Otierre - Spoiled by Success

La Pina only features on two tracks of this debut, while Tormento left the collective right after its release to form Sottotono together with DJ Irmu, Fish and Nega. In this new lineup, the two female rappers who had been part of the collective back at the time of the first single are already missing, as is Griso.

The record is a concentrate of fun, charm and energy, peppered with jazz and blues borrowings alongside scratches and samples. While the dynamic may recall, besides the already-mentioned A Tribe Called Quest, the hyperkinetic sonic constructions of Public Enemy, the result here is pure fun, with no agenda whatsoever. Take, for instance, the hilarious "Slaugio", a track about a title as slangy as it is vague in meaning, which opens with these rhymes:

There's also room for slice-of-life storytelling like "Pronto Pine", about a trip to the police station, and dancing to the disco rhythm of "Lo sciupa", while "Dei colori" (featuring Tormento) softens the arrangement into lounge-flavored textures. The CD reissue also adds "La nuova realtà", an explosive, self-celebratory funk-rap track.

The fame achieved by Otierre earns them the opening slot for the Milan concert of Public Enemy in November 1994, in Milan. A guest appearance by 2Pac was also planned, but was later cancelled.

As had already happened with Isola Posse All Stars, most of the collectives formed in the early Nineties that achieved even modest success ended up falling apart, to the point that by 1996 the crew was down to a quartet: Esa, Polare, Vez and Vigor. These were years of reorganization, which also had to reckon with the changed role hip-hop now played in Italian popular music, following the experiments of 1992-93 that had, by 1994-95, turned it into a genre known even to a mass audience. However, as often happens with new genres and musical styles, hip-hop was destined to be treated by the general public as a passing trend, the fleeting fashion of the moment. Like every innovative style, then, it went through an inevitable phase of institutionalization after the purely exploratory, pioneering one, in which Otierre, as already discussed, played no small part in bridging the gap between the provinces and a national audience.

In 1996 Otierre founded Sede, in their native Varese, which became the crew's ideal operational base. The same period also saw the birth of Mixmen Connection, a project that spilled beyond the boundaries of the collective to involve other hip-hop artists as well, such as Bassi Maestro. This would become a platform for producing independent works such as "Contro gli estimatori" by Bassi Maestro, "Sulle soglie della follia" by Davo, "Fritzdacat" by Fritz da Cat and "Torno sulla scena" by Maury B.

With great strength and courage, at a time when a solid record-label structure, adequate promotional muscle, or even just a large and devoted fanbase capable of showing sustained support were all still lacking, Otierre joined the collective La Connessione, whose goal was to build a bridge between Italian, German and Belgian hip-hop. Among the artists involved were Torch, Toni-L, Bou and Rival Capone.

In 1996 OTR began hosting the show "In Aria" on Radio 2: they were, by this point, probably one of the most famous hip-hop acts in Italy. Then again, in Italy a sound that combined hip-hop with multiple voices, including female ones, alongside other black music had already found wide success in 1996, as shown by the strong results of "The Score" by the Fugees (which reached No. 2 on the album chart and sixth on the year-end chart, going gold), proof of a national market slowly but significantly being won over to such crossovers.

In 1997 came Dalla sede, credited to Otierre feat. La Pina, a second album that surpasses the debut thanks to more professional production, handled entirely by Esa, and sharper mic control from the various rappers. The band has the drive of a group that knows it's playing for the chance to make a mark beyond its own niche of fans. The fun of the debut has merged with darker atmospheres, menacing beats and an overall greater aggression. The guest emcees featured are England's Soul Boy, Germany's Toni-L and Belgium's Rival Capone. Scratches are by DJ Vigor, DJ Gruff and DJ Mais.

"La O la T la R" is a statement of identity, an opener that turns the veteran band into a presence on the contemporary scene, a second anthem after the tribute from Frankie Hi-Nrg Mc. In the verses the technique is a league above the debut, packed with wordplay and English terms, while an elastic, vaguely hallucinated beat gives the whole thing a hypnotic quality:

Avvisa il commissario tecnico

Ho il giusto flow, vuole il goal

Meglio far entrare il goleador

Hardcore come la Staller, scrivo bestseller

Compongo come Wagner col sequencer

Aziono il pubblico quando il clima è gelido

Passami il microfono, funziono molto più del Paraflu

I quarter like Bluebeard when I sink my rhyme

I keep MCs in pieces in drawers, packed in mothballs

Get real, you're inside a bumper car

No air bag, laid back, smooth

I display it like the Louvre, on the groove

Works of art of inestimable value

I'm more agreeable than a portable Minidisc

The project marks an excellent success in the Italian underground thanks to tracks like "Ce n'è", with La Pina enriching it with an exchange between female and male voice, or "Rispettane l'aroma", which went on to become genre classics. The call and response of the former has become iconic, while the latter is remembered for a chorus that samples "Here I Am (Come And Take Me)" by Marcia Griffiths, a cover of the Al Green song.

The overall sound, as already mentioned far more professional, is less exuberant and joyful but still remains very catchy, palatable even for those who prefer pop-rap. "Extrapolare" is an almost hardcore-hip-hop move, proof that on this second album it was important to show they meant business, that it wasn't a game anymore, and even "Secondo me" lets friction with the market and fellow artists show through:

How many people you meet,

With masks on their faces, ready

To shake your hand when it suits them

To turn against you when you're no longer useful

Worms frozen at their control posts

As long as you've got blood in your veins, they won't let go

The fin between the eyes instead of on the back (Ah)

You didn't even notice it had already bitten you

The tracks “Anothasounwantess” (in English and Italian), “Play Your Position” (in Italian and French), and “Ha – Ha !!” (in Italian and German) give the album international ambitions and sound original for a scene that still struggles to engage with other national music realities.

The lightness and fun of the early days still surfaces in a track like “Chiedo permesso” (which samples “Eric B. Is President” by Eric B. & Rakim).

After Dalla sede, the members of Otierre devoted themselves to their respective solo careers: in 2002 Esa released his debut album “Tutti gli uomini dEl Presidente”, while La Pina (who had already released a record back in '95) would go on, after two more albums, to become a radio host on Radio Deejay. Against this backdrop, Esa and Polare changed their names to El Presidente and Polaroide, carrying on as the duo Gente Guasta, which represents the continuation - and, in a sense, the dark side - of Otierre's colorful, successful hip-hop.

Spoiled Music

The duo Gente Guasta is the clearest snapshot of the crisis, death and rebirth that Italian hip-hop went through at the turn of the millennium. Having brought rap from the provinces to the mainstream with their original lineup, Esa and Polare reinvented themselves as El Presidente (initially Il Presidente) and Polaroide, forming this duo. They collaborated with ATPC and Lord Bean, besides appearing on several compilations of the era and releasing a few mixtapes, but the real turning point came with their debut La grande truffa del rap (2000), which marked a bitter evolution of Otierre's sound toward dark, pessimistic urban visions, also remarkably creative in some asymmetrical beats (“Tappa dopo tappa”), borrowings from other cultures (the Eastern colors of “Lotta armata”), and chilly electronic explorations (“Mondi sotterranei”).

The collapse of the scene's dream is distilled into the duo's sharp, technically accomplished rhymes, backed moreover by a large cast of Italian and international guests. While “The Death of Miracles” (1997) by Frankie Hi-Nrg Mc depicts the sick society of the time, steeped as it was in the fumes of a turn-of-the-century crisis that wasn't just musical, La grande truffa del rap captures the effects of that malaise on Otierre's once-colorful rhymes. The trauma of a suffering scene, torn apart from within but also held hostage by an industry that seduced and then abandoned it, is reflected in the tracks of an album that, symbolically and right from its title, encapsulates the sense of defeat and unease felt by Italian rap of the period.

When the tag-team with Uomini di mare comes together, in the manifesto that is the title track, you can hear a perfect example of the difference between the good vibes of the '90s and the bad vibes - laced with real despair and exasperation - typical of the early 2000s. It's Fabri Fibra who voices the hostility toward the market and pop-rap in lines like:

⟦Q1⟧

⟦Q2⟧

⟦Q3⟧

⟦Q4⟧

An outsider's stance within the scene, which Esa then reaffirms in his own verse:

⟦Q5⟧

I don't know if it's hunger for knowledge or chemical hunger

Between those who slander to gain fame

And those who tear apart for the watermark

The third one enjoys it

I remain

I dance this tango to the rhythm of rhymes

All the way to the end, to the very end

Controversial like I've never been before

And how do you know that?

When the whole universe is against you

Make sure you're ready

They're scheming to clear you out of your place

The bitter "L'originale trasmissione della rovina" (feat. Toni L and Torch), almost a self-parody, is a dive into the abyss of negativity through a menacing beat that twists the multifaceted jazz-rap of the past into an obsessive bad trip. Then again, it's already the lead single "Lotta armata", for which a video was also produced, that makes the total change of register clear:

The more my faction scouts around, the more this industry disgusts me

Which path could ever be the right one?

Gimmicks and marketing

Yet another real artist grows frustrated

[…]

I draw my blades against tired minds

I won't even bother trying

No time for small talk with those stabbing you in the back

Not even the Ganges can cleanse you of this scene

This darker version of Otierre can credibly hold its own alongside Colle der fomento on "Solidi sospetti", flying the flag of opposition to pop-rap.

Emerging from the experience that brought underground sound to national success, the two former Otierre members recount the failure of a musical dream that ran aground not long after being swallowed up by the mainstream, with a feeling similar to the one Kurt Cobain described regarding "his" grunge. Here we find the seeds of that fusion of grotesque, aggressive and kitsch elements that would later lead solo Fabri Fibra and the early Club Dogo to establish themselves as prophets of a new national school.

If the duo's debut still sounds today like one of the genre's classics, the follow-up QVinto potere (2001), which rails against the mass media, doesn't carry the same disruptive force but retains a similarly explosive recipe, boasting both national and international collaborations. It's perfect for fans, whether nodding along to the electro beat of "Ma che gente c'è!?", the offbeat rhythm of the title track, or partying to the soul-funk of "Uscire dal quartiere". In fact, the album marks the end of the Gente Guasta experience, for a good decade at least.

New wavelengths

The idea of returning as Otierre had already begun circulating back in 2002, and there was no shortage of reunion shows featuring just Azza, Esa, Polare, Vez and Vigor, sometimes alongside La Pina or Tormento. At the end of 2012 came the new album with Esa, Polare, Vigor and Skizo under the name OTR/Gente Guasta, titled Sintonizzati. The attempt is to prove they're still "on the ball", as anyone who's been away too long has to do. From the title track, which also opens the record, through to the single "Funk The System", it sounds like a souped-up version of their old sound, but with precious few new ideas. "Questo ritmo", with its menacingly booming beat, is the high point of an album that seems able to do little to leave a mark on the 2012 scene, a world away from the sound of the Nineties.

October 21, 2014 marks OTR's return to the music scene with a new single (also accompanied by a street video) titled "È presto", meant to herald the release of the album "Musica d'azione", initially scheduled for January 2016. On February 19, 2015, a video was also made for the track "Musica d'azione", followed by the singles "Vox populi" (August 2015) and "Potàla" (September 2015). In 2018 came "Il vero rap", produced by Dj Shocca.

The fourth album, released under the original Otierre name, arrived in 2022 and is called Splendente. It also celebrates the project's thirtieth anniversary and, curiously, doesn't include some of the singles released in recent years. They present it as "a rap life raft in a sea of nothing", but in reality the scene of the period is quite vast and far from lacking in interesting rappers.

Some tracks seem to coast along almost on autopilot, riding a style that now belongs to another era or simply celebrating themselves ("Sotto queste stelle"; "Ancora funky" with Toni-L), but there's no denying the group still has plenty of style, as shown by the hypnotic nursery-rhyme flow of "La sinfonia" and the Nineties-style hardcore hip-hop fluidity of "Potàla" (fittingly built on a Nas sample). It's an album that works above all as a good excuse to rediscover the story of both Otierre and Gente Guasta, two sides of the same coin: Italian hip-hop between the two millennia.