Chicoria
SE.R.T.

Chicoria is undoubtedly among the most hated and at the same time most loved artists in the Italian underground rap scene, so this review of the new album by the Roman artist requires a brief introduction. Purists detest him because he is not "technical": he is criticized for having almost non-existent metrics and rhymes and practically spoken flow. Sensitive souls are scandalized because his lyrics talk in first person about drug dealing and use of hard drugs, robberies, and street crime in general. Gangsta rap is disturbing, that's nothing new. Especially if the sensitive soul listener can't justify it with some clichéd sociological explanation about the disenfranchisement of ethnic minorities, perhaps in some faraway, hated capitalist country. In Italy, no, you can't do gangsta rap. Robberies and drug dealing don't exist, people don't shoot each other on the street, and if you talk about hard drugs and violence in songs, you do it because you're a poser and to impress the kids.

While a holy "de gustibus" is fitting on the technicality and eclectic mannerism that's trendy in Italian rap, you could say everything about Chico except that he's playing at being a character from "Romanzo Criminale." Those who know him are well aware that the life he neorealistically paints in rhyme has been his for fifteen years, paying the human price for it too. A founding member of the well-known writing crew ZTK, the most active in Rome in bombing the city's walls and metro during the period 1996-2002, at a certain point in his life, he started dealing drugs due to financial difficulties – as is evident from his rhymes – until his arrest.

SE.R.T indeed leaves Rebibbia prison together with Armando a.k.a. er Chicoria, where the latter was serving a sentence for dealing narcotics. The story of his arrest and the supposed involvement of the Truceklan, his crew, ended up in the press and on TV, reaching the levels of falsehood and distortion that only Italian journalists can achieve. But that's another story.

Chicoria comes out of prison changed, that's evident. Hardened by prison life and pissed off like a beast against the system, he presents himself differently (without glasses and with a more grim expression) even in the promotional videos of the album. Definitely worth watching is the excellent video for "Ancora più in basso," in my opinion one of the best tracks on the album. His voice becomes deeper, the flow more syncopated. If it didn't sound ridiculous to use this expression to describe someone who has lived street life for almost twenty years, one might be tempted to write that he "matured." Matured perhaps, but from an artistic point of view, the more technical commentators will say.

The album's production is dark, violent, definitely out of the ordinary. Many of the beats (produced by LC Beat) have the flavor of '90s gabber and illegal raves at Fintech. But it's the lyrics that are different. Rage, bitterness, and nihilism ooze from every rhyme. It's not that Er Chico wrote ballads before, but certainly, the sort of illegality bravado present in previous appearances is toned down. There is more awareness, more seriousness, and a greater understanding of the role of violence and illegality in street life.

Out of fifteen tracks, two features from Noyz Narcos, two from Gast ZTK, then 1Zuckero, Venetian Nex Cassel, Mistic1, and RastyKillah. Two features also from Duke Montana, who recently left TKlan controversially after various disputes with Noyz. From the Facebook page, Chico let it be known he left them because he couldn't afford to discard two tracks. There are no filler pieces: only raw rhymes and pearls of street wisdom, all potential memorable quotes. Among the best tracks are certainly those turned into videos: "Get on your grind," "Colpo in canna" (feat. Nex Cassel and Gast), and the already mentioned "Ancora più in basso," a real punch in the stomach. The album also includes two "love stories," one ("Just let me go") extremely beautiful and melancholic about a long relationship with a girl that is fading between drugs and misunderstandings, the other ("1979") about the artist's relationship with cocaine, his "white queen." Also noteworthy is the very venomous track "Sucker free," which many see as a dissing to Piotta and Frankie Hi NRG, who commented on Chico's arrest to the press showing little solidarity. According to my way of seeing, the gem of the album is "Storie da spaccino," which as the title suggests, talks about selling drugs retail. Undoubtedly the rawest, most nihilistic, and disenchanted song.

If you buy Chicoria's album, a metropolitan poet, you are not buying something categorized in certain reassuring categories. It's not a gangsta rap album. You are not buying violent rap where, however, in the end, there's a "subtle critique of society." You are not buying music to play for your friends, commenting "hehehe listen to what this guy says." There's nothing to laugh about. Your girlfriend won't like it. You are buying a piece of life lived on the margins. A piece of Rome, the most dark and unacceptable. But the most true and authentic one.