Known for his English-heavy lyrical wordplay within predominantly Thai-language based Thaikoon, Dennis tha Menace (or Dennis Thaikoon for short), is quickly gaining notoriety on hip hop’s international landscape. But do not take him for an overnight success story.
For Dennis it all began in the 90’s as an adolescent living in the suburbs of Los Angeles. As a teenager, he became involved in L.A.’s street gang culture as a troubled youth who was forced to mature at an accelerated rate. But through music, Dennis was able to transcend that dangerous lifestyle into the artform he is creating to this very day.
An avid fan of hip hop from the moment it hit his ears, Dennis began writing his own lyrics and developing his own style early on, with some of his biggest influences being Nas and 2pac, as well as a number of regionally-known Los Angeles-based acts. When he wasn’t causing trouble in the streets, Dennis found time to perform his raps for small crowds.
As a Thai youth, Dennis stayed well connected in L.A.’s large Thai community throughout his early life. It was through this connection he was able to connect with another young Thai L.A.-native M.C. by the name of Kris Boonmark, otherwise known as K.K. A chance meeting in Thai Town led to the inception of Thaikoon, an L.A.-based Thai supergroup of emcees.
Thaikoon’s successes led to a tour in Thailand where Dennis found the opportunity to pursue music full-time. Despite shows and life on the road, Dennis never stopped writing new rhymes, further developing his craft.
With the Thaikoon project on temporary hiatus, Dennis went forth and recorded his own solo mixtape, “The Bangkok Bully Mixtape” to some critical success, working with a number of reputable names in Thailand and Asia. A second mixtape, the followup entitled “The Bangkok Dangerous Mixtape”, only further cemented Dennis’ foothold in hip hop as its next big thing to come out of Asia.
After a string of collaborations with internationally acclaimed artists across South-East Asia, he garnered the attention of Hood Sound Records of Japan and subsequently was offered an album deal with Hood Sound’s international imprint, Hood Sound International.
His album is currently in production and set for release mid/late 2015.