Kaos & Mystro

The duo

Kaos & Mystro were a hip hop duo from Detroit. Discogs lists the members as Don Rico Brent, who rapped as Kaos, and Jason Wilson, who rapped as Mystro and later also recorded as Lord Maji or Maji. Both are credited as writers and arrangers on their records. Wilson also worked on the technical side, sharing engineering and mixing credits on the duo’s album.

World One Records

In 1989 the duo released the 12-inch “Mystro On The Flex” on World One Records (WO-100), with radio and “Dog Re-Mix” versions and “Mass Confusion” on the flip. It was produced by Carl “Butch” Small and Gene David, credited as CarGen Productions, and written by Small, Brent and Wilson. The same year World One issued their album Outcast Vol. 1 (WO-500). The sleeve says it was recorded at World One Computer Lab in Detroit and Traxx Recording Studio in Oak Park, Michigan, with all songs “composed with The Compu-Beat-Synthtronic Process.” A 1990 single, “Timeless Insight Of Kaos,” paired the title track with “Call For Revolutionaries.”

Sound and reputation

The duo’s records are built on drum-machine programming and heavy low end. Metro Times, recounting Detroit’s hip hop history, singled out “the trunk-rattling bass of Kaos and Mystro’s ‘Mystro on the Flex’” as part of the city’s distinct sound. Complex’s history of Detroit rap lists “Mystro On The Flex” and “Mass Confusion,” both from 1989, in its section on the late-1980s scene, next to Awesome Dré and the Hardcore Committee.

Later circulation

Their tracks kept circulating through Detroit DJ culture. Discogs lists them on mixes including P-Dog’s Detroit 101 (2002), Sloppy White’s The Way It Was and Get Some (both 2005), and Tom Thumz’s Medium: Rare II / Well Done (2005).