Bresh, between rap and melody
Andrea Brasi in art Bresh comes from Bogliasco, near Genoa. Today is his birthday, he turns 28. He has two albums behind him – “May I help myself” (2020) e “Blue Gold” (2022) – plus loads of singles and collaborations. To celebrate him we have resumed the review of his debut album that he wrote for us Riccardo Primavera.
Born Andrea Brasi, Bresh is a rapper known to the general public for being one of the names featured in “Amici Miei”, the mixtape he created with a collective of Genoese rappers that includes, among others, Tedua, Izi and Vaz Tè. The project quickly became a cult among fans, and strengthened listeners’ interest even in the participants who were not already known to the general public. Linked to Zona4Gang and Wild Bandana, Bresh debuted with his first mixtape between 2012 and 2013 – entitled “Cambiamenti” -, and in the following years he participated in “Aspettando Orange County” and “Orange County Mixtape” by Tedua, also publishing several singles. In 2019 he signed with Sony Music and released “No Problem”, the first single from his official debut album, from which he later also extracted “OBLÒ” with Rkomi and “TEAM” with Vaz Tè.
“Che io mi aiuti” is the album that marks a new beginning for Bresh’s journey, who however decides to start again from the ties with the people with whom he shared everything on a musical level. The guests present on the album are in fact first friends and then colleagues of the Genoese rapper, namely Rkomi, Tedua, Izi and Vaz Tè. The same goes for the producers: the instrumentals are by Chris Nolan, Shune, Garelli and Andre Blanco.
“I didn’t act like a boss in life / I am my boss in life”: from the first verse of the album, the one that opens “SCOOTER”, Bresh distances himself quite markedly from the rapper stereotype. “Che io mi aiuti” is in fact an album far from the cliché of the arrogant rapper, full of himself, more focused on self-celebration and ostentation than on narration. The album of the twenty-three-year-old artist takes on more the tones and atmospheres of a personal diary, a collection of autobiographical stories and personal descriptions, which have as their subject both Bresh himself and the world around him.
This is how, for example, his friends and the people around him become the protagonists of “NO TEAM”, while “NO PROBLEM” is instead a more introspective analysis.
Bresh’s lyrics strike the listener with delicacy: “Che io mi aiita” is a smooth record, it never proves heavy, but at the same time manages not to prove superficial. Today’s society is the protagonist of references scattered throughout several songs – for example, the theme of violence against women, present in Tedua’s verse – which follow one another without interruption, in what becomes an impressionist fresco, full of elusive details but full of meaning. The title track is particularly striking: the hymn to working hard to be the authors of one’s own success is in fact a song structured on two levels, which gives its best in the second verse, a refined metaphor on the ability to distinguish what is important in life and what not.
“Che io miaiuto” combines this fresh and light narrative with bright and dreamy instrumentals, which move in the balance between rap and it-pop, just as Bresh himself moves easily between rapping and more melodic elements. The final result is surprisingly natural and spontaneous: after seeing colleagues of his generation experimenting and seeking their own sonic dimension, the rapper took advantage of their results – and their mistakes – and found his own comfort zone. The latest project of the new Genoa school is in fact a debut album that has the maturity of the projects of consecration: Bresh is ready to compete in the championship of the greats, “Che io mi ai” is confirmation of this.
