Sangue misto
SxM

There are albums that brought Italian rap to every household, like "Così com'è" by Articolo 31. There are albums that remained in a more niche imagination, like "Odio pieno" by Colle Der Fomento. And then there's "SxM", the only album by the Bologna collective Sangue Misto. It's been talked about a lot, perhaps too much. If since 1994, the year the album came out, this work still manages to spark discussions among enthusiasts and non-fans alike, there must be a reason.

What makes "SxM" a timeless classic? Its authenticity, to begin with, starting with the sound: pure, raw hip hop sound, the kind you blast in the neighborhood during the summer, from a DJ's window, in a car, or through headphones. The sound, although very Nineties in both form and metrics, remains consistently fresh and innovative. But beyond the team spirit, as taught by the sacred "hip hop culture" — a characteristic unfortunately now disappeared in favor of aesthetics for aesthetics' sake — the themes reflect slices of our reality. There's no attempt to mimic anyone, no gratuitous American slang: the Sangue Misto invent an entirely their own hip hop language. And so terms like "Ballotta," "Chico," "Rapadopa," "Guaglioni," or "Porra" forcefully enter the Italian hip hop imagination; certainly nothing that hadn't been heard in the genre before, but here they carve out their own space, free to roam, becoming key code words in the imagination of Neffa, Deda, and Dj Gruff. The first, a researcher of styles: breaking words apart, speeding them up, stuttering them, crafting a metric on himself, especially for the times, incredibly modern. The second, more charismatic, the prototype of the perfect MC, able to excite with every verse. And finally, Dj Gruff, director of impeccable productions and fascinating in the atmospheres they create, in addition to having a very personal, almost whispered technique.

The eponymous and timid intro of the album enters crawling, until it explodes in the first track "Clima di tensione", where Neffa and Deda immediately make it clear that the mic war has begun: "The tension rises more every day, even when I turn on my TV it comes up", it almost seems stitched onto this quarantine period not by chance. "Lo straniero" is the most political track on the album, where Neffa's entries are a cult document for future rappers ("When I went to school as a child, people in class called me Moroccan"). One of the album's most inspired and raw moments, perfect as a soundtrack for films like La Haine. In "La parola chiave", Deda handles the microphone, accompanied by guest Gopher D, a former member of the Isola Posse collective, the embryonic phase of the future Sangue Misto. "It’s just hip hop and it feels good a lot", and there’s no room for talk. And here we come to what I believe is the most powerful track on the album: that pearl "Cani sciolti", where it finds the highest point in the spectacular chorus, accompanied by an exciting choir and Gruff's neurotic and sharp scratches. A masterpiece, later picked up by Club Dogo in a remake on the album "Penna capitale", in a result tending towards the sounds of those years, but which in my opinion does not reach the perfection and charm of the original track.

Another masterpiece of the album follows: in "Senti come suona" the atmosphere becomes nocturnal, where Neffa, Deda, and Gruff reign in their respective verses through their trademark style. In the background, a wonderful sax dominates, until it becomes the absolute protagonist in the last minutes of the track. Magic, I can't think of a more appropriate term to define it. And here we arrive at one of the fan-favorite episodes, opened by a genius sample of "In the light" by Led Zeppelin: "La porra" enters with an elephant's step, talking about our protagonists' favorite vice, namely marijuana consumption. The result is genius: unforgettable phrases ("I don't think positive, I think of the chillum"), a musical structure that carefully mixes hip hop, funk, rock, and a hint of reggae, keeping up an atmosphere close to the peaks of the era, most notably Cypress Hill and House Of Pain. That "bum bum-cha, chico bum bum-cha" by Neffa will become a catchphrase for the next 20 years of rap, first quoted by Fabri Fibra in the successful hit "Applausi per Fibra". With "In dopa", the rhythms become softer; rapper Soulee B participates in a verse rapped in English, while Neffa's playful central entry changes the atmosphere and makes it driving.

The desolation returns in "Manca mone", yet another reflection of Italian reality, which remains incredibly relevant in so many expressed concepts. Perhaps the least successful track on the album, but still a very respectable track. The atmospheres this time become suffocating in the dark "Piglia male", supported by a slow, almost "reluctant" rapping by Neffa and Deda, creating the darkest episode of the work. Moving on, we find "Fattanza blu", the most psychedelic and controversial track on the album, where Neffa declared recording it lying on the ground under the effects of marijuana, with the microphone a few centimeters from his mouth, intending to create a more "stunning" effect on the result. The production musically seems to flirt with a certain prog taste, dare I say Pink Floyd-esque, especially in the long central part enriched with sounds that seem to come from another galaxy. To conclude the dance comes "La notte", an instrumental reprise of "Senti come suona", where we find the sax engaging in a solo of over four minutes, as a fitting end to this hypnotic musical experience.

Overall, "SxM" is one of the ultimate cornerstones of Italian hip hop, a precious gem of the genre, which has managed to influence practically anyone who ventured into rap in the last 20 years, and which still today lays the foundations in style, form, content, language, and metrics as if it came out yesterday.