Chicago rapper Serengeti (née David Cohn) went viral in 2006 with “Dennehy,” a breezy, soulful snapshot of Windy City working-class life through the eyes of one Kenny Dennis — a middle-aged, softball-playing, O’Doul’s-swilling South Sider whose love of his hometown teams (the song’s simple yet perfect refrain: “Bears, Hawks, Sox, Bulls”) was matched only by his loyalty to his wife, Jueles, who gets several lyrical shout-outs. Cohn is a natural storyteller prone to voicing numerous invented yet true-to-life characters in his songs. But Kenny Dennis stuck, to the tune of several more albums made in his endearingly gruff Chicagoan drawl. Which makes Cohn’s latest, Dennis 6e, such a gut-punch. Gone is the fun-loving Kenny — his beloved Jueles has mysteriously died, and he’s losing it, the voices in his head overtaking him (as heard on the album’s penultimate track, the devastating “6e”). Producer Andrew Broder’s instrumental choices — wistful pianos, creeping strings, icy synths — only compound the desolate city-in-winter vibe. I know Kenny’s just an alter-ego and not a real person, but listening to Dennis 6e evokes a similar feeling to watching that 2008 YouTube video of Kermit the Frog shooting heroin and singing Elliott Smith’s “Needle in the Hay.” I’ll be there because I dig Cohn’s stuff, but also just as a wellness check. (Serengeti was originally slated to perform at The East Room, but that show was canceled. He is now playing a DJ set at Dino's.) CHARLIE ZAILLIAN
Serengeti
