Serengeti never comes up on shortlists of the best rappers. It’s inaccurate but it’s obvious why. He’s a guy who doesn’t fit into any preexisting lane. His earliest inspiration was Doom, but rather than don a mask, he donned a mustache and fleshed out the Kenny Dennis alter-ego down to the last four minute mile.
The KDz might earn the laughs, but his most meaningful music often comes on minimal almost folk sketches. “Firebird Logo” falls into this category. Slated for an October 29th release on Odd Nosdam’s imprint, Burnco, this broken poem to a Pontiac seems to be a string of non-sequiturs. But this is Serengeti, so they all carry their own somber mix of fantasy and sad images. Dinners with Spike Lee, sick brick breaking karate moves. But then there’s a line like “once I found my whimsy, it was like the savage breaking free from crates.”
Lines like that explain why the music is so effective. It juxtaposes the whimsy with the weight and leaves you with lines that are funny but aren’t quite jokes. If you’re keeping score, the ambient collage on “Firebird Logo” comes courtesy of producer, Arborist. No trees consumed in the making of this box frame, but don’t let that stop you.
