trippin' the rift can you trip like i do?

Hugo Kant – I Don’t Want To Be An Emperor

Posted by tipkin

Abstract hip-hop is a very tricky genre. It's very easy for a musician to go into one of its extremes. One could either start juggling with funny and bright samples creating a kaleidoscope which seems interesting at first but gets boring really quickly because of its silliness and lack of depth. Or one can create something very dark and gloomy, filling the record with creepy sound-effects, David Lynch quotations and heart monitor beeps. Which could also get old in a little while because, well, it's been done sooo many times. Finding that balance between fun package and wholesome substance isn't an easy task, but if you listen to Hugo Kant's (aka Quentin Le Roux) new album I Don't Want To Be An Emperor, you'll witness a pretty good example of how it's done. I'm going to break my usual review pattern and go straight to the title track, for it is a perfect illustration of my point as well as of the album's concept and overall vibe. The track is built around Charlie Chaplin's (as Adenoid Hynkel) speech from The Great Dictator accompanied by haunting rhythm and sad symphonic melody (as well as other subtle but poignant additions and insertions). As the film itself, the track (and the album) create this strange environment that combines comedy and tragedy, silliness and drama, fun and important message. What exactly this message is - that's a different question and the answer is not easy to figure out. Certain parts of the album are just excellent - it has a very strong opening that grabs your attention with "This Old Tune" where sentimental flute and strings meet some no-bullshit drums and percussion. Wind instruments are very prominent throughout the entire record, so if you're not a big fan of woodwind and brass you may have a hard time digesting this one. The flute goes crazy on "Thou Shalt Not Kill", which, again, takes on a serious subject but interjects its discussion with the scolding "I'm not interested in your idiotic conversation". Then there's a very trip-hoppy "Leonids" filled with an eerie vacuum (I don't know how can you fill anything with vacuum, but it does) despite the calmness of the beat - the worrisome strings, nervous piano strokes and static-y conversation do the trick. Speedy "Delirium" returns to the cinematic motif of "This Old Tune", but this time it's definitely a chase scene. But then at certain moments the records veers into some very strange and unexpected directions, and you cannot hep but feeling like watching a very compelling foreign film with a very intricate plot structure, but the subtitles suddenly disappear or, even better - switch to a different language. The worst (or the best?) part - this is all intentional. The Arabian flavor of the silky "Ranija", the tropical heat of "No Jazz", the retro-modernization (another oxymoron) of a classical piece in "The Chord Cracker", - none of those are random, they are all cleverly placed pieces of the puzzle (maybe too cleverly for me). But the question stated in the final "So Why?" (another excellent track with quietly dominating strings and tons of other elements twirling around them in a hallucinatory dance) is, in my opinion, answered pretty clearly - to provide the listener with an experience, sometimes challenging, sometimes confusing, but always exciting.

R.I.Y.L. Chinese Man, Backini, vintage posters
personal favs: "Leonids", "I Don't Want To Be An Emperor", "So Why?"

tipkin's rating