a blaze that is more “Ash”

Lazza the review of the new album, Locuraedited by Alvise Salerno.

Now we live with the new album by Lazza for more than a week but it was necessary to wait and let the sensations settle. In some cases, haste is never a good advisor.

Locura arrived on the market with great expectations and the stigmata of 'album of the year', also called by the writer hastily before the release (which is why I lowered the bar on The Weekndbut that's another story…), and that's why waiting a few days was the only thing to do before shooting zero or praising it in a detailed review.

Let's start immediately with certainties, one above all the ability to Jacob Lazzarini to always be on top of things, this is undeniable, and to be able to broaden their user base from album to album.

He himself had said it in the presentation press conference, “I always try to improve by paying attention to details“, and achieving this was not an easy task after a true masterpiece of the genre like Sirio.

This is where the 'cold' mechanism of our review comes into play, because it really is Sirius the problem and at the same time the solution to all the chatter these days.

Hot, right away, listening Locura the easy and immediate reasoning is that it is not Siriusit's not even remotely close to both negative and positive. And that's the point, it doesn't have to.

Locura was born with different assumptions, with different intentions and with a different audience. Sirius he wasn't carrying the weight of on his back Sanremoof the charts, of being number one. It was an album born in freedom and which had to write a story that didn't yet exist. The records of consecutive weeks in the Top 100, the platinum records that will soon become a beautiful diamond, the only Italian and rap album with all the certified singles. None of that existed during the creation of that album.

Lazza's choice for care

Lazza he came to this his fourth studio album knowing that he had a historian to honor but without the need to prove anything to anyone, that would have been the biggest mistake because nine times out of ten the pressure becomes too much and doesn't make you work well .

The choice was easy and, in my opinion, dictated by the great awareness mentioned above: Sirius it cannot be done, it is and remains unrepeatable. Solution? Change everything or almost everything.

Move more in the wake of Ash but without forgetting the origins, winking at chart pop without putting rap aside, uniting Laura Pausini And LilBaby which are not two opposite worlds, they are actually entire galaxies distant. Ambition but with feet firmly on the ground.

In a hypothetical football scheme, given that Milan is the favorite team of Lazzahe is the breakthrough battering ram, the number 9 with all the various interpreters of a 3-4-2-1 behind him with the Pausini, Gué And Marracash central defenders, as a playmaker in the middle of the field was chosen Drillionaire with next to it LilBaby to calm the spirits. On the flanks the two youngsters running fast, Kid Yugi And Artie 5ivewith Ghali And Ball classic attacking midfielders with genius and recklessness.

This is the main team and everyone stays in their place but, as they say in football jargon, if the director doesn't sort the balls well the whole team is in difficulty.

The songs on the album

Let's return to music using this comparison to underline that the work of Drillionaire it was a lot, perhaps even too much, and there is a general lack of creative flashes.

Throughout the entire listening session you almost always have that perception of what has already been heard, of “this reminds me of…” or “it resembles…” which, God forbid, are not a sin worthy of capital punishment but we are still talking about the new album by an artist who comes from the above results with previous work. One would expect something different.

Judging, among other things, by the stories of a few days ago Shiva And Gué in which they make clear references to the fact that two songs by Locura are similar to two songs in their discography (Hate Song/Don't You Know, Fentanyl/Thirty-One Days), the feeling extends to many.

To play the same game in stories too Ball who republished his 15 floors the very day of the release of Locuraalongside it Turtleneck.

And the feeling continues if we take Sticky Of Drakealongside -3(Miss Your Flight)or the obvious one HOT with the same intro as Hot Of Young Thug and then close with Extra zeros which follows the model of Redrum Of 21 Savage.

Now, to further clarify a key concept, we specify that here no one is saying that there is plagiarism, not at all, but only that there is a generic creative tiredness which inevitably leads to searching for sounds and flashes in something that lies in the memory and that refers to something else.

Locura it's not a bad album or one of those that doesn't deserve to be where it is, an almost obvious debut at N.1 in all the existing charts in Italy, indeed long live albums like this. It simply cannot be compared to its predecessor in every respect.

We arrive at the title of this review to give the last impetus, because the greatest creative psychological short circuit of Locura And Ash.

That is certainly not the rapper's best song but, without a doubt, it is what allowed him to capture a different, broader audience, the so-called mainstream. It's normal that he would have also satisfied this new part of fans who arrived post-Sanremo.

Bad to Sellfor example, is one Ash 2.0 revised and corrected but with the exact same structure and a refrain which, from whatever side you want to see it, is the same. It's the song that radios and the general public need, the one who only listens to the singles and doesn't buy the album, the one who has no idea of ​​the existence of Sirius or of King Midas.

Is it so wrong to please everyone? No, not at all, if the total work is managed with balance and Locura it has different elements from various genres and recording eras of the same Lazza which mix in a balanced way.

Obviously, historical fans are disappointed because they wanted a Lazza 100% old school but when you reach certain peaks you have to observe everything, not just one part and forget the others. Necessary compromises.

In summary…

Locura it's a 'wide field' album, perhaps a little repetitive and with many uninspired points but, despite this, very enjoyable and with few moments, in fact almost non-existent, in which you skip songs.

You listen, you listen again and you like it with all its merits but also its defects in perfect balance.