In the middle of January, Latvia was hit by a storm, but rap tweets – Wiesulis. The new rapper’s debut album “Fianchetto” (“Clinical Records”, producer sangvn, 2022) was praised by many – BUSH and Skutelis, Abra and ansis. Although the album has a lot of smoothness and a distinctive taste of debut, there is no denying that it is a really promising application. “Fianchetto” suggests: If Wiesulis does not leave a lasting mark on the Latvian rap for the next decade, I will eat my hat.
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Like most Latvian rap listeners, I heard Wiesuli for the first time in “Ghetto Games”Pike couple bazaar“, where rapists compete with texts made on the spot. Although Wiesulis made his debut in 2019, he earned special attention last year, when he only conceded in the final to Abram – a long-time champion and probably the best freelance rapper in Latvia. Wiesulis’ performance can be seen both the intensity with which he felt seemingly endless signs, and the enthusiasm with which he felt every subsequent wit.
Intensity and enthusiasm also characterize “Fianchetto”. But unlike the carefree Cockroach and the pansy Steppe, whose charm is in the energy of pure performance, Wiesulis’ strongest point is the text. The half-hour-long album gives the impression that his main goal is to run through all the possible wit and rhyme, thinking only about the next and the next line. He seems to be drunk on the tongue. If there is anything in the world of Wiesuli other than rhymes and rap parties – inequality, historical motives, intimate and personal observations – then only so that it can be written down and repelled later.
It could already be seen in the stump about the bazaar that Wiesulis will not be a passer-by in hip-hop. Listen to his debut album! https://t.co/JHsonhg73B
— BUSH (@bush_music) January 14, 2022
I do not think that such an approach to the text is necessarily a sign of shallowness, because Wiesulis’ texts are already bursting with real imagination and vivid images from the front line (“Life does not kiss me like a bishop’s hand …”). If the characters and themes start to recur for a while – Wiesulis often compares his approach to the trip – then the active rhythmic drawing allows the ear not to get tired before the next successful line. It is not possible to describe in the article how cool the phrase “I will take the planer in my hand / down the gang in my glass as it is influenced by Tērvete’s ‘Ancestors'”
Part of the success is also in the producer’s sangvn beats, which mostly create a fairly energetic and changeable field for Wiesul’s rap. The sangvn sound palette consists mainly of trap drums familiar to the audience, easy-to-cut synthesizers and simple but efficiently processed samples. (It seems that “Fianchetto2019” hears the same source from which Kaiser made Eliot’s “Black Horse.”) to Skutelis and Trakaimelody.
Wiesulis and sangvn’s new album – lighthouse fire in the dark. I did not expect that in 2022 a new Latvian ems could still write something so good, authentic and on his own. And at the same time – as if to suit my taste. Absolutely great work.
– Arturs Skutelis (@artursskutelis) January 14, 2022
At the same time, the sound of the album also reveals some of its most significant shortcomings. It is clear that the album was most likely made at home, which explains the quality of the vocals, the chirping and the problems in the mix. However, a number of shortcomings need to be addressed, and these are the ones that stand out the most. For example, “Explode!” sangvn tries to build a bucket, but the groove is so stiff that it reveals seams elsewhere in such a flowing Wiesulis performance. There are a bit too many elements in the beats, which, perhaps due to the shortcomings of the mix, distract from Wiesulis’ voice. Of course, there is room for dirty sound in the rap, in the hand, and elsewhere, but these debris reminds us that there is still room for growth.
However, what I miss most about the album is Wiesulis himself. “Fianchetto” perfectly presents him as a technically strong rapper, but reveals little about his story and worldview. Rare vulnerabilities can be heard at the end of the album. “Not in my plan” Wiesulis talks for a moment about fears and dreams, “in Italy” there are contemplative notes and someone “you” to hope and wait appears, but these reflections are also fragmentary and vague. In the end, it seems that Wiesulis never becomes more direct than a voice message about a possible lamp fever, and more open than a few lines in the song “Eyes Turn Pirouettes”: “I still can’t paint everything I see, / I’m still down and still I often feel like I don’t know “. I thought one day I would know both, and I pointed my ears.
Wiesulis is blowing LV rap closer to the future today! 🌪🌪
Very dope album with noticeable handwriting, beats and rap. 🙏https://t.co/z7nzmx2W8Z– Idus Abra (@IdusAbra) January 14, 2022
Debut of Wiesulim SERIOUS 🥵
– ansis 🦆 (@ansishh) January 14, 2022
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