A picture of Ken Kaniff.
Ken Kaniff aka Ken Kenneth is a recurring character in skits and, initially, songs on Eminem's albums.
He was originally made and voiced by Aristotle on the skit "Ken Kaniff" on The Slim Shady LP. However, a dispute between him and Eminem resulted in both artists severing ties. In 2002, Aristotle got his album, The Ken Kaniff Show, where it is confirmed that Ken is in fact, a pedophile.
The character, as he appears on The Marshall Mathers LP, has since been voiced exclusively by Eminem, while Aristotle's original version of Ken still exists as a bisexual, adult male still attending high school. Ken is portrayed as having an expansive imagination coupled alongside a distinctly psychopathic mind state which rationalizes both pedophilia and an irrational hate for minor authority figures.
On The Slim Shady LP, Ken has his own skit in which he calls Eminem and proposes to him multiple gay practices in a hotel room on which Eminem just laughs and mentions rapper Cage (with whom he had beef at the time) when he asks Ken, "Yo, who is this, Cage?" On Madd Rapper's album, "Tell 'Em Why U Madd" in 1999, he appears in intro of the 9th track of album, "Stir Crazy".
He returns on The Marshall Mathers LP, once again in a skit named after him, where he receives fellatio by Shaggy and Jay - this skit is the, therefore, diss against the group, Insane Clown Posse. He appears on the song, "Criminal," saying "amen" when Eminem tells him to give him an "amen". He is also mentioned in the song "The Kids" where he is referred to as "Mr Kaniff" and he reportedly has pneumonia, which is challenged by the voice of eric cartman saying that he has AIDS.
On The Eminem Show, the character appears in a skit called "Curtains Close", where he steps up to an empty stage with no audience and parodies the intro of the song, Without Me in the microphone, changing the words to sound homosexual.
On Relapse , he is also presented on the outro of the album in a skit at the end of the song "Underground", where he once again parodies songs from the album (Relapse & Relapse: Refill songs "My Mom" and We Made You) in a session of people struggling with some kind of dependency. He apparently accompanies his freestyle with a tap dance.
Ken can later be heard on The Marshall Mathers LP 2 singing a parody of "Berserk" in a bathroom at the end of "Wicked Ways" on the deluxe version and the end of "Evil Twin" on the standard edition album.
Ken makes an appearance during the The Death of Slim Shady (Coup De Grâce)’s skit “Guess Who’s Back” where Ken references the songs “Habits” and “Houdini”, both songs on the album. Midway through the skit, Ken realizes that he was left behind again, causing him to leave.
Outside of his roles within Eminem's skits and songs, he was given a place as one of the major characters on The Slim Shady Show, where he is portrayed as a skinny red-haired Caucasian; in reality he is a dirty blond with a mustache that works for Krohn Media.
Parodies[]
Eminem[]
- The Slim Shady LP - Ken Kaniff ft. Aristotle, Eminem, and Mark Bass
- The Marshall Mathers LP -Ken Kaniff
- The Eminem Show - "Curtains Close
- Relapse & Relapse: Refill - Underground
- The Marshall Mathers LP 2 - Evil Twin
- The Marshall Mathers LP 2 (Deluxe)) - Wicked Ways
- The Death Of Slim Shady (Coup De Grâce) - Guess Who’s Back (skit)
Aristotle[]
- The Ken Kaniff Show - "Without You"