See you at 4:20 / EIDI

For the past few years, I have often found myself watching gameplays of SNES games: Zelda, Pokémon, Donkey Kong Country, etc. They make me feel something that transports me to my childhood, to that carefree, that innocence, to those moments of communion with my closest friends. Maybe that's why EIDI's new project captivated my attention from the very beginning. roll-out. Suddenly, I started to get feed images of an island called Foryland, a secluded and colorful little world like the one we used to escape to as children impersonating Ash, Link or Super Mario. But this time the protagonist was a Cuban rapper who, through every image and visualizer new places and characters of the small universe, all of this driven by a soundtrack of soothing, relaxing loops of an escapist and nostalgic nuance. Something interesting was to come.

And it arrived: See you at 4:20This is the second album project of this young rapper in less than a year and, in my opinion, the most personal and genuine of his catalog to date. EIDI seems to have tuned in this time with a lyrical and sonic sensibility that favors him notably and through which he can be felt to flow with the utmost naturalness. It is, in addition, a work that, although it keeps an honest love and respect for the rap history of our country, does not allow this to weigh it down in its attempts to challenge the limits of what is traditionally understood as Cuban rap.

Illustration: Carlos Quiroga and Gabriel Herrera

Each of the four songs that make up this work has its individual essence. Let's take a look at them, track by track:

Watering my flowers

A vinyl record texture. A small crescendo of drums and flutes lifts you off the ground with a dreamlike and intriguing sound, to immediately drop you into the rhythm of a boombap. Jacob Janzen (producer of the EP) demonstrates from this first cut a musical mastery to blend samples and sound references with a very varied and eclectic taste. The constant march of bass drum and snare along with a simple and functional bass line, accompanied by subtle scratches, They build on a classic hip-hop base with more divergent elements on top of it. The use of a tambourine in place of a hi hat already introduces, even at the grassroots, a more indie than a typical rapper. Some occasional licks jazz piano, with sometimes tense and unstable flourishes, fills with rare colors the spaces between the dialogue between the flute line and the sample of voice (Handle of Lalá) which is the heart of the theme.

This piece is the perfect choice to open the EP, being a resolute declaration of intention. From the first verse -which gives the song its title- EIDI exposes his commitment to take care of his peace and his inner world. This will be the main premise of the whole project, which he will respect with great coherence.

Verse by verse, EIDI paints scenes of his daily life in a colorful and joyful place that, however, is also melancholic and desolate. "My city many live it and few understand it," raps the Havana native as he describes his mechanisms for dealing with the incomprehensible nature of his surroundings. With a stoic posture, he explains his need to make peace with his own mistakes, the irreparability of the panorama that surrounds him and the fleeting nature of everything. After a hooked chorus, he returns in the second block with a love letter to that which has helped him to develop that moral fiber, to build that peace of mind of which he speaks: music. With a humility that is atypical in the current climate of the genre, Abel describes his passion for hip-hop in such a sincere way that it reveals behind the artist he is, the fanatic he was and still is of this culture.

At other he loop by boombap takes a break and lets you listen underneath the sample a quiet marchita of congas that together with the piano transports us for a moment to the bolero; those subtle nuances of authentic cubanía will be seen several times throughout the project.

Illustration: Carlos Quiroga and Gabriel Herrera

Dissatisfied

Some retro synthesizers bring us back to that vibe. gamer of the 80's and 90's. Breaks the drum and begins Dissatisfied, a boombap slower but at the same time more intense, with more variety of components and a more charged and dynamic bass line. The sometimes tense synthesizer harmony, accompanied also by a slower build-up of synthesized strings, it is navigating between down-shifters and other electronic effects. This is perhaps the most serious and serious song of the EP, without betraying the sound aesthetics. chill and cozy that they set out from the beginning -which is again evident in the chorus, where the chords feel more resolute and are accompanied by a captivating wind line-. It all works together in a very cinematic way, achieving a track that feels like meditating driving all along the coastline.

At the lyrical level, it is perhaps the track The most rapping of the set, loaded with conviction, bars and an astute commentary on the state of Cuban rap, which he contrasts with this new approach that EIDI is determined to defend. Declaring it impossible to "innovate without looking to the past," the young rapper doesn't give himself more airs and graces than he deserves. He doesn't claim to be reinventing lukewarm water either, but he displays a novel criterion in choosing from which sources to collect it and, above all, the determination not to heat it if not to purify. The chorus, on the other hand, declares a healthy love for the scene, which it refers to with brotherhood rather than competitiveness.

Illustration: Carlos Quiroga and Gabriel Herrera

Ay Mamá Inés

From the first beats with that mestizo percussion (half rapper, half traditional Cuban), the scratches and the piano line that enters right after, this song feels classic. Not only because it interpolates the homonymous theme that by now holds a legendary status in the musical history of our country, but because it manages to do so in a very effective and novel way. Jacob Janzen, being of Australian origin, does an amazing job in capturing the Cuban sonority in this cut.

On a lyrical level the song is a change from the rest of the project because, despite keeping the same general vibe of the rest of the EP, its lyrics are more focused and thematic, while in the others the content is more free and varied. Maybe that's why it is conceived as an "extra level", a sort of a bonus track in the middle of the project. It has managed to become, even so, an instant audience favorite; perhaps not in spite of, but precisely because of its simplicity and clarity. EIDI manages to do justice to the referenced classic with a heartfelt ode to the Cuban coffee-drinking tradition that doesn't feel at all performative or tendentious. This is not a track for posh people who assume "being a coffee drinker" as half of their personality; this track sounds Cuban, Creole, real and without Instagram filters. Also sneaking in here and there some very subtle social and political commentary, the rapper doesn't make an effort to make the song more than it's supposed to be, he simply lets it exist and that makes it listen with an undeniable freshness.

Illustration: Carlos Quiroga and Gabriel Herrera

Capy

Yes Watering my flowers was the ideal choice to start the EP, Capy it is definitely to finish it as well. With an intentional and well accomplished sample, a dynamic base, a flow varied, encompassing and honest lyrics, and overall a very serious and inspiring vibe; this song aims to close the album on a high note -and in my opinion it succeeds-.

Sampling a beautiful arrangement of strings and piano by maestro Joe Hisaishi for the soundtrack of My Neighbor TotoroFrom the beginning, the theme presents a solemn and very sensitive touch -not only because of the emotional charge of the piece of music itself, but also because of all the memories that, by now, several generations have connected to that music and the cinematographic jewel for which it was composed-. After a while of leaving the sample unchanged, it starts to build underneath it a loop reminiscent of the lofi with their rough textures and aesthetics vintage.

EIDI approaches this subject with great vulnerability; meditating again on the prudential distance he has needed to establish between the world and himself in order to protect his spirituality. He reflects on his own ambitions and the price of fulfilling them, reveals the value that his family and friends have brought to his life and the gripping fear of losing them. Overall, it is a stream of consciousness through which EIDI, or rather, Abel David, lets himself be known, sharing with us even things he confesses he does not dare to mention in public.

An abrupt high-frequency filter gives way to an audio recording of Hayao Miyazaki. Underneath it gradually occurs the beat-switch with the introduction of another sample of more dreamlike and fanciful harmony; the tempo is accelerated towards the trap terrain that announces its entrance with those tremolos of hi hat typical of the genre. The base breaks in unison with the rapping -this time faster, without sounding forced-, EIDI flows with ease on the loopThe introspective lyricism of the first half is preserved, but this time it is imbued with conviction and hope, underlined by the emotive sonority of the sample. Bars like "Time is water and we are sand castles" denote the spiritual maturity necessary to reach a project like this.

EIDI greets us from that little world apart where his inner child is allowed to run free, without losing his perspective on the outside world and yet declaring to be absent, but happy. See you at 4:20 is a very remarkable work, especially in the context of the scene to which it belongs. Without disavowing its rap character or renouncing its place in the history of national hip-hop, this album avoids all the tropes and dogmas that have kept the genre immobile for many years.

Without the ego-trip, the beefThe moralistic sermonizing and politicking that cover an enormous area in the thematic spectrum of rap on our island, See you at 4:20 The album holds up with confidence, needing nothing more than the sincerity of its lyrics, the quality of its music and the captivating visuals (authored by Carlos Quiroga and Gabriel Herrera). Every aspect of this project, from production to promotion, was treated with great care and effort, and it shows in the results. Even though it is a short project with modest pretensions, or perhaps precisely because of it, this EP is a satisfying experience. I can't think of what else to ask from music besides being honest, authentic and novel.

Illustration: Carlos Quiroga and Gabriel Herrera

It is an EP loaded with a special vibe, with some anime and Nintendo, and international and Cuban rap at the same time. Anyone who was a kid in this country in the late 90's or early 2000's will be able to appreciate it just by giving it a listen. Play to the first issue and look at the cover. Coming of age is pushing us into an increasingly hostile and incomprehensible world. If you are looking to reconnect with your safe place, this album is for you.

*You can listen to the full EP at Spotify.

Illustration: Carlos Quiroga and Gabriel Herrera