Abso's Almostopter: Kase.O - El Circulo

The yearly community project begins

The vortex has been running for nearly as long as it takes Carlos to type “I’m an overrater” and every year we’ve enjoyed a unique and often challenging project. This year we have the almostopster and it’s time to pick an album that’s so very close to being perfect and can actually see your absolutely terrible reliquary list, but isn’t allowed in. It’s reliquary adjacent: it can look but not touch anything.

So, on to my choice. I wanted to use this chance to introduce everyone to one of the most important Spanish artists of the last 26 years. So sit down, crack a beer open (just a juice for you Chucky) and hopefully enjoy one of the most influential hip hop albums of the last decade here in Spain.

Javier Ibarra AKA “Kase.O” is as influential as he is due to the fact he was a piece of the trio that completely put hip hop on the map: “Violadores del Verso”. Everything that had the bad luck of sharing the same wave of hip hop was made to look bland and inconsequential by VdV. With massive influence from american boom bap, three rappers that had completely different styles came together in a smooth and professional way.

Even in Violadores del Verso, Kase.O managed to shine the most with his variety, charisma and wit, creating lyrics that to do this day can absolutely destroy you on one bar and make you piss yourself laughing on the next one.

Anyway, VdV came to its end after a run of amazing records and Kase.O, who had not released a solo album yet, had the perfect project in mind. “El Círculo” came out in 2016 after years of immense self-imposed pressure. The album was meant to paint the full picture of who he is and what he’d developed into after more than a decade.

“El Circulo” is an almost perfect album, with a variety not seen on many hip hop records. From the get go you can feel it’s been constructed carefully and every single word has been expertly crafted. From full protest boom bap like “Esto No Para” to deep dives into Kase.O’s psyche with “Guapo Tarde” or “Triste” and party anthems that manage to still deliver and stay fresh after nearly a decade like “Viejos Ciegos” or “Pavos Ciegos”. And much more important than any of this is the way that Javier manages to expand and deepen rap and offer an angle that had never been seen before on “Repartiendo Arte”.

This album really does offer everything I look for in a hip hop album, Kase.O sometimes reminds me of Aesop Rock in the way that he writes and how he uses his natural charisma to make punchlines burn that little bit more.

So, why is this album here if it’s so good? Although you’re not going to understand the lyrics I’m pretty sure anyone that enjoys hip hop will be nodding along to the first 8 songs. But after that, in the middle of the album, there’s a certain staleness with a couple of songs that are pretty good, don’t get me wrong, but they do break the flow and cadence of the album, sadly. It’s such a small error as it’s basically only “Mitad y Mitad”, “Mazas Y Catapultas” and “No Sé Qué Voy a Hacer” that achieve this rupture in rhythm but it’s enough to make me usually skip all of them to get back to the meat and potatoes of the album.

The album ends with “Repartiendo Arte” and “Basureta” which go back to the insane level of the first 8 songs which saves this album and nearly puts it on my topster but it’s not enough. I can’t accept an album where I’m not completely content with the full project and can’t just let the album flow freely without any issues.

The other reason why I chose this album is to make Scoop listen to another hip hop album but this time he can’t even understand the lyrics. My joy is off the charts. Anyway, enjoy the record, or don’t. Above all don’t forget to completely shit on my choice - I get a little bit turned on every time I see someone suffer