WING KLAN
WING KLAN CARRY ON THE LEGACY OF ROMAN ESOTERIC TRAP.
Ever since the ascension of Dark Polo Gang into the Italian mainstream, esoteric trap, that is to say trap music that mixes the instrumental and lyrical tropes of trap with more cloudy/spacey instrumental elements and esoteric/mystical/abstract lyrics, has been left unrepresented in the Italian scene.
The first current application of this style, as previously implied, came from the figureheads of Roman trap and drill, Dark Polo Gang.
Specifically, one fourth (or should we now say one third) of the group, Dark Pyrex, was observed to be mixing classical trap tropes like crime, sex, drug use and general hedonism with references to classical art, obscure cinema, religious symbolism and to other otherwise culturally relevant media.
In short, Dark Pyrex would mesh these typical tropes with the aesthetics of “higher” culture. All of a sudden, Italian trap was not limited to the same few topics directly taken from its American parent-genre, but could rely on the elite status of Italy (and Rome specifically) with regard to its achievements in art and culture more broadly, so that a new aesthetic for the scene could be generated: what is here being referred to as “esoteric” trap.
The music’s contents were now compatible with everything from Christian architecture, to renaissance paintings, to Italian sites, to Baudelaire.
And while this style was not appreciated and sometimes even ridiculed given the disorienting, often illusory, and sometimes incoherent lyricism it generated, the “true” success of Dark Polo Gang being reducible to the release of “The Dark Album” (Pyrex’s LP) hints at the style being generally appreciated.
Now, as much as it is true that esotericism in rap and even in European rap is nothing terribly new (think of Sad Boys), it seems like at the time of ca. 2016 it truly was a refreshing take on Italian trap.
And even if there are and have been other (even Roman) acts such as Tauro Boys and TUTTIFENOMENI, that share some traits with Pyrex’s older style, there is no one that more closely represents the mixture of trap and mysticism as the duo known as WING KLAN.
WING KLAN are or were (it remains to be seen) a young roman rap duo comprised of Joe Scacchi and Goya (formerly known as Tommy Toxxic).
Their clout is maintained by a still underground-sized, but loyal fan-base, which sees and praises in them a unique combination of traits for Italian music: Ethereal production which grabs from Drain Gang aesthetics as well as drill and hard Florida trap (of the Raider Klan variety), coupled with a range of lyrical themes ranging from Pokemon, to medieval myths about witchcraft, to Italian writer Dante Alighieri, to Bill Gates and finally back to Spyro the dragon.
Their latest and only release on Spotify, “I CAN FLY” present all the dizzying excitement one would expect from this kind of variety.
The experience of the LP, while tainted by some inconsistency in the overall quality of the tracks, is still enjoyable given the way the duo chose to split their roles in representing the duality of esoteric trap.
While both sometimes can sound equivalent on some beats, it’s clear that Joe is much more detached from the mystical lyricism employed by Goya, while more closely sticking to the traditional in-your-face and direct attitude of trap.
When it’s said that artists’ core demeanor is visible in their early material, it is often to be taken with a grain of salt given the possible reductionism of the claim, but it seems to hold roughly true for WING KLAN.
Tracks like “Microsoft” or “M. Schumacher”, which got them the most attention from the community up until now, brilliantly showcase the esotericism at the core of the group’s appeal and should serve as a blueprint for the further development of this kind of trap.
As it stands right now, it truly may be needed for other artists to carry on the torch of WING KLAN’s specific style, given that Goya and Joe now seem to be pursuing solo careers, judging by Goya publishing his release “Ghost” and Joe’s moves of single-dropping, which hint at him dropping a solo LP, also.
That is not to say the style dies with the (merely possible and NOT confirmed) end of WING KLAN, in fact Ghost is an arguably more adequate addition to the Italian esoteric trap catalogue than even I CAN FLY.
For all the above, in summary, we take it to be advisable to track Goya’s and Joe’s or even WING KLAN’s movements in the future, as to observe and enrichen the development of this fringe genre.