Mondo Marcio
Cose dell'altro mondo

MONDO MARCIO: COSE DELL' ALTRO MONDO

Gian Marco Marcello, also known as Mondo Marcio, is one of the most established rappers in our country. He made a breakthrough at 20 years old with the album Solo un Uomo and then failed the following year with the flop album Generazione X in 2007. In 2008, he founded his own label, Mondo Records, with which he has released several albums and mixtapes. But enough chit-chat.

Today I am here to review his latest album, released last October 2. Mondo Marcio holds this record in high regard, stating multiple times that this would be his best work. But let's analyze the album track by track.

The album begins with the excellent Senza Cuore, perfect as an intro, which makes it clear what Mondo Marcio's intentions are: to amaze us. I interpret this song as a sequel to the song M.A.R.C.I.O, where the atmosphere is practically the same (with him acting as a fugitive, the forces of order trying to stop him but failing). And the intro test is passed! Moving on to the third track Chi temo di più in collaboration with Danti, also quite a listenable track. Kilo is undoubtedly one of the off-key notes of the album: the base is too recycled and the flow not strong enough to stick in the listener's mind. Maybe Rido could have improved the song if, instead of playing the speaker between verses, he had rapped. But enough with these mental diversions, let’s move on to the title track. Cose dell'altro mondo has a carefree base, in my opinion a bit too carefree given the message it should have conveyed. However, the base manages to make Marcio's flow smoother, making it all enjoyable. Come Me in collaboration with Danti deserves special mention. When I saw this track, I thought, “what, Danti again??? I already don't like Danti, then two collaborations on Mondo Marcio's album..." I, being a lover of old-school rap (stuff like Kaos, Colle Der Fomento, Neffa, Deda, Lou X, Lord Bean, etc.), never liked Danti and doubted his performance (poor deluded me). But I had to revise my opinion. And I am convinced that in 60 years, when my kids will put me in some crappy retirement home, I will remember Cose dell'altro mondo as "the album of Danti's verse”. Without taking anything away from Mondo Marcio, but put yourself in my shoes: old, ugly, alone, and forgetful, I will only remember the essential. Interesting, is the adjective I use to define track number 7, namely Conosci il tuo nemico. In collaboration with one of the most eccentric and experimental figures in our country, Caparezza. I don’t know whether to define this track as bad or good, but I will just listen to it. Fantastica is Troppo Lontano, my favorite of the CD (at this point you might ask, "but wasn't Come Me your favorite??", and I would answer: "No, you’re mistaken. Come Me is just the most memorable, the most beautiful is Troppo Lontano). The next track will be one of the tracks from the CD that will shatter my prejudices. Its name is Quando tutto cade and the collaborating artist is Killakat. I was amazed by the autotune. I, following the model of the Proud B-boy, always say, "Autotune ruins songs". But even in this case, I had to reconsider. Call me crazy, but in my opinion, the chorus with autotune (in this case) rocks. Then, we move on to Bang (I don't need to talk to you about Fight Rap given the uproar it caused this summer) featuring Vacca. The song has a powerful gangsta-style beat and the two artists unleash their creativity with many punchlines. Excellent verse by Mondo Marcio and compliments to Vacca, who, although usually I disdain him, managed not to ruin the song.

This CD made me 're-evaluate' many artists and many things; for example, Danti, Vacca, and autotuned choruses. An artist I did not re-evaluate, however, is Emis Killa, who together with Mondo Marcio represents the off-key note of the album (not to be confused with Kilo which is one of the off-key notes of the CD, but not the ultimate one - which would be this one). Firstly, unconvincing base and terrible sampled chorus (they couldn't have chosen a worse chorus), but despite this, the song manages to hold up thanks to Mondo Marcio. However, once Emis Killa starts rapping, I start to get bored; I get so bored that I skip the song. After the disaster of track number 13 follows I miei motivi with the Italian Dr. Dre, Bassi Maestro. The song is the usual self-celebration by rappers which never bores if done well (as in this case). We then come to one of the 'classic' moments of Mondo Marcio's albums: the venting against his father. A beautiful song, enriched by the chorus inspired by the song Layway by the Isley Brothers (for the record it’s not plagiarism, because at times the original song plays in the background). Closing out the CD are: Spalle al muro feat Strano (nice lyrics even if with an unremarkable chorus) and Finte Verità RMX feat Beng, A&R (in my opinion a successful dance experiment).

What to say..... The downside of the CD is that the songs are not memorable enough, and in a few years, we will forget about the CD (which is a flaw in 70% of today's albums). Nonetheless, it is a good effort by the Milanese MC, of whom I have been a fan since the days of Solo un uomo, that makes you rethink many things.