Kaos
Fastidio

100% hardcore, 100% hip-hop, 100% proud b-boy and I represent! 100% dope, 100% style, 100% representin' in '96!

This is the chorus of "Centopercento", track no. 2 of the album "Fastidio". A phrase that can be defined as the "essence" of the album; "Fastidio" is indeed an album of pure hardcore hip-hop, stylish and dope like all products from the zone dopa, packaged by a true B-Boy, one with two capital B's, one who truly represents the Italian scene, namely the "Don", Kaos.
Kaos, a true, proud, and serious B-Boy, a technical, stylish, and very, very fierce MC, one who has always given his all for the Italian scene by making a fundamental contribution to the birth of the Italian hip-hop movement with a historic group like Radical Stuff with whom he rapped in English. Thus, after testing his incredible lyrical skills even in Italian in the famous "Don Kaos" in Gruff's "La Rapadopa" and in various features with Neffa and Colle Der Fomento, Kaos brings forth his first official album entirely in Italian.
But what is fastidio? Well, for us, the answer is easy; fastidio can be a nuisance, a problem, a headache... for Kaos, the concept broadens. Fastidio is a feeling that constantly accompanies him, a chronic pessimism, a disgust for falsity, hypocrisy, and the uselessness of too many things around him. He breathes fastidio, feeds on it, it is impossible to send it away. Fastidio, however, is at the center of the album; all the tracks are borne from fastidio, yet despite everything, Kaos can't do without it.
"Fastidio" is unmistakably a masterpiece in every respect, one of the best Italian rap albums ever born in Italy. A dark, sad, obsessive, and ruthlessly real album; a reality that appears very bitter, filtered through Kaos's critical and annoyed eye.
Among the recurring themes of the album is the aversion for what is commercial, music for the masses, the kind made specifically to make money; then, his rather unhappy life according to him, and above all, the "pseudo-b-boy", who invade the Italian scene, weak MCs who still have much to learn. But despite everything, the common thread is fastidio.
The productions play a fundamental role in the album, all truly excellent and almost all the work of the great Neffa, on this occasion under the name Piscopo, except for the "Intro" crafted by the Piscopo-Kaos duo, "Il Codice" by Dj Skizo, and the remix of "Meglio Che Scendi" by Chico M. Dee a.k.a. Deda.
Kaos is obviously not alone on the album and shares the mic with his trusted associates, Piscopo in "Meglio Che Scendi", Sean in "Black Hole", the magnificent Deda in "Ora Non Ridi Più", and Dj Gruff, here as Lowdy NCN in "Black Hole" and "Fastidio".

The album is full of true gems that are a heritage of Italian rap, starting with "Centopercento", perhaps the most representative track of the album, the true manifesto for every respected b-boy ("Exactly now, everyone is convinced/ that Hip Hop is what you feel/ while rap is what you sing/ different, situations, points of contact/ new spaces new styles all chasing a contract? "), the splendid "Domani Sarà Peggio" ("I look up at the sky and see darkness/ my road now is at a crossroads/ on one side serious hip-hop/ on the other is the money/ I follow my path/ and if it doesn't lead up/ maybe you've already understood which road I've chosen/ do I choose the asphalt?"), "Il Codice" which talks about the activity he practiced for years, writing ("...on the steel read the difficult code/ the concept is without rules/ but it's useless/ if you call it crime, being hostile/ for you, I will be the worst criminal..."), "Per La Vita" dedicated to Kaos's closest friends ("...if I look back at the days when I was a kid/ the people who have stayed the same you can count on one hand..."). And still "Meglio Che Scendi", "Ora Non Ridi Più", "Fastidio", and the claustrophobic "Fino Alla Fine", which seems never to end where Kaos gives us a demonstration of his style with over 4 intense minutes of continuous rhymes without breaks.

What can I say? A magnificent album in every aspect, an album among the most representative of the Italian scene. To be honest, Italian rap doesn't drive me crazy, but this is one of the albums I love the most because I consider it an essay of style, technique, and music of a superior level, and in my opinion, it will be difficult to return to such levels in an Italian scene that currently I do not see in great shape. I think the Italian scene still needs someone like Kaos, and if he too eventually gives up, it would be a huge loss, as in all his albums, and especially in "Fastidio" he proves how style is a matter for the few.