Il Pagante
Entro In Pass

It's practically a lifetime since I've set foot in here, so I don't know if some conventions or customs or whatever have changed. But I wanted to share this rant with you too, let's see how it goes.

1 - ON THE MUSICAL CONSIDERATION OR NOT OF THE ALBUM: Il Pagante's album falls into that category of music devoid of lyrical, technical, or experimental content - which can be unproblematically considered "crappy music." But Gaber's concept of "when it's crap, it's crap" cannot be applied to music. Crap music has as many qualitative nuances as legitimate music, and consequently, within "crap music," we can identify "utter crap music" (both Guns N' Roses and Izi and Dark Polo Gang fall into this category), "mediocre crap music" (the first that comes to mind might be Gigi D'Agostino, for instance) etc. Pagante's music is spectacular crap, almost transcendent, certainly the best product from that magical world called crappy music that I have ever listened to.
What creates distinctions between one crappy music and another? To answer, we must first establish what connects one piece of crappy music to another: all crappy music is united by being musically worthless. Nothing in Pagante's music has musical relevance, not even in pop music. Il Pagante OUTSHINES the rest of crappy music in everything that doesn't concern music. The fact that it makes you laugh doesn't add value to Pagante's music, but it adds value to Pagante's product viewed as a metamusical proposition. The balanced ultrarealistic trash, the perfect care of the productions, the sensational parodic effectiveness, the catchy power of the drops and choruses, the fact that it is fun are not musical values, but they are certainly values.
All in all, more than crappy music, "Entro in Pass" is not music. It’s an auditory (?) pastime and as a pastime, it works. With fewer side effects than coke, for instance.

2 - BLESSING OF POLAROID MUSIC:
Hundreds of artists have tried to capture the millennial generation in songs, the latest being Gabri Ponte and Danti: this duo, however (although infinitely more musically competent than Il Pagante) failed miserably. There's no way to explain it, but the fact remains that if a young person listens to it, they might smile, but they don't feel represented. Two months and the song is forgotten, even though the generation remains the same.
With a handful of songs, "Entro in Pass" is a Polaroid of contemporaneity: it offers the complete picture of an event as it happens. And it’s not inconsistent that the album's content alternates between positive and negative scenes. Reality is like this. Life isn’t always good or bad. The appearances (in videos or songs) of Shade, Jake La Furia, Gué Pequeno, Pierluigi Pardo, Andrea Diprè, Max Pezzali, Andrea Alongi - then people like Diprè is a filthy heap of crap, let’s be clear – serve this purpose. They christen the album, its value as a snapshot of the youth context. They are a sort of guarantee.

3 - EARLY PAGANZA:
Il Pagante's album is above all a concentrate of style. For this reason, Entro in Pass has been recreated with Jake La Furia, and neither Balza nor Si Sboccia can be presented. This is crap, but unlike other crap, it’s too ironic not to be taken completely seriously.

4 - THE GOLDEN AGE OF PAGANZA; FOUR SHOTS LIVE:
Pettinero, #Sbatti, Faccio After, and Vamonos are obviously the highest moments reached by Il Pagante. I challenge you to find an Italian who doesn't know at least Pettinero and Sbatti by heart. I think a negative judgment on these songs (considering what was said in point 1) is absurd. Aside from the fact that the verses "tutto il giorno sopra i libri/ora voglio stare easy/cazzo mene della crisi/faccio solo la sei litri" and "tutti pronti per un altro party/a mezzanotte saran tutti fatti/ paganti torneranno a casa in taxi/ e al cielo grideremo/sbatti, ohohoh" are among the most famous in disco history, one cannot overlook how they have been cranked up consistently and sung until hoarse for 4 years: a LONG time span for the context, and this fact cannot be ignored.
Faccio After is the fattest track of all. Heavyweight guests, super production and video. It follows the leitmotif of the two previous big hits and naturally gets fewer views. All normal. Vamonos (personally my favorite Pagantata) is the dawn of a new era: the theme changes and - amazingly - a partially acoustic accompaniment is glimpsed. The fact that you can be downright tacky with an acoustic guitar is a discovery and a significant achievement.

5 - PAGANZA'S TWILIGHT
Following in the wake of Vamonos, the other singles unfold, veering - albeit slightly - from the original path. La Shampista, with a decent melody, is the only Il Pagante track that deserves a second listen to be appreciated, and of course, it's the one with the fewest views. Bomber celebrates the Europeans, represents a proof of importance, sure, but it is undoubtedly the worst single. Dam, finally launching an album that is all intents and purposes a compilation, absolutely rocks. There’s even a political message. Crude and known, sure, but a political message. It's a lot. Parallel to the thematic and stylistic shift, however, an incredible thing happens: the rhymes improve. Thus, the unreleased WiFi has an almost decent metric (where are you, what are you doing/I'd like to go night/with this heat, where are you going/one hundred degrees Fahrenheit) and an almost pop structure. In comparison, the unreleased Tomorrowland is awful.

6 - I LEND MY FACE:
"Il Pagante is a game, there are producers behind it, they sing and lend their faces in the video, they do nothing else" and that's not a little? That's the beautiful part. People watch Branchini for the same reason they once watched Monroe in the cinema. It’s the status symbol of the historical moment. Napoli hides her crippled left hand in every video and interview: the proof that the image is extremely well-kept. Videos come out every six months or so: more proof that the image, the video, is extremely well-kept. It’s not music; it’s a show. For this reason, il Pagante makes sense even if it doesn't write its own music (then is it necessary to write it? I mean, it’s tunz-tunz, evident that il Pagante shouldn't stir interest for this). We understood that, but this is somewhat an obstacle for intergenerational communication.

7 - STOP IT
If Il Pagante were to make another track, it would end up being a copy of itself. For the group's sake, the group needs to stop. Don't become ridiculous, please, listen to my plea. I promise you'll make history, no less than Carrà (whom you obviously quote). Or change, I don't know, become Autechre. But I have the feeling you won't become Autechre.

8 - IN SUMMARY
In short, in a sense, it’s cool. The important thing is not to give it importance. Of course, if one builds expectations, they haven't understood anything about Paganza. And they end up saying nonsense like "and this is supposed to be music?" (no, it isn’t, I’m surprised you ask, genius) or "in my days...”

In my days. The worst premise in the world, after "in 2016, still..."