Chicago MC Serengeti has released another follow-up to his Ajai LP from last year, titled KDxMPC. On this new EP Serengeti continues his now traditional role as a narrator of urban, blue-collar life from the perspective of one of his more enduring (and endearing) characters, Kenny Dennis- a hard-working, recovering alcoholic, whose main obsessions of Chicago sports, American Gladiators, deep-dish pizza, and O’dules mostly keep him out of trouble, or at least enough to allow him to provide for those he cares about. Hearing Serengeti rap as Kenny is like hearing one of those old SNL Bill Swerski’s Superfans sketches put to rhyme. If this sounds corny to you, or a ridiculous premise for a rap album, then you’ve obviously never been to a Portillo’s on a Friday night. All manner of people, from all walks of life, converge on the consensus of Chicago sports and food. You can’t get a sense of life there without immersing yourself in one, or both.
While KDxMPC is primarily told from the perspective of Kenny Dennis, it continues the story of the titular character from Serengeti’s previous LP, Ajai- a young guy of meager means, who is obsessed with fashion and whose shopping addiction is slowly ruining his (and his family’s) life. This current EP takes place primarily in Minneapolis, where Kenny and Ajai have moved, ostensibly to straighten Ajai out. While Ajai can be extremely petty and childish with his compulsive behavior, his immaturity betrays an innocence that is relatable and goes a long way towards making his flaws not just forgivable but downright charming. It’s not hard to understand why a character like Kenny would find something redeemable about him despite his superficiality, and their interactions on the album (all performed by Serengeti) can be absolutely hilarious, especially on “Gyro” where Serengeti rapping as Kenny, takes a seemingly benign conversation about finding a decent place to eat and turns it to a discussion of life and priorities, shouting at one “gotta have more than style.” Is a quality gyro the secret to a happy life? Maybe not. But it’s never easy contemplating life on an empty stomach, so it might be a good place to start.
Serengeti’s flow slips between his smooth but surprisingly crunchy meld of backpacking, granola bars and a cool, laid-back sprawl, and the more hurried and direct chop of Kenny’s avuncular persona. The beats over which Serengeti drops his flexible narrations are all borrowed from his oft collaborator Kenny Segal, and were apparently composed as late as 2005. Segal’s bops are effortlessly handsome and magnetic, applying a clean but unproduced varnish on classic jazz-rap and boom-bap percussion, patient piano samples, and spanning guitar ripples. They’re the accompaniments you’d expect on an album about hardscrabble living and lean times. Although, on KDxMPC the struggle described is that of a working man trying to lead a good life, and teach others to do the same, in a world that seems designed to deny him the pleasures of his sought-after virtue.
You can stream the entirety of Serengeti’s KDxMPC via Bandcamp below:
