MONUMENTALITY,
“the mentality, to be monumental”.
Without question one of al.divino’s most experimental bodies of work to date, Monumentality stands to be an embodiment of innovation. Released April 2018, this project was wrote, recorded +self produced by Divino at the mini mansion under the influence of magic mushrooms. (a dosage of 3.5/4g per night two nights in a row to be exact) Divino had developed a playlist of 1930-80s archival film footage of various ancient architectural landmarks specifically intended for this test of creative endurance. On mute, the almost omniscient visuals played in the background while obscure jazz was manipulated by a 404. At merely a glimpse into this abstract almost shamanic like process, we start to understand the ripple effect that this project would have later on in the current world of renaissance-esque high potency hip hop. At the time the climate was forward thinking yet maintaining a clear cut ode to traditional form, MONUMENTALITY provided a much more distain for form from his peers and predecessor’s. The form was no form. The musical parallel of the defocalization found from ancient hallucinogenics such as psilocybin. Accompanied by his ace @esteenack, they would push boundaries and reveal pockets previously unexplored. Divino would try something new he had never thought of prior to this experiment, writing to the next beat while Nack mixed the current song. A new free form style was incepted, a direct descendant of jazz, “the SPLASH”. Their flows were no longer barred under the false imprisonment of normalized quantization, taking their approach off the grind so to speak. No longer required to record a verse the same way twice, these formless amalgamations of previously mastered techniques would then morph into more styles later on in their catalogues and become quintessential aspects of their shared trademark originality. Inspiring others outside of Massachusetts to unlearn previously established habits of flow to evoke new deliveries although chaotic at times to untrained ears these rhythms would be a breath of fresh of air and highly revered by respected contributors to culture, critics and listeners alike.
