Texto original: Kase.O: Arte y evolución
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English Translation
Today´s translation is a review on Spanish rap-master Kase.O´s new single Repartiendo Arte from his forthcoming album by Nicolás Ribas published on La Línea de Fuego in January 3rd 2016.
Kase.O: Art and Evolution
After Javier Ibarra´s break with his
mates from Violadores del Verso and
his jazzy adventure with Los Magnéticos,
Kase.O returned last September delivering art with a preview of his
forthcoming new solo album. A track in tune with the personal and musical
evolution the man has experienced, mainly since he embraced the revolutionary Jazz Magnetism project. In Repartiendo Arte, Javier Ibarra
invites us to travel to the world of ideas, to the ethereal, to that dreamy
place where art is born. It´s important to underline this concept to explore this
artist´s evolution through the last two decades. The birth of art. His
evolution doesn´t try to crash with the past, but to polish it, improve it,
without sacrificing his personal style. A risky bet, no doubt, or how Xhelazz defines it –another twist of hip hop´s screw. Nevertheless, his hardcore-rap
origins are present, proving he plays with a wide range of different styles on
the mic, showcasing his originality and creativity. Tutorial aka Casino is a great example of that, a tune that brings
some of that dirty´n´rude rap flavor back.
The single´s cover with him as Michelangelo´s El David sawn from behind, and his own image evoking Auguste Rodin´s Thinker (sculpture that
represented Dante facing The Hell´s
Gate and symbolized the act of thinking and the art of poetry) show Javier´s
deep interest in art. We are introduced to different cosmologic realms in this
song. There are references to Plato´s philosophy and his world of ideas (“the perfection
of perfection” of anything), the renacentist world view that places man in the
center of the universe (“I see myself from out there, in the center of a great
sphere”), and even to the Pythagoric cosmovision (“Numbers accelerate ´til
infinity”). Greek Mythology and the Classic Period have always been a source of
inspiration all over Kase.O´s literary works, we were used to it, but not to
this new cosmic dimension. His tune´s quality, his lyrical skills and the
careful composition of his texts make of his work an element closer to
literature than to pure music, and it deserves to be analyzed from an elevated
literary and poetic point of view. The fact that the press, the crowds and the
rap scene regard him as the king of Spanish-spoken rap is not just a
coincidence.
I drank from Virgil and Cicero
Today I bring poetry to your
home.
[Javat y Kamel]
Also, in Repartiendo Arte, the maño
brings back his poetic facet, as seen before in mythic tunes by now such as Javat y Kamel, Solo quedar Consuelo or A solas con un ritmo. With
“Tutorial aka Casino” he slaps faces with his hardcore rap, the style that has
always soaked through Violadores del
Verso´s lyrics. In this tune we can definitely recognize that “ego” always
present in the rapper´s and the band´s lyrics. There is a certain parallelism
with his earlier tune Mierda, but this time he´s not as aggressive.
Oh! Calliope,
Respected among the muses,
Blossom the garden, bring the
rhyme.
[Mierda]
Throughout his evolution as an artist, Kase.O
sets aside political and social issues to embark on an inwards trip, being more
introspective and philosophical. But here the master recovers that political
and social attitude (“I´m 34 bro. Spent
half of my life betrayed by the State, half of my life betrayed by the press.
One thing´s clear: they want us separated, labeled, confronted, divided, individualized,
alienated). Hardcore Funk is the last surprise in this forthcoming album
sampler. Javier Ibarra has never concealed the sources that have inspired him
in his previous works; Jazz, Funk, Hardcore and black music in general have
always been his main influences. This tune is a collaboration with Parrish
Smith, member of the legendary band from New York City, EPMD, one of Javier´s
main influences since he started writing his first rhymes in Azuara and rapping
his first bars in La Jota neighborhood along with Bufank, before Doble V were
born. A return to the roots and the genre´s original essence.
This work takes us on an artistic trip
through the universe with a bit of Funk and of course, some of that classic
hardcore rap. Versatile, as one of his multiple aliases. You can hear his music
from the Olympic Mount and us, commended to Dionysuss and intoxicated by the
wine, we hope not to lose our minds too soon to keep enjoying this new era that
now begins with Kase.O back in the game.
