Week 2: "La Strega del Frutteto", by Sick Luke
Who:
Luca Antonio Barker was born in London on August 17th, 1994. Son of Italian veteran rapper Duke Montana, Sick Luke –he’s a fan of “Star Wars”, hence the nickname–, he lived between the US and Rome. He was already working as a producer before his 20s but became a prestigious name after a partnership with the roman trap collective Dark Polo Gang.
His first solo album, X2, was released in January 2022 and became of the most streamed albums in the world -due to high-profile collaborators such as Gazzelle, tha Supreme, Madame, and Carl Brave. In the first 48 hours after the release, the 17 tracks of the album occupied the 18 first positions of the Italian Spotify and Apple Music Italy.
Sounds like:
Since Sick Luke is mainly a producer, it’s hard to tell how he sounds. He definitely leans to a modern trap, but his first solo album has a bit of everything, from hardcore rap (“CLOCHARD”) to indie-pop (“NOTTE SCURA”). He just needs to lose the reggaeton (a HUGE genre in Italy) cliches that haunt all of this music.
The song:
“La Strega del Frutteto” (“The Witch of the Orchard”) is a perfect point of entry single to Sick Luke’s sound. The acoustic indie that drinks from iDKHOW turns into a catchy electropop with goth lyrics about a dark relationship between a man and a fairy. The 80s beats chosen by Luke fit perfectly the mellow sound of chiello and the pristine voice of Madame. Beats me how San Remo let this one track slip away.
His words:
“I chose “La Strega del Frutteto” as the first single of my album to let the public know my hidden side: what goes beyond the trap and the sound that fans are used to [hear] in my work as a producer. Working with chiello and Madame was a blast especially because we’ve never collaborated before. They made a perfect mix for this ‘dark babbling’ single.”
The video:
So far there’s no music video produced specifically for this song, just the lyrics video below and another one with a lame animation in a loop.
The lyrics:
Che effetto che mi fai
Per me tu sei come una fata
Portata via dal lato oscuro
Che effetto che mi fai
Per me tu sei come una fata
Portata via dal lato oscuro
Che sogna, sogna, sogna
Di attraversare i frutteti
E corre, corre, corre
Prende tutto ciò che vuole
Quando tutto è perso e non si può
Più tornare indietro, non ci rimane
Che dire: "È stato bello"
Oh, oh, oh
E quando tutto è perso e non si può
Più tornare indietro, non ci rimane
Che dire: "È stato bello"
Oh, oh, oh
Ma cos'hai fatto alla luna?
Mmm ma perché hai spento la luce?
Mmm ma io ho paura del buio
Mmm forse non te ne ricordi
Lo sai che a volte riesci a farmi male male senza motivo
Per cambiarmi sempre in peggio
Ma farti male male senza motivo non voglio
Quante volte ho detto: "Sono ancora qui"
Quando non mi cercavi
Ed ero ancora lì
Ma tu non ci pensavi
A volte penso che mi hai ucciso
Sì, ho sbagliato sempre io
Perché mi hai sempre detto così
Quando tutto è perso e non si può
Più tornare indietro, non ci rimane
Che dire: "È stato bello"
Oh, oh, oh
E quando tutto è perso e non si può
Più tornare indietro, non ci rimane
Che dire: "È stato bello"
Oh, oh, oh
Grazie!
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