Marracash
Persona

"...Throw out your thoughts or they'll end up killing you ..."

The events of the past two years have confronted us with the weaknesses of contemporary society, plunging us into a dramatically fragmented, muddy, and fraught context. Above all, the inadequacy of the average individual has emerged, both in the intimate dimension (which was forced upon them, especially in the early months of that damn 2020), and in the collective one, with the onerous duty towards the community, besides the delicate economic balance, emphasized by the Ukrainian conflict.

But it is interesting, at least for me, to focus on the dimension of the self, of the man who, before moving in this bizarre and untamable beast we call society, must tame (or at least try to) himself. Moving in such a complex ecosystem, living in that dichotomous discord between rationality and irrationality until finding a balance destined for continuous dynamism, is something only a few can do.

"Persona", the sixth studio album by Marracash, is a compendium of what has just been described: released on October 31, 2019 (three months before the pandemic event), it arrives at the end of the cartoonish trap wave, bringing to the fore a totally new and oxymoronic narration with that of the moment, which completely overturns that extravagant and opulent one, deeply entwined with consumerism and that in the latter saw the realization of a social revenge, leaving space for a more contained, humble scenario, which sees revenge in self-understanding.

A tapestry of anxieties, paranoias, and weaknesses: Marracash spares nothing and throws himself into a constant stream of thoughts that resizes comfort, placing it as a necessary appendix, but not essential for a dignified life. What is needed instead is balance, the need to find the courage to look in the mirror, without being ashamed of who you are.

The product presents itself as a diary that, however, sometimes struggles to maintain the homogeneous condition suggested by the premises; neither does the vast array of collaborations help, high-profile names emblematic of a genuflection to market logics that, for a product of this nature, appear decidedly superfluous.

But when it hits, it goes straight to the point and leaves you stunned: the rough decadentism of "Qualcosa In Cui Credere", the delicate melancholy of "Appartengo", the desolate bewilderment of "Tutto Questo Niente", and the timid and dramatic storytelling of "Crudelia" are among the episodes that most enjoy that transversality that allows rap to expatriate beyond its narrow confines to explore unknown pop shores.

The epic of the millennial (and generation Z), amidst social neuroses and cybernetic fears. Essential, if only to give a voice to that kind of suffering which in the eyes of most adults, even the more attentive ones, might elude.