The first to talk to me about Sayf, in unsuspecting times, was a DJ from Radio Popolare, a historic broadcaster of the Milanese left – which was among the few to intercept the radio before the explosion. Badabum Cha Cha of Marracash in 2008 – and not a Essemagazine any one, or an IG profile among the many that invade social media. It was 2023 and Sayf already had an album under his belt (Everyday Struggle2020) and some singles, such as Nina or Howeverwhich had captured attention for the originality of the flow and the bases: trumpets and acoustic guitars in loop that seemed stolen from the festive patchanka of Manu Chao, that mix of ska, reggae, rap, gypsy and Latin rhythms that had characterized a season of European musical counterculture, from the beginning of the 90s until 2001, the G8 in Genoa and the end of a world, for murder and slaughter.
Sayf was born in Genoa two years earlier, but the memory of that July remained more or less consciously stuck on him, ending up in the rhymes of the second song in Sanremo 2026 I like you a lot (“a flower on a van”). But, despite being at the Ariston, no controversy (not even for bringing up Berlusconi and the floods), perhaps due to that sweet, light-hearted, pleasant manner that distances the perception of Sayf both from the Baby Gang-style crime and from the media contemporaneity of a Ghali.
Despite their common North African origins (from a mother for the Genoese singer, from both parents for the Milanese one) the two divide the Spotify electorate differently: if Ghali embodies the left of the future, urban and global, Sayf represents the vintage and proletarian one – more coffee, bitters and cigarettes at the bar than fashion shows at fashion week – ready to fill the new village festivals such as the Concertone del Primo Maggio or the Radio Italia party in Piazza Duomo in Milan. The accessibility of the Sayf universe – however musically cultured and progressive – does not grant him the star status reserved for less prepared but more hyped colleagues (the list of names would be too long) and it is for this reason that his latest notable album Most Holyreleased about ten days ago, was a bit snubbed by what remains of the critics.
Love, social redemption, pride in humble origins – or rather “the trinity” of Italian rap storytelling – are expressed in 18 variously assorted tracks: from the Motown funk of Sex on La Santa at banger street Bratz with Nerissima Serpe which fades into raggamuffin passing through the homage to the singer-songwriters (one centimeter from the plagiarism of Lucio Dalla) of Talk about love with Bresh and for the rap punchlines of No boutiques And FI$. with Tedua. The urban arrangement of the patchanka, with horns and Latin and Arabic rhythms, remains a trademark of his sound, giving a glimpse of a well-played and engaging live set for the upcoming tour. While the irony and romanticism of the lyrics (a trace of the DNA of the Genoese school of singer-songwriters) give the album a certain brightness and good vibrations, the famous “good grip” that has long been missing in many ego-trap albums.
If we really have to bother the saints, Most Holy it is a tribute – even if unintentional – to Clandestine by Manu Chao, who gave his most memorable concert at that G8. Sure, Manu is in the car radios of boomers leaving for holidays, Sayf is in the cell phones of another generation, but the conscious party atmosphere and the street minstrel attitude are similar. And so are the musical references that give Sayf a few years older than his true age: will it be the Apennines that raise a barrier to the winds of fashions and trends, protecting Liguria, or will it be the old-fashioned and popular soul of Genoa? Maybe.
More Popular Radio and less Essemagazine we said at the beginning: the proof is also the controversy that broke out a few days ago on the Instagram page Lost Media which was titled, speaking of Most Holy“Yet another playlist passed off as disco.” A short review that began like this: “In Italy we have lowered the bar…” and this alone would be enough to fucking ignore the piece. The gist was: this is not an album, but a collage of pieces, without “the ability to build a journey”. Reviewer's opinion, and so be it. But Sayf doesn't agree and responds in the comments: “You are imposing your opinion as a truth, and this embitters me a bit, the album, for goodness sake, doesn't have to please everyone, and it has never claimed to be an album with a concept or a precise genre. It would have been much more unnatural for me to decide to make a record in a precise direction, when I am deliberately not in a precise direction. I like music, all of it, I like to experiment and try to make songs that they come out of me, with what I feel like saying at a given moment. I'm satisfied because we managed to put pieces of many genres and many influences all contaminated by what then becomes my version, so to speak (…) A hug”.
Is it a boomer, uncool thing to respond in the comments of a post? Maybe, but Sayf is right, Most Holy right away.
