The appearance of Henny’s debut album in the Latvian hip-hop sky is hardly a surprise, even though Henrijs Eduards Mucenieks has been known as the guitarist of the legendary Latvian rock group “Līvi” for more than six years now. The guy has a wide range of musical interests, and in 2021 he decided to start a career as a rapper, going on stage under the name Henny. In recent years, Henry has been seen in the ranks of the largest domestic hip-hop group “Kreisais Krasts”, as well as participated in several projects together with Muud, Reika, the group “Olas” and other rappers.
“I am happy to finally bring my Rockstar Chronicles to the listeners and share my life experiences,” said Henny. “The album was made over a period of about three years, because I couldn’t stop holding on to it all the time. In the second half of this year, with the encouragement of my friends and colleagues, I finally got the hang of it and brought it to the end. I wanted the album to be as “smooth” as possible, and I did. My “Rockstar Chronicles” is a combination of different musical genres, where listeners will find a bit of “r’n’b”, “trap” and even disco – all this reflects the diversity of my musical interests, so I hope that after listening to this album, you can leave both ‘in full sauce’ and ‘soak it up’ and enjoy it.”
The album also features guest artists such as 3adatu stagars, Pre’set (Mārtiņš Ozols-Ozoliņš), Misters Krūmiņš (Jānis Krūmiņš), EV (Kārlis Pauls Šēnhoff), Sprait (Niklāvs Bērziņš), Dzaubis (Emīls Rinalds Baugis) and Spinaac (Oksana Isajeva ). Latvian rock greats from “Livs” Ainars Virga, Guntars Mucenieks and Aleksejs Balinskis also contributed their talents to the album. Punkts uz I (Inguss Shusts) took part in the mastering of the album.
Listening to the “Rockstar Chronicles”, you can’t help but feel that Henny likes being in the ranks of the united hip-hop brotherhood and the feeling of freedom offered by rap (that is, you can use “thick” words without remorse) than the music of the genre itself. “I do it because I have to and because there’s something to say,” explains Henny in “This Life,” but it doesn’t sound convincing – at least the “there’s something to say” part.
Henny’s story about his childhood and/or youth (and Ainar Virga’s voiceover with his specific word “muzīk” in the trumpet) is interesting in the song “Kaut vašinili” and in some other pieces, but from a musical point of view, the song “Klubā” with “house” music can be noted elements (together with Spinaac or Oksan). It’s a pity that Henry doesn’t practically use his main trump card – his skillful guitar playing (it fully appears only in the song “2023”), which would enrich the album and allow Henny to stand out in the multi-headed and opaque crowd of Latvian rappers with at least this nuance, because without it, an ordinary regular album would have turned out.
2023-12-04 19:11:43
#REVIEW #Henny #Rockstar #Chronicles
