The sequel to last year's self-titled EP, the Kenny Dennis LP furthers Serengeti's hilarious, absurdist and subtly humane saga of a Chicago-born man with a Mike Ditka mustache, whose lovable delusions and diehard loyalty fall somewhere between Homer Simpson and a Bill Swerski superfan.
For those just tuning into the chronicles of Kenny, there are a few things one needs to know. First off: Dennis was once in Tha Grimm Teachaz during the Golden Age of the early '90s. Signed to Jive, the Teachaz learned record industry rule #4,080 and were dropped from the label, but not before Dennis feuded with Shaquille O'Neal, who was performing with the Fu-Schnickens during the 1993 Jive Records Showcase in Philadelphia. Shaq mocked Dennis's stache. This was a grave error.
Dennis returned with a vengeance on 2006's cult classic Dennehy. Since then, the character created by David Cohn has re-appeared on Conversations with Kenny and the "original never-released" Grimm Teachaz record, There's a Situation on the Homefront. But the KDz really hit his stride as an MC on last year's eponymous EP, which Pitchfork raved as being "half Prince Paul, half Waiting for Guffman."
Lest one mistake Serengeti for a joke artist, 2011's Family & Friends and 2012's C.A.R. found the prolific Chicagoan writing some of the most self-deprecating and sorrowful looks at addiction and image transformation in recent memory. Robert Christgau, the dean of American music critics, has given all but one of his records "A" scores and openly wondered: "Is there anyone else who can do this?"
But there's only one Kenny Dennis and he's back to offer some direction--straight up, no O'Doul's chaser. The Kenny Dennis LP is full of jewels of wisdom, the tender love story Dennis and his wife Jueles, and the longtime friendship between Dennis and Ders (Anders Holm from Workaholics, a Dennis fan who appears in four skits). The beats come from Odd Nosdam and cast a similarly bizarro re-working of boom-bap, blending rugged beat breaks, sci-fi synths, and scratches courtesy of Jel.
Kenny Dennis might be "normal," but Serengeti's creativity is unrivaled. As bizarre as it is brilliant, it's like the deranged comic vision of an imaginary super-group comprised of Andy Kauffman, Mellow Gold-era Beck and MF Doom.
