Album review: Serengeti’s ‘Kenny Dennis LP’
Who is Kenny Dennis? He’s a 53-year-old, Mike Ditka-loving, mustachioed Chicago lunkhead and rapper who formerly starred in a fictional hip-hop trio. A project that began as a character invented by rapper Serengeti in 2008, Kenny’s got an opinion about everything: A man who’ll shush loudmouths on the El, who rips up traffic tickets but whose code dictates he pull over to help a stranded motorist.
The fictional Kenny rules this album with an iron fist, and Serengeti conveys a Chicago-accented persona with the skill of an actor while producer Odd Nosdam offers left-field beats that buzz with accomplishment. Between tracks, a friend of Kenny’s describes our hero documentary style.
The song “Kenny and Jueles†showcases Kenny whisper-rapping about his wife with touching verses that detail their relationship — playing Scrabble and connecting the word “sausage†to “Polish,†watching sports on the couch and drinking hot toddies.
“50th Birthday†recounts Kenny’s failed L.A. dinner at a Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse to meet Nitro from “American Gladiator.†Taken together, the 11 tracks on “Kenny Dennis†feel like chapters, and combine to create a work as accomplished — and entertaining — as a well-imagined graphic novel or confidently told short story.
---------------------
Serengeti
“Kenny Dennis LPâ€
Anticon
Three and a half
Albums are rated on a scale of four stars (excellent), three stars (good), two stars (fair) and one star (poor).
More to Read
The biggest entertainment stories
Get our big stories about Hollywood, film, television, music, arts, culture and more right in your inbox as soon as they publish.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
