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Diverse Information
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'Diverse' (born 'Kenny Jenkins') is a Chicago rapper. Although he has been critically acclaimed, he is not particularly well-known, even among fans of underground hip-hop.
Early career
Diverse got his start in the Chicago hip-hop scene, and has worked or associated with Chicago mainstays such as J.U.I.C.E., Copperpot and Iomos Marad. His debut EP, Move, featuring the track "Time", appeared in 2001.
He has professional relationships with RJD2 and Prefuse 73. He contributed to Prefuse 73's album Vocal Studies and Uprock Narratives, rhyming on the track "Plastic". Prefuse 73 also produced the original beat for "Wylin' Out", a track which paired Diverse with the beloved New York rapper Mos Def. After "Wylin' Out" was well-received, Definitive Jux's RJD2 was tapped to remix the song. The remix was selected for inclusion on the 2002 Urban Renewal Program compilation.
Both Prefuse 73 and RJD2 contributed tracks to Diverse's 2003 debut full-length, One A.M. Prefuse 73's contributions were the ambient-flavoured beats for "Jus Biz" , "Leaving", and the interlude "Amberglis". RJD2's work on the album is some of the most directly rock and funk-influenced work of his career. Other producers who contributed to the project were K. Kruz, Overflo, and Madlib. Guest appearances were made by Cannibal Ox's Vast Aire, the fierce Jean Grae, and Quannum Projects' Lyrics Born.
In 2005, Diverse teamed with a Detroit-based crew called Lawless Element, appearing on a track called "...Something." Magnif, the producer associated with Lawless Element, is among those working with Diverse on his second full-length, 'Round About, which is due in 2006.
Influences
Diverse cites Mos Def, Pharaohe Monch of Organized Konfusion, and Posdnuos of De La Soul as his three main influences. He also acknowledges Spike Lee and Sidney Poitier.
Lyrical style and content
His style is clear, with a large vocabulary and frequent use of similes and poetic imagery. His tracks, even his battle raps, are more delicate and less confrontational in tone than many rappers'.
One A.M. tracklisting
01. "Certified" (produced by RJD2}, a funk-rock braggadocio track RJD2 has referred to as a "club banger"
02. "Uprock" (produced by RJD2}, a braggadocio track which pays homage to b-boys and b-girls with the chorus "So get into your stance, uprock an' then break..."
03. "Big Game" (produced by RJD2), which Vast Aire has called his favourite of all the tracks he's worked on, and which was later remixed to feature J.U.I.C.E.)
04. "Ain't Right" (produced by Madlib), a storytelling track, in which Diverse relates an elegiac tale of untimely ends met by both guilty and innocent in the inner city.
05. "Jus Biz" (produced by Prefuse 73), a meditation on money and livelihood in which he expresses concern over the degree to which money determines a person's worth in contemporary Western civilization (and on which Prefuse 73 croons backing vocals)
06. "Blindman" (produced by K. Kruz), on which he wishes he could see the world through the eyes of a blind man-- that is, pay no regard to physical appearance, thereby bypassing the confusion of misleading surface impressions; he also makes a passing reference to his unwillingness to believe absolutely in religion, whereas most rappers are religious believers
07. "Explosive" (produced by RJD2),on which Diverse's short, plainspoken verses are contrasted with Lyrics Born's incredibly fast and clever, but barely audible ones. The track is a favourite of Chuck D.
08. "Under The Hammer" (produced by RJD2), a Gil Scott-Heron-inspired song which finds Diverse and Jean Grae lamenting urban decay, and on which he implores the listener to "consider exchanging with the planet instead of savagely raping it", a sentiment that recalls Mos Def's "New World Water"
09. "Flyin' (747)" (produced by Overflo), a braggadocio track
10. Prefuse 73's "Amberglis" interlude
11. "Leaving" (produced by Prefuse 73), in which Diverse expresses a desire to explore the vastness of the universe
12. "In Accordance", a mournful blues track recorded live in collaboration with Jeff Parker of Tortoise and Ray Mazurek and Ted Sirota of Rebel Souls
Discography
* Move CD/12" (2001)
* One A.M. CD/2xLP (2003)
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