Following the success of his previous album, City of God, Blanco comes through with a new single titled ‘Symmetry’. Self-released on his own label, Blanco reworks his classic flow over a minimal, chill beat. Listen to ‘Symmetry’ below:
After his success with Harlem Spartans as a drill rapper, he has since swapped out the hardcore drill beats for a funk carioca sound lifted from Brazil. The shift in sound would be jarring if it wasn’t so gorgeous, with his single ‘Shippuden’ arguably being the greatest example, with his intricate flow falling perfectly between elated keys and snappy rhythms.
Blanco isn’t the first UK artist to explore this sound, with M.I.A. doing the same on her single ‘Bucky Done Gun’, and even Everything Everything admitting that their single ‘Cough Cough’ was directly inspired by Major Lazer’s ‘Pon de Floor’.
However, Blanco is certainly unique in being the first drill artist to explore this sound, especially as his exploration of the sound stays true to the original feel of carioca while still sounding like familiar UK rap.
Since the highly influential ‘Kennington Where it Started’, the track that arguably made drill rap relevant, Blanco has found independence and maturity. Speaking to NME, Blanco says “I don’t really call myself drill anymore. Probably in 2018, I kinda pushed… I didn’t make a big decision but the way my life was at the time, I just moved on from it. I grew out of it. It wasn’t for me.”
Speaking on the new musical influences to his sound, Blanco says: “When I make those songs, it just kinda flows. Songs like ‘Pull Up’ [from English Dubbed’] are actually baile funk, not afroswing, and people really liked that. And it was natural. I came across that sound on YouTube one day looking for something, and when I came across this, I was like, “This sounds good, so I used it. I didn’t actively look for it but this is the sound.”
His most recent album, City of Good, was a sensible compilation of the energies Blanco is capable of. He moved to a more modern, sample drill sound on ‘The Great Escape’ with drill-adjacent star Central Cee, and on ‘Cerberus’ with fellow HS member Loski and K-Trap, as well as showcasing his aptitude for carioca with ‘Time Out’ and ‘TSG’. Early fans of Blanco from the golden era of Harlem Spartans could surely only be pleased with Blanco maturing and finding his sound; it may be unrecognisable from the beats he was rapping on back in 2018, but its clear he’s found power through independence.
