Due Di Picche
C'Eravamo Tanto Odiati

Beautiful people,

it’s been a while since I wrote here on DeBaser (mainly, I admit, due to a lack of motivation), but today all of a sudden... BAM!! The urge came back stronger and more overwhelming than ever.

This is probably also because, even though I haven't been writing for months, I often check out other people’s reviews, and I've noticed that no one has reviewed (but knowing the average DeRecensore, it was to be expected...) one of the most interesting record releases of this period: the first album by Due di Picche!

But before talking about this unusual group, we need to take a step back and start from the beginning, which means the mid-90s of the last century. During that time, Italian hip hop was experiencing its first true golden age, both in the underground and mainstream.

On one hand, in the "lowlands," Neffa and company were gaining more credibility (but not too much, otherwise it wouldn’t have been very yo-yo) with some successful tracks, one of which is "Aspettando il sole," while on the other hand, in the Italian charts, Articolo 31 with J-Ax and Dj Jad were climbing higher and higher, selling hundreds of thousands of copies per album. It must be said that the latter reached their goal by making small compromises, like crafting some easily digestible radio hits (though still original) such as "Maria Maria" and "Tranqui Funky," but the fact that their albums also included (and especially featured) pieces like "Non c'è rimedio" or "Nessuno" certainly earned them quite a few credit points.

As was highly predictable, these two musical factions, in true gangsta style, were at war. Sure, they weren’t shooting at each other, but with rhymes and beats, they let loose on each other.

Time skip: 2010. Neffa, the former paladin of neighborhood rap, the one who didn’t sell a damn thing and couldn’t care less, now sells enough even though the rap from his records has vanished in a cloud of smoke that, once dissolved, made way for very melodic pop (also a bit funky, come on) with lyrics made up of stunning ladies (...), new worlds, and so much love!!! Meanwhile, Articolo 31 has split up (or are in stand-by, it's not clear...) and while Dj Jad ended up in the underground that hated him a few years earlier, J-Ax is experiencing another artistic youth, with a solo career that brings him many satisfactions. Ax also changed genre, only hip hop didn’t disappear from his works, it was just enriched with an original and experimental yet successful rock atmosphere. Now Ax and Neffa, the two kids who, just over twenty "hated each other so much," are indeed more mature artists both humanly and professionally and decide to join forces in a deliberately provocative project, especially due to the diversity (and rivalry) between the fans of the respective artists: Due Di Picche.

"C'eravamo tanto odiati," the work with a title as ironic as emblematic that comes out of it is clearly an EP, yet with 8 new tracks and a remix, other artists would have used the term album. The tracks mix the lyrical styles and musical atmospheres that have distinguished both artists perfectly over recent years, giving us a generally pleasant album. Essentially, on the CD, J-Ax raps, Neffa sings, and the historic collaborators of the two alternate on the instruments.

There are tracks like "Duedipicche" or "I Love TH," a bit hard to digest (but where, in my opinion, Ax does a damn good job!!!! Am I biased?? Listen to them and tell me!) and other more affable tracks like "Anticristo," "Fare a meno di te," "Treni a perdere," and the much-discussed "Faccia come il cuore," the first brilliant single extracted whose real, obvious meaning most, blinded by prejudice (you guys at DeBaser know something about this?....), failed to grasp. A beautiful Trojan horse, don't you think?....

But the real two gems of the album are "La ballata dei picche," with a truly smashing base and raw, autobiographical, and brutally honest lyrics, and the sweeter "I Love You Baby," a delightful rap with melodic chorus and outro with an acoustic base that is a perfect backdrop for this beautiful love song.

However, in several interviews, the two singer-songwriters have declared that it's just an isolated project and that they will continue with their individual careers anyway (which makes me very happy as Ax alone, in my opinion, performs much better).

The rating for the album for me is a 3.

Bella