Chicago’s Serengeti & Polyphonic proved they work better
together on their 2007 debut, Don’t Give Up. Both were making
waves as solo artists before the collaboration. Serengeti’s
genre-hopping rhymes on Gasoline Rainbows had garnered buzz,
while Polyphonic’s spacey Abstract Data Ark helped him land
production work. Eventually, Don’t Give Up caught the ear of
Anticon’s Adam “doseone” Drucker, who signed the duo for their
sophomore release, Terradactyl. Like its predecessor, the new
record is never short on weirdness. Polyphonic’s progressive beatwork
could work as the soundtrack to a science-fiction film.
From the first few notes of “Bon Voyage,” you’ll feel like you’ve
warped to another dimension. On “Call the Law,” they meld synthetic
sounds with natural elements, sounding like a rap version of Dan
Deacon. At first listen, Serengeti’s flow recalls Kool Keith, but his
lyrics go deeper — the disc’s themes include homelessness (“Down
Under the Bridge”), poverty (“Playing in Subway Stations”) and love
(“La La Lala”). For those who complain that rap has gone stale,
Terradactyl proves otherwise. While Kanye West tries to take
hip-hop back in time, S&P are moving us into the future.
— Eddie Fleisher
This article appears in Jun 24-30, 2009.
