By his early 20s, Kurious was already an in-demand voice on the mic.

His 1994 major label debut album, A Constipated Monkey, is a classic of

it's style, marked by heavy beats and nimble rhymes that are razor-sharp

yet frequently hilarious. Despite being hailed as one of hip-hop's most

compelling lyricists, he didn't release another solo LP for the rest of that

decade, but he continued to be sought after. Rap fans the world over

know him for his verse on

"?." one of the standout songs from his

longtime friend and collaborator MF DOOM's heralded Operation:

Doomsday.

As he prepares for the release of his new album, Majician-the

nickname his peers blessed him with a generation ago-Kurious is well

on his way to establishing the legacy he's long deserved. The LP, which

was executive produced by MF DOOM before his passing, is a

mesmerizing blend of technical wizardry and personal introspection. Take

"Eye of Horus," where the pulsing drums convey an urgency that borders

on panic; Kurious weaves a complex tapestry of history and insight, but

does so while ducking through and under each pocket in the beat.

Produced in it's entirety by Mono en Stereo, Majician is filled with

songs like "Eye of Horus," which dance on the line between confession

and confrontation. "Separation Anxiety" is a personal bloodletting in the

form of lyrical exercise; "Par For the Course," which features the elusive

Mr. Fantastik, makes drum breaks from the early Reagan era sound

totally revitalized. Through the radical amount of work Kurious put into

the writing and recording of this material, he's removed all ambiguity

from the question of whether he can stand as one of the premier MCs of

his time.