This demo made by the independent rapper from Abruzzo, is one of the first hip-hop documents recorded in Italy and is the most neglected work by Lou X, unfairly.
He writes and performs all the lyrics, while the production is realized by DJ Erik (sometimes is credited Lou X himself, wrongly). DJ Erik didn't do a good job: the drum dominates and kills everything in its path, the guys choose good samples (James Brown, Joe Tex, Melvin Bliss, Public Enemy, Eric B. & Rakim and classic songs like "Darkest Light" of Lafayette Afro Rock Band, "Eye of the Tiger" of Survivor and the ubiquitous "UFO" of ESG), but these samples are subordinate to the drum machine, are hard to spot in most cases, and are dulled by the deadly sound chosen by the beatmaker.
Lyrically, there's a lot more to explore: Lou X delivers a nasty hardcore entry ("Figlio di...") and goes on a steady pace mixing militant, anti-system, anti-state, political and socio-conscious bars, spit with hardcore, shiny and solid delivery. There is little room for battle rap, thugging and casual bravado, the rapper takes a thirty-five minute [painful and throbbing] snapshot of the moment, also touching on pro-Palestine, pro-African-American themes and inserting several references to Black Panthers.
The tape is too difficult to deal with musically, and is not particularly accessible even from the point of view of the lyrics, anticipating most of the topics that he'll propose again in his official debut "Dal basso" three years later.
Rating: 6/10.
No comments:
Post a Comment