Jacopo "Lazza" Lazzarini
Sirio

This is certainly a difficult review, complicated by the evident "out of age" characteristic that defines it. My son's gift allows me to (bravely) explore his music, the music that today's teenagers listen to, and why not make a comparison with the music from fifty-odd years ago, which appeased my thirst for listening.

Since the author of this album is not even reviewed, it is worth telling something about him. Jacopo Lazzarini, known as "Lazza," was born in Milan in the summer of 1994 and from a young age developed an interest in music by enrolling in the music high school of the Milan Conservatory and beginning piano studies, which he would further pursue despite switching to a language high school where he did not graduate, probably because he was distracted by the musical world that engulfed him starting at age 15. Very quickly, his first album "Zzala" was published in 2017, achieving considerable success, certainly enough to allow him to continue his activity and lead to the release a couple of years later of his second work titled "Re Mida," which marked his definitive consecration, even reaching the first place on the FIMI album chart and allowing him to sign a lucrative contract with Island, a record label of fond memory.

And finally, last year we arrived at the work in question, whose commercial success was such that it became the best-selling album in Italy in 2022, driving the second edition in question, enriched by a second vinyl titled: "Concertos," composed of 8 tracks, embellished with piano accompaniment played by the author himself, although unfortunately, the single "Cenere," which placed second at San Remo 2023, does not appear among them.

Lazza can be classified within the "trap" movement, quite popular among today's youth, however "Sirio" indicates his maturation towards a more commercial and mature rap, especially in "Concertos," which is, in my opinion, the most successful part of the double album. What do I like as an "old" reviewer? Probably the effort to describe the daily life of this generation, even in a somewhat brazen and vulgar manner, but certainly direct: these are the salient features of trap. However, Lazza also adds a personal, more intimate, and relatively melancholic tone. Conversely, I find the work musically rather repetitive and obsessive, which probably even tires the most ardent supporters after a while, unless alienation is the purpose of listening........

Excessive, if not total, is the use of auto-tune: software that allows the correction of vocal pitch and masks errors or vocal imperfections, which as you can understand "facilitates" the production of tracks that essentially sound like replicas of each other, primarily seasoned with keyboards and electronic percussion, and the piano indeed on the fourth side. This reminds me, for instance, of the introduction of the newly born Moog synthesizer, widely used by keyboardists in the early '70s like Keith Emerson and Rick Wakeman, of course keeping appropriate distances!

I avoid giving a judgment out of modesty, but I want to provide guidance to those who are no longer young and want to confront this music, and that is to think of the situation of one of our parents, passionate about Classical Music and particularly Mussorgsky, upon hearing "Picture at an Exhibition" by Emerson Lake & Palmer spinning on the turntable.... Another personal generational anecdote is of my father who was absolutely detached and baffled by all the music that circulated at the end of the '60s and early '70s and yet one day after buying "Wish You Were Here" and putting it on the Thorens, he appeared and asked: "What band is this? Not bad, how suggestive!", then I explained the dedication and evocation of the album and for the first (and only) time we were on the same side; something that should happen again now, but I see it being tough with good Lazza, I will wait for better times and performers! I conclude by saying that the graphics are very well cared for, and the sound technique is without a doubt good, though facing compositions certainly not very demanding from this point of view.