On Oct. 18, hell reveal his latest act by dropping an album calledMajician.
From the first time we met, we were peoples, Kurious recalls.
Were at each others cribs, inseparable, hitting clubs, drinking forties, all that.
After only releasing two albums between 1990 and 2020, Kurious is speeding up his tempo: “I’m trying to make up for decades.”Angel Flores*
And all that included making music: They collaborated on numerous songs over the years, from ?
He says over Zoom that hes making up for lost time.
Its almost a Tupac sense of urgency, he says.
Now its a luxury neighborhood.
Coming up, it was the hood.
In Harlem and East Harlem, it was more segregated back then.
But UWS, that was more Black and Puerto Rican, all mixed together.
He signed to Sony Records and dropped his debut,A Constipated Monkey, in 1993.
Kurious says it was so exciting to hear DJ Red Alert play the latter song on the radio.
But all wasnt well with his rap career.
[I got] an awareness of a connection to everything, he says.
You dont feel like a separate entity.
You connecting with people, with life, with everything.
He continues: I couldnt write the same way that I was before.
Everything was more serious.
Everything was more powerful.
My words meant more.
I was trying to get this new footing and everybodys like, Whats up?
Because I had a little momentum off of my first record.
Theyre like, Come on, lets do it.
He says he began working regular jobs, occasionally hustling to pay the bills.
He still wrote raps, but was overthinking what a new project should sound like.
Id always have [a verse] for one of my boys, he says.
He could be overseas, I wont see him.
I could be getting a new apartment or something and need the security deposit.
Im talking to my girl, like, All right, I got to get this.
All of a sudden, here comes a beat from DOOM and a check for $2,000.
DOOM jumps in to split the last two bars before Kurious rhymes, Only we save we.
A significant amount ofOperation Doomsdaywas created at Kurious home, where he observed DOOMs voracious work ethic.
Hell be there for what seemed like 24 hours, just locking some drums to the right.
Youll hear this drum loop playing over this loop of music over and over.
In 2009, Kurious returned to music to dropII, his first album in 16 years.
His resurgence caught the attention of the independent record label Amalgam Digital, who offered him a deal.
Response was mixed, but Kurious understood it.
I didnt feed them enough in between, he says.
And if you take them off to the left, youre going to lose a lot of them.
In 2016, he reconnected with DOOM and flew out to Grenada to hang out with him.
He says they instantly rekindled their close bond.
It was like the early 90s again, Kurious fondly recalls.
We didnt miss a beat.
I got to have that time with my brother like we never left.
They worked on DOOM music that still hasnt been released.
Id be like, Dude, why you got tape on your glasses?
And hed be like, Never showboat.
Over three years, Kurious craftedMajicianvia stateside studio sessions with Mono and periodic overseas listening sessions with DOOM.
He says that only songs that particularly moved DOOM madeMajician.
When we reconnected, we literally could communicate overseas, he says.
I almost feel like I know what hes feeling.
We really be on the same page from far away its a frequency.
Kurious recollections reveal them as a pair of unconventional thinkers that justgoteach other.
Ill be like, Whoa, word, Kurious says.
Im open-minded, but I still cant see exactly what hes talking about.
So, youre just like, OK, never doubting him.
I guess thats why he liked to have me around.
Maybe other motherfuckers will be like…
I dont know, but I know [DOOM], and hes different, man.
Kurious almost releasedMajicianwithout a name, recalling DOOMs numerous alter-egos.
He decided to put a J inMajicianto reflect his given name, Jorge.
He says the project is about identifying with our eternal self.
He adds: When youre really doing something from the heart, it becomes bigger than you.
And you tap into something that people maybe call magic.
To me, it is just love.
He was strong, Kurious says.
I knew he couldnt drink like usual.
You couldnt tell it was something where you werent going to see him again.
MF DOOM passed onOct.
31, 2020, but most of the world didnt find out until New Years Eve of that year.
She also told Kurious that one of DOOMs wishes was the release ofMajician.
Kurious says hes grateful for the consideration, and for DOOM in general.
Thats so DOOM, bro.
Right now, hes very present.
And thats my brother.
That portals always open with me.
