Review: Sfera Ebbasta & Shiva - "Santana Money Gang"

The concept of joint album He has always raised my skepticism. Too often they are commercial operations hunting for easy hits, a sort of mix of exaltation of artistic ego without a real creative push.

A joint Between sphere and Shiva perhaps it was in the air. Their recent winks, the various live hosted, sound crossings and various screws were a signal that in retrospect was clear and evident.

I do not hide that initially I did not nourish too high expectations. Sfera Ebbasta and Shiva have been and are undoubtedly, two titans of the Italian trap scene, but both seem anchored to a consolidated cliché, to a formula that, although succeeding, does not pushes towards unexplored territories.

The title, Santana Money Gangis already a manifesto in itself: a game of words that recalls the luxury, the life of the blocks and the identity of the road, without really wanting to innovate, but indeed, reaffirming a now well -known and well recognizable language. But, after all, you could also see it as a symbol of continuity, a reference to an aesthetic and an imaginary that the two artists have helped to build.

A positive element of this project is its independent nature. Santana Money Gang It is a forged disc far from the logic of the majors, under the signs of their labels, Cupid and west Milan. Despite this, the system and mechanisms underlying the construction of the disc do not detach themselves much from those that characterize the great commercial successes.

The album is, first of all, a succession of Flexxate, declarations of superiority and successes, starting from SNTMGwhich is configured almost like a manifesto of the “gang” created by the two. But in the middle of the trophies there is also room for a more human introspection, such as in You are lostwhere love is declined with a sensitivity that screeches with the classic imagination of these two artists, or in Spritite molecules or Paranoia Which mark one of the most reflective moments of the album, traces that touch the strings of vulnerability with an uncommon sincerity in the genre.

What makes the collaboration between Sfera and Shiva interesting is their game of voices and styles that intertwine without ever overlapping. Sphere, softer and more romantic, remains faithful to that trap that consecrated it, but also manages to give moments of sweetness and introspection. Shiva, on the other hand, remains its rough and abrasive counterbalance, with its aggressive flow and the recognizable voice that shakes the foundations of the project. Together, they exchange bars with the naturalness of those who know what it works, but without being too predictable.

In a context where Italian trap struggles to renew itself, Santana Money Gang It presents itself as a job that, although not innovating, knows how to perfect a consolidated formula. It is an album that reflects the essence of the scene, and perhaps for this reason it can become a Instant Classic of the genre. The last?