SALMO - Flop

I'm this close to losing my mind

But it takes time to go crazy

I feel trapped here, let me out

The right key is always the last one on the ring

(from “La chiave”)

One of the most anticipated albums of the year for Italian hip-hop, this “Flop” arrives a full three years after the six-times-platinum “Playlists” to talk about failure and mistakes, in contrast with the exhilarating success stories told by so many of his peers. Salmo releases it after making headlines this summer, when, with live shows still hobbled by anti-Covid rules, he organized one in his hometown of Olbia, stirring up a hornet's nest with legal implications still to be untangled and a furious row with Fedez. Always aggressive and provocative in his stances, Maurizio Pisciottu has thus gained nationwide visibility, which has only heightened interest in this sixth album, presented with cover art that references Alexandre Cabanel's "L’angelo caduto" (The Fallen Angel).

Few collaborations at the mic, spread across 17 tracks over 46 minutes. It opens in full continuity with “Hellvisback” and “Playlists”, with a cascade of rhymes powered by plenty of punchlines, rattling off pop references and dishing out caustic remarks; then, by the time we reach “Criminale”, he dusts off his crossover suit for a pop-punk number that's more timid than Blanco's, with a chorus so goofy it can only be taken as a parody. “Ghigliottina” (feat. Noyz Narcos) is more aggressive, bringing back the furious delivery he's known for, but it's once again just another episode of a series we already know well.

If he has to revive past successes, better he do it with the ode to failure “Flop!”, one of the most inspired songs on the album, delivered with that mix of pop-rock-rap that has already carried his name well beyond the circle of hip-hop die-hards.

The way out of self-quotation — so blatant in the tracklist that one song is literally called “Hellvisback 2” — is to open up more honestly, as in the pairing “In trappola” – “La chiave”, with a superb Marracash helping out on a confession of a nervous breakdown set to melodic vocal lines with singer-songwriter leanings. It's no coincidence that the best track turns out to be an it-pop-rap number like “Marla”, which puts the rapper's flow skills to use for a romantic dedication with jazzy shades and, surprisingly, even finds Salmo singing his heart out: it's an outright hit and the ideal follow-up to his “Il cielo in una stanza”.

This is a Salmo who sounds this way even when venturing close to pop, but he's more original on a modern blues number like “A Dio” (with a resurgent Alex Britti) or on the jittery, danceable “Fuori di testa”, an imaginative reinterpretation of the trap template.

As was the case with “Playlists”, the limitation remains that this isn't really an album, but rather a collection of tracks picked up from wherever they happened to land: often pleasing longtime fans, sometimes winking at a younger audience, and at other times offering a credible, more intimate, reflective, singer-songwriter-style Salmo. Success is guaranteed, since there's something tasty on the menu for (almost) everyone, but this sixth album never finds the courage to commit to a direction. If it isn't the failure ironically hinted at by the title, it's not a triumph either — even though the Sardinian rapper clearly has the potential for one.

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02/10/2021