I’m not sure when I did it last time. If ever. Car windows down, stereos up in a sleepy suburb, while driving slowly down the alley. And blasting loud “Faith Elsewhere”, a mesmerising album by Kinlaw & Franco Franco.
Such a feeling after decades since my hip-hop fandom. Time spent with tracks by Public Enemy, Ice-T, LL Cool J, KRS-One, etc. Later Cypress Hill and French rap. Then, after a longer break, Izzaldin‘s album in 2023, and the untamed power of US ladies, such as Cardi B. and Megan Thee Stallion.
The duo Kinlaw & Franco Franco stun with intensity and courage. They operate from the Bristol area and debuted in 2019 with “Mezzi Umani Mezze Macchine” on the local imprint Avon Terror Corps. The new LP “Faith Elsewhere” lands on Drowned By Locals, an unconventional label from Amman, Jordan. The album offers a hefty dose of street credibility along with hedonistic flirtations, a major part of the appeal lying in the rhymes in Italian.
Enter the misdemeanors
Kinlaw & Franco Franco produce off-center hip-hop that combines the genre’s traditions with shady backyards of the UK electronics. Though the opener “Air Loom Gang” feels as an antechamber of misdemeanors, which may scare off less experimental-minded listeners. However, “A Spectre Still Haunting” leaves the noisy surroundings, held on a leash of a stripped down groove, and the title cut “Faith Elsewhere” is of similar type.
R’n’B flavored “Pitstop 2024” accesses all areas, with chartbreaker fuel in the tank. In the same direction goes agri-trap “Crocs On The Plough”, a bittersweet anti-pastoral and hit song candidate as well, which shares the blood group with Coolio’s “Gangsta’s Paradise”.
After chaos and malfunction (“Romantic Warrior”), pure industrial avant-garde squats in the manic recital “Need A Grip!”, where the voices are cutting through the wall of twisted instruments. “My ass has been commodified, now I’ve got to sell the shit” is radical hardcore-hop liking to Fun-Da-Mental or Consolidated. Slumbering yet powerful “Magone” is a lullaby for cyborgs and acoustic outerlude “Faith Elsewhere (reprise)” calms the senses. What a ride!
Further listening
Speaking of hip-hop with Italian roots, here are a few of my recent favourites. The album “V-troit” came out on Vibrarecords in 2023. It’s a transatlantic collaboration of two artists, Dankery Harv from the Detroit’s renowned duo Frank-N-Dank, and Capstan from the Italy’s Verona. Overall laid-back mood includes highlights like purebred ghetto bass “Now Blow” and sunny “WDGAF” with R’n’B boost.
Another vital release is “E La Chiamano Estate” (2020) by Marcello Sanzio. Nerdy-looking maestro in light-green suit drops cool reworks of canzone and easy listening. Two dozen short cuts, with jewels like pitched-up Al Bano appearing in “Sapendo che domani” or “E torni indietro con il tempo”, extracted from Toto Cutugno’s “La mia musica”.
Buy vinyl:
Juno (UK)