Key to the Kuffs | ||||
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Studio album by JJ Doom | ||||
Released | August 20, 2012 | |||
Recorded | 2010-2012 | |||
Genre |
Underground hip hop Alternative hip hop |
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Length | 42:00 | |||
Label | Lex Records | |||
Producer | Jneiro Jarel | |||
Jneiro Jarel chronology | ||||
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MF Doom chronology | ||||
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Professional ratings | |
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Aggregate scores | |
Source | Rating |
Metacritic | 74/100 |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | |
The A.V. Club | B+ |
Consequence of Sound | C- |
Drowned in Sound | 6/10 |
Fact | 3.5/5 |
NME | |
Pitchfork | 7.3/10 |
Resident Advisor | 4.0/5 |
Slant Magazine | |
XLR8R | 7/10 |
Key to the Kuffs is a collaborative album by alternative hip hop artists Jneiro Jarel and MF Doom under the moniker JJ Doom. It was released on Lex Records on August 20, 2012.
Jneiro Jarel produced the music in his studio in New Orleans. Although he and Doom met several times during the recording the bulk of the work was carried out in their respective studios. MF Doom recorded the vocals for the album in London between December 2010 and April 2012.
The album includes guest vocals by Damon Albarn of Blur and Gorillaz, Beth Gibbons of Portishead, Khujo Goodie of Goodie Mob and Dungeon Family, and Boston Fielder.
Two alternative versions of tracks from the album were released prior to the album. The tracks were the Doom/Thom Yorke/Jonny Greenwood version of "Retarded Fren" and the Dave Sitek remix of "Rhymin Slang."
At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, Key to the Kuffs received an average score of 74% based on 26 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
The Guardian described Key to the Kuffs as a "killer new album with a spectral guest vocal by Beth Gibbons from Portishead."Spin listed a lyric in "Banished" as one of the best rap lines of 2012.Thom Yorke of Radiohead listed "Guv'nor" as his "single of 2012."
In 2017 Pitchfork wrote that "Key to the Kuffs has aged into excellence in the nearly five years since it first came out."