Jovanotti
Lorenzo 1994

THE REVIEW

Personally, I define Jovanotti as "A poetically inclined donkey," for his specialty in seamlessly transitioning from a flashy song to a poetic one, leaving one astonished. In his CDs, you can hear phrases like "Io ti cercherò negli occhi delle donne che nel mondo incontrerò e dentro quegli sguardi mi ricorderò di noi, chissà se si chiamava amore" that make you shout "rapper poet," but at the same time, you marvel at absurdities such as "TACATACATACATACATACAMI LA SPINAAAA," which make you want to hire him in October for the olive harvest and yell in his ear "Work!!", this contrast has always created in me a love/hate relationship with Lorenzo Cherubini (although I must admit that, in the end, faced with nonsense like "attach me the plug," I always end up having fun, thanks in part to the catchy musical bases). 

A CD like this, I should have left behind many years ago... Forget it completely... Yet... I am reviewing it because, as usual, I am caught up in my nostalgic crises. Usually, people are nostalgic for the '70s/'80s (with all those unbearable revival compilations), but the '90s also made a valid artistic contribution to the music business, not just trashy dance music but also many quality albums; even Jovanotti produced something good in the '90s! Actually, Lorenzo 1994 is perhaps his best album (along with "L'Albero" and "Buon Sangue"), a qualitatively valid album, both musically and in the lyrics of the songs.

The aforementioned "Attaccami la Spina" is the adolescent rap opener, somewhere between annoying and entertaining, the words are good, but the way he sings and rhythms the chorus remind me of the irritating Jovanotti from the early days (an infernal and flashy creature created by Cecchetto), the one from "voglio la mia motooo" whom I would have suppressed with gunshots for the good of society; yet the musical base is well-paced, and you end up having fun even though inside you keep repeating to yourself "what a donkey!".

The spirit of the album becomes clear right after the second track, "Serenata Rap" (and who can forget this romantic '90s hit that somehow accompanied our adolescence? Whether you love or hate Jovanotti, this rap serenade has remained in the blood of my generation...) Lorenzo delivers a middle-ground album, that is stylistically a halfway point between the earlier American style nonsense and the modern-day Che Guevara poet rap. Between one youthful rap and another (in which you can hear DJ phrases and Giorgio Prezioso's scratches), Cherubini gives us excellent lyrics full of meaning, well-sung and well-arranged, like the mini parable about today's youth, "I Giovani", just 2 minutes to tell the story of youthful life, or the wonderful "Io Ti Cercherò", an excellent piece sung and accompanied by engaging orchestration.

Lorenzo, however, is still young, he had not yet reached the artistic and poetic maturity he proposes in current albums like "Safari," and thus, accompanied by his creator father Claudio Cecchetto, he delivers an exuberant dance hit like "Voglio di Più", 4 minutes to dance to this wild rhythm and "get excited" about Lorenzo's words wanting to go to bed with Madonna, to plug the ozone hole with the cat, to phone the President of the United States and live life to the fullest!  In terms of carefree spirit, energy, and fun, it is perhaps the most successful piece on the entire album, even more so than that now tiresome "Penso Positivo", a song that in my opinion has become sulfuric acid!  The album, artistically, maintains these highs and lows, mostly favoring danceable and strongly rhythmic songs.

Lorenzo demonstrates a good grasp of rap timing and compared to the past... He does much better (the little donkey has grown well), with some truly meaningful and well-crafted lyrics like "Parola," "Barabba!" and "Si Va Via," the latter tells the stories of young people dying in car accidents on Saturday nights. This album, years later, still manages to engage, for better or worse "Lorenzo 1994" is part of a cultural slice of our music, and compared to the many heinous abominations of today's production, it is almost a masterpiece. 

To be listened to again... With nostalgia.