“The Legend of Kenneth Wood” by Kenneth Wood & The Brothers Nylon

July 24th, 2020

Kenny Truhn is a musical chameleon.  From Acoustic/Indie Rock to Hip Hop to Hard Rock/Metal to R&B, the dude can do it all!  I don’t think I have ever come across another musician who is a diversely talented as Kenny is.  Whatever track he touches turns into gold.  Kenny is back this month with his highly anticipated R&B album, “The Legend of Kenneth Wood”, by Kenneth Wood & The Brothers Nylon.  It dropped this past Monday and the album is STACKED with irresistible beats, beautiful instrumentals, and the soulful sound of Kenny’s voice.

Kenneth Wood & The Brothers Nylon worked on this entire album during the social distance/quarantine months.  The Brothers Nylon consists of LI natives Michael and Nick Rufolo.  The recorded all the music for the album straight to tape (which is impressive in itself) and Kenny wrote all the lyrics and recorder vocals.  Kenny and The Brothers Nylon have been working over the internet together for more than a year now.  They have made appearances on a couple of tracks on “Mandarin” (by Kenny Truhn) and “Rutabaga” (by Snottaynose).  Kenny said that it was “these collaborations that led us to making a full length R&B record.”  I am so glad they started with those first few collaborations because it led to the masterpiece that is “The Legend of Kenneth Wood”!

Kenny sent me “The Legend of Kenneth Wood” a few weeks back and I have been straight up HOOKED ever since I played the first track.  I have a very diverse taste  in music, so I always rock with R&B songs, but I have never listened to an R&B album front to back and loved every song…. until now.  Kenneth Wood is that dude! The album begins with “Want to Be Somethin’?”, one of my favorite tracks on the album.  The second that piano played over the beat, I fell in love with this album.  Kenny’s vocals on the chorus are infectious; you can’t help but move your body to the rhythm and sing along.  The album follows up with “That Don’t Mean I Don’t Love You”, a song that is sure to be a fan favorite.  The first time I heard this song, my immediate thought was “this should be on the radio”.  The Brothers Nylon composed this instrumental flawlessly, creating that ideal sound that R&B fans love.  Kenny’s lyrics on this track will resonate with fans.  Most of us have been hurt in a relationship and very honestly, it sucks.  Kenny did an amazing job of taking a situation like that and turning it into a classic song!  “You tell me you want space from me, but that don’t mean I don’t love you, the rest is history.  But, you said that you want space from me, but that don’t mean I don’t love you, and then you kissed me”.  

The album follows up with “She Rides the Frequency”, the track with the most streams on Spotify at the moment!  I was drawn into this song right away because of the A Tribe Called Quest style instrumentals.  Kenny has this knack for including ATCQ vibes on every album he drops.  What impresses me the most is that the wide variety of flows he has on each album fits perfectly with whatever instrumental he’s given.  Fans are going to love this song because of how genuine it is.  Listeners love when an artist can tell a story in their songs, and Kenny is nothing short of a masterful story teller.  “She ain’t not ordinary girl.  She rides the frequency, like she’s been here before.  Damn, the skin she’s in, it fits her nice. The more I love her the less I try.  See we were honest from the start.  We built a foundation so strong you could not tear it apart.  All I did was open my heart, all I did was follow my gut, and it led me to you, you know it had something to do with love.”  

The other song I have to go into detail on is “All Your Secrets”.  This is my favorite song on the album.  The way the horns section compliments the beat is absolutely amazing.  It reminds me a lot of an instrumental you may hear on a Justin Timberlake album.  This is a song that can easily sell as a radio single.  Between the dope instrumentals and Kenny’s uncanny ability to match the cadence of his voice to whatever beat he’s given, this song has CLASSIC written all over it.  If that doesn’t sell you, Kenny’s lyrics will.  “I would never tell all of your secrets.  I would never hurt you out of spite, no lie.  Even if you didn’t want to see me, I would understand, let’s make amends, let’s talk about it.”  I can picture it now, driving and hearing someone blasting this on the radio in their car.  It’s THAT good!

Like most of Kenny’s projects, the album follows a progression of flows that steadily change as the album runs through.  The beginning of the album was more upbeat and loud, and it gradually becomes softer, slower and more soulful.  The album ends with “Quarantine This Love”, the perfect title for the final track on an album created during Quarantine.  I love this song because of how real Kenny makes the lyrics.  “We’re living in a crazy time, a virus is spreading like wildfire.  Science doesn’t lie, reality is in denial.  I’m just a little worried about our life.”  This describes the current state of our country perfectly.  A disease is still spreading, yet half our country would rather live in denial than do what’s necessary.  The strain that this must be putting on relationships is awful, and Kenny captured that mindset perfectly.

Kenneth Wood & The Brothers Nylon dropped a banger on the world this past Monday.  Even if you don’t consider yourself to be an R&B fan, make sure you give this album a listen.  This is an album that should be spun over and over again.  It’s only a matter of time before Kenny takes off, so jump on the bandwagon while it’s hot!  Make sure you follow Kenny & The Brothers Nylon on social media and check out songs from “The Legend of Kenneth Wood” on the blog’s Spotify playlist!