapped that version and re-wrote the novel.
]
Personal life and sexual assault allegations
In early 2014, Vazquez married Saba Moeel, known by her stage name Cult Days, a fashion designer and musician he had known since he was 15. They now have a child, whom Vazquez wrote about in his column in ''Vice'' magazine. Moeel and Vazquez have since separated, and she has accused him of sexually assaulting her. In December 2018, Moeel and three other women spoke with '' Pitchfork'' about Vazquez sexually assaulting them between 2006 and 2015. Vazquez told ''Pitchfork'' that his memory of the incidents differed, but apologized.
Discography
Mixtapes
* ''Electric Kool A.D. Acid Test'' (2006)
* ''Zoot Fantastic'' (2009)
* ''Dipset Trance Party'' (2010)
* ''Idiot'' (2010)
* ''Dum Shiny'' (2011)
* ''Dummo'' (2011)
* ''Hyphy Ballads'' (2011)
* ''Ah Luh Mee Duh'' (2011) – beat tape
* ''Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes'' (2011) – beat tape
* ''Nite Lite'' (2011)
* ''Hide Your Love Away'' (2011)
* ''Crack Beauty'' (2011) – beat tape
* ''The Palm Wine Drinkard
''The Palm-Wine Drinkard'' (subtitled "and His Dead Palm-Wine Tapster in the Dead's Town") is a novel published in 1952 by the Nigerian author Amos Tutuola. The first African novel published in English outside of Africa, this quest tale based on ...
'' (2012)
* '' 51'' (2012)
* '' 63'' (2013)
* '' 19'' (2013)
* '' Not O.K.'' (2013)
* '' Word O.K.'' (2014)
* ''O.K.
''OK'' (spelling variations include ''okay'', ''O.K.'', ''ok'' and ''Ok'') is an English word (originating in American English) denoting approval, acceptance, agreement, assent, acknowledgment, or a sign of indifference. ''OK'' is frequently ...
'' (2015)
* ''All Love'' (2016) – EP
* ''Real Talk'' (2016) – EP
* ''Kool A.D. Is Dead'' (2016)
* ''Gods of Tomorrow'' (2016)
* ''Zig Zag Zig'' (2016)
* ''Official'' (2016)
* ''Peyote Karaoke'' (2016)[
* ''Have a Nice Dream'' (2016)
* ''Paradiza Inifiniti'' (2016)
* ''The Natural'' (2016)
* ''Sky Ladder'' (2017)
* ''Dope'' (2017)
* ''Aztec Yoga'' (2017)
* ''No Longer at Ease'' (2018)
* ''Per L'Universo'' (2018)
* ''Art'' (2018)
* ''Critique of Judgement'' (2018)
* ''Melancholy Behind Glass'' (2018)
* ''Nada Mane'' (2018)
* ''La Regle Du Jeu'' (2018)
* ''Delusions'' (2018)
* ''Beyond the Lovers Paradox into the Perfect Lovers' Infinity'' (2018)
* ''Spanish Castle Music'' (2019)
* ''Pain, No Pain'' (2019)
* ''Ahora Y Siempre'' (2019)
* ''The Pacifist Game'' (2020)
* ''Notebook of a Return to a Native Land'' (2020)
* ''Pax Magnifica'' (2020)
* ''Phenomenology of the Spirit'' (2020)
* ''Ask the Dust'' (2020)
* ''Naturally'' (2020)
* ''Who Cares'' (2020)
* ''Death 2 Amerikkka'' (2020)
* ''Anarchy'' (2020)
* ''Finesse Brut'' (2020)
* ''Capitalism is an Embarrassment'' (2020)
* ''Peace 2 tha Godz'' (2021)
* ''Metal Ox Thuggin'' (2021)
* ''Automatic Flowers'' (2021)
* ''Bells'' (2021)
* ''Death to the Fascist Insect'' (2021)
* ''Roccoco'' (2021)
* ''Theoretical Soup'' (2021)
* ''Actual Soup'' (2021)
* ''Dubs'' (2021)
* ''Life's Great I'm Stoked'' (2021)
* ''Y'all Ain't Deserve This Beautiful Art'' (2021)
* ''One Hundred Dollar Soup'' (2021)
* ''Sit Down Mane'' (2021)
* ''Thuggin Hard'' (2021)
* ''Shut Up Foo'' (2021)
* ''Stone Soup'' (2021)
* ''Hip Hop Charm Set'' (2021)
* ''Agitprop'' (2021)
* ''Art Sux '' (2021)
* ''Japanese Cartoons'' (2021)
]
With Party Animal
* ''Party Animal'' (2013)
* ''Avant Garbage'' (2015)
With Boy Crisis
* ''Tulipomania'' (2009)
With Kassa Overall
* ''Peaceful Solutions'' (2013)
* ''Coke Boys 5'' (2014)
* ''Barter 7'' (2015)
With New Earth Creeps
* ''The Urge to Kill'' (2003)
* ''Overwhelming Hunger'' (2006)
Guest appearances
* Lakutis – "I'm Better than Everybody" from ''I'm in the Forest'' (2011)
* Sole – "Coke Rap" from '' Nuclear Winter Volume 2: Death Panel'' (2011)
* Action Bronson – "Arts & Leisure" from ''Blue Chips'' (2012)
* Supreme Cuts & Haleek Maul
Malik Hall (born in 1996), better known by his stage name Haleek Maul, is an American rapper and record producer. He is a founding member of the collective called On the Tanz. He has collaborated with the likes of Deniro Farrar, Shady Blaze, Ho ...
– "Testify" from ''Chrome Lips'' (2012)
* Heems – "Kate Boosh" from '' Nehru Jackets'' (2012)
* Angel Haze – "Jungle Fever" from ''Reservation __NOTOC__
Reservation may refer to: Places
Types of places:
* Indian reservation, in the United States
* Military base, often called reservations
* Nature reserve
Government and law
* Reservation (law), a caveat to a treaty
* Reservation in India, ...
'' (2012)
* Mishka & Rad Reef – "Hyperbolic Chamber Music" (2012)
* Toothpaste – "Daytona 900" from ''1996'' (2012)
* Hot Sugar – "Leverage" from ''Midi Murder'' (2012)
* Los Feo Faces – "50 Estate Affair" from ''City of Mammon'' (2013)
* Fat Tony – "Hood Party" from ''Smart Ass Black Boy
''Smart Ass Black Boy'' is the second studio album by American rapper Fat Tony. It was released on Young One Records on June 11, 2013. Written in two days and recorded in four days, the album is entirely produced by Tom Cruz. Music videos were cre ...
'' (2013)
* Knifefight – "Pop Your Bubble" from ''Knifefight'' (2013)
* Hot Sugar – "*In & Out*" and "Future Primitive Art School" from ''Made Man'' (2013)
* Tecla – "Mayo on the Side" from ''Bruja'' (2013)
* Maffew Ragazino – "Jackson Pollock" from ''Brownsville's Jesus'' (2014)
* Open Mike Eagle
Michael W. Eagle II (born November 14, 1980), better known by his stage name Open Mike Eagle, is an American hip hop artist and comedian. Originally from Chicago, Illinois, he is now based in Los Angeles, California, where he is a member of the h ...
– "Informations" from '' Dark Comedy'' (2014)
* King Sterlz – "Holy Sound" from ''Royalty'' (2014)
* Milo – "In Gaol" from ''A Toothpaste Suburb'' (2014)
* A Tribe Called Red
The Halluci Nation, formerly known as A Tribe Called Red, is a Canadian electronic music group who blend instrumental hip hop, reggae, moombahton and dubstep-influenced dance music with elements of First Nations music, particularly vocal chant ...
– "All Day" (2015)
* The Shoes – "Der Kreisel" from ''Broken Bag Mix'' (2015)
* Creature – "Warhol's Wig" from ''Torn Together'' (2015)
* Toro y Moi – "2 Late", "That Night", and "Real Love" from ''Samantha
Samantha (or the alternatively Samanta) is primarily used as a feminine given name. It was recorded in England in 1633 in Newton Regis, Warwickshire. It was also recorded in the 18th century in New England, but its etymology is uncertain.
Specu ...
'' (2015)
* Lushlife – "This Ecstatic Cult (Zilla Rocca Remix)" from ''My Idols Are Dead + My Enemies Are in Power'' (2017)
* Ambrose Akinmusire
Ambrose Akinmusire ( born May 1, 1982) is an American avant-garde jazz composer and trumpeter.
Biography
Born and raised in Oakland, California, Akinmusire was a member of the Berkeley High School Jazz Ensemble, where he caught the attention of ...
– '' Origami Harvest'' (2018)
* TQX – "Log Off and Live", "Text Me Back", and "Useless Generation" from ''Global Intimacy
''Global Intimacy'' is the thirteenth studio album by Australian jazz pianist and composer Barney McAll. It was released worldwide on 7 December 2018. ''Global Intimacy'' was released under the pseudonym TQX, also known as TourniquetX.
The album ...
'' (2018)
* Vashy - "Drunk Freestyles in Greece ft. Kool A.D." (2018)
* Freddy Crook - “Championship Blunts ft. Kool A.D. & okaytesla” from ''Lakeshore Monarch'' (2021)Lakeshore Monarch
bandcamp.com
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kool A.D.
1983 births
Living people
Wesleyan University alumni
American people of Italian descent
Hispanic and Latino American rappers
American entertainers of Cuban descent
African-American male rappers
21st-century American rappers
21st-century American male musicians
21st-century African-American musicians
20th-century African-American people