Jovanotti
Lorenzo 1994

Hello everyone, I’m Kahless and this is my first review.

I chose "Lorenzo 1994" by Jovanotti as the first album to review because he was one of the protagonists of my childhood, along with Jovanotti. The album is a mix of funky, rap, and sprinkles of rock and world music, heavily influenced by the rap-funk-rock of the Red Hot Chili Peppers in many tracks, especially in Saturnino's style, which closely resembles Flea’s style, with his repetitive arpeggios and use of slap, and especially that of world music and reggae.

The album starts with Attaccamilaspina, an excellent blend of a blatantly funky bass line, a repetitive rhythm, and Jovanotti's rap, also featuring great lyrics where Jovanotti introduces himself and the album a bit. I recommend listening to "Give It Away" by the RHCP right afterward because it sounds too similar. Next is the now-famous Serenata Rap, which starts on a street with cars and traffic cops, and then kicks off with the slow and calm rap typical of this piece, which works well as a ballad and as a single. After the sentimental pause, we get to the explosive Penso Positivo, which introduces themes of social commitment and works like a shake-off. Musically, it's melodic rap over the usual funky bass line with a very driving drumbeat this time and some scratch intervals, good for break-dancing, along with a spoken interlude where Jovanotti declares his faith in "a single Mother Church that goes from Che Guevara to Mother Teresa". Then follows a calm interlude with I Giovani, where Jovanotti seems to paint a portrait of the youth of 1994 (let's not forget that 1994 was also the year of Kurt Cobain's suicide) and adolescent difficulties. A short song, a light rap over a base of a classical piece (don’t ask me which one). A return to the past with Si Va Via, which starts with a scratch and melodically resembles a bit the old Jova pieces, and, in fact, talks about his DJ experiences and the people (or types of people) he finds in the disco "from the height of these dishes", also having macabre thoughts about the "bastard overtaking me on the curve at 180". A rap over a danceable base, good, but as I said what counts is the text.

Throughout the album, a powerful song gives way to a lighter one, and here's the melodic Piove, a romantic pop ballad with female background vocals, performed with acoustic guitar, drums, keyboard, and an almost imperceptible bass (a rare case in the album). After this light interlude, we return to the funky rhythms marked by Flea's bass... oops, sorry... Saturnino and the usual driving drums, where Jova proclaims his most hidden desires (?), among which are "a helmet of whipped cream", "to pay billions in taxes" (!), "to know tomorrow's weather" and especially "to sing more in tune than Mina" (because Jova is a great rapper but lacks as a singer). As usual, after a cheerful piece comes a "light" one (not to say "weak"), and this time it's the turn of Io Ti Cercherò, a pop ballad perfect to play in a club at two in the morning, without any particular worthy of mention, except for the fact that you can hear the guitar a little bit. Next is Il Ballerino di Jazz, a piece that seems more swing than jazz, with rap over brass, whose presence is felt and acts as “second soloist”. Then comes India, a short piece starting with Arab sounds and then turning into a synth bass line with "yeah-yeah" choirs above. The rapped text is a nonsense story about an Indian cow. For the first time in the album, after a cheerful piece, there isn’t the usual ballad, but it starts with percussion that acts as an intro to Parola, to which choirs, bass, Jova’s rap, guitar, and brass are added. Here African and world-music influences are felt and are obvious.

Reggae influences are felt in Soleluna, an important piece almost like a title track, since the song's name was then given to Jova's independent record label (or vice versa). Here, percussion alternates with scratch, and Jovanotti, for once, doesn’t rap but sings. Brass is dominant here too, and there’s a beautiful interlude marked by the toms of the drums, concluded with a timbales attack. A kind of xylophone introduces Dammi Spazio, a repetitive rap in which an excellent funky bass line and a somewhat static and repetitive drum beat that is still noticeable are inserted. Then comes Barabba, whose brass intro soon gives way to a rap rhythm with the sound of a helicopter exploiting the stereo effect and making a good impression. The text condemns massification, racism, and especially the Lega Nord, which it explicitly mentions. The accordion introduces the rap of Dobbiamoinventarciqualcosa, where (rarely in the album) the guitar is heard clearly, performing heavily distorted phrases. The lyrics talk about Jovanotti’s (yet another) inner journey with a somewhat nonsense verse and Saturnino performing duets with the blatantly funky guitar. And here comes a little gem of the album: Il Futuro Del Mondo, which reminds a lot, too much, of the Red Hot Chili Peppers from Blood Sugar Sex Magik. It's a funk-rock piece, in which over a driving guitar and bass line there is a drum (finally!) protagonist, which if you listen to it you’d swear it was played by Chad Smith, just as the bass lines are typical of Flea. Suddenly, amid the bass and the synthesizer, you hear the voice of Pope Wojtyla, immediately recognizing his first speech as pope. The piece ends like this, among a finally protagonist drum doing its worthy finale. Right after, Mario (named after his father, employed by the Vatican) starts, an autobiographical rap where he recalls the day his father took him to the funeral of Moro's escort agents, an excellent reflection on a tragedy about which there is much, too much, to talk, so let’s skip it. The album concludes with Viene Sera, a gratitude piece citing all the album's collaborators, including the bassist Saturnino, who "listens to Jaco (Pastorius) playing the bass and wants to become somebody", the guitarist Michele, his brother Bernardo (who I seem to have seen in a reality show, some time ago), Claudio (Cecchetto), and various friends of his, whom he enjoys teasing. Melodically, the piece is a funky-rock where Jova's voice seems more shouted than sung and where all the instruments engage in a kind of final jam-sessiono.

In the end, Jovanotti's work can be said to be one of the stages of Jovanotti's maturation, a rare case of "rehabilitated" commercial product. Even if Italian rappers now attack him for his "benevolence", in my opinion, Jovanotti should be considered in the perspective of "first Italian rapper", or at least the first to achieve considerable commercial success. Then, as I already reiterated, 1994 was at the peak of the grunge era, so Jovanotti's cheerful but engaged rap was a bit of a course change. Later Jova will mature further, reaching a personal and musical maturity, which at times made him break through the "commercial" barrier.

Tracklist:

1. Attaccami la spina
   
2. Serenata Rap
3. Penso positivo
4. I giovani
5. Si va via
6. Piove
7. Voglio di +
8. Io ti cercherò
9. Il ballerino di Jazz
10. India
11. Parola
12. Soleluna
13. Dammi spazio
14. Barabba
15. Dobbiamoinventarciqualcosa
16. Il futuro del mondo
17. Mario
18. Viene sera