Classic Spanish Hip Hop Album # 2 Nach – Poesia Difusa (2003)

 

Classic Spanish Hip Hop Album # 2  Nach – Poesia Difusa (2003)

I am doing this here because the Reggaeton sub only allows Rap posts from Reggaeton artists.  I haven’t heard every Classic Spanish Rap album.  It’s a really tight knit community and sparsely localized worldwide.  And if you are lucky, you will find a handful of people in your barrio that share your appreciation for Spanish/Latin Rap.  Although in some territories, it is virtually nonexistent.

There are big communities of Rap in parts of several Latin America countries.  The nations with the biggest scenes would probably be 1)  Colombia  2)  México  3)  Venezuela/Argentina (tie).  Chile is a close 4^th and of course, it’s even bigger in Spain, though that’s beginning to change in the past decade.  Spain no longer rules Spanish Rap the way it used.  It is still #1 but Bad Bunny changed Hip Hop culture everywhere.  But that’s not the subject today.

I believe I became a dedicated fan of Reggaeton in 1996.  First, I was hooked with The Noise, then DJ Joe 4 and Guatauba made me a fan for life.  But I had a hard time finding kids my age that liked the music and knew about it.  Everyone was listening to Biggie, Bad Boy, Death Row and/or 2Pac.  Almost nobody I knew listened to Reggaeton, and the few people that did barely knew about it beyond The Noise and Playero.

That changed when I got into High School.  As long as you went to a high school with a decent amount of Latinos, by the 2000’s, Reggaeton was everywhere and even part of the school dances.  And it wasn’t the minority parties either.  At the homecoming dances and my high school was like half Dawson’s Creek, half Moesha.  So the dj’s would play Popular American Music but also Dancehall and Reggaeton.

But what was rare was to come by were people that knew hardcore underground Rap.  I knew about Nach because he was big in my home country of El Salvador.  “Poesia Difusa” was a big hit over there.  But his album was hard to come by and when you found it at Tower Records it was like $19 which was a lot back then because it was an import.  As some of you may know, my family had a store and we did sell “Poesia Difusa”.  I thought it was a Rock Record because it was from Spain and it had a cover that seemed more “artsy”.

I tried to get a copy of my own, but when the album first came to New York, which is where we got our music, it sold out very quickly.  And I had to sell my own copy.  For hard to come by albums and imports, I would have to wait.  I did the same thing with Bunbury.  Once demand was down, I could purchase my own copy (at a discount).  But what happened with Nach is that when the distributor ran out of copies, they didn’t order any new ones for months, maybe over a year.  And then I just forgot.

 I literally forgot about Nach for about 5 years because everyone around me except for a couple of Colombian friends, were too busy listening to Voltio and Tego, or Plan B and RKM & Ken-Y.  No one reminded me that Nach was a thing and I didn’t hang out with my Colombian friends enough to hear that stuff.  I remember that album was laying in the store years and I just did not recall what it was.

But then I remember “Palabras” came out and it went viral on YOUTUBE around 2007/08 and I recalled who Nach was.  I had heard “Poesia Difusa” in its entirety before around 2003/04.  This Salvadoran dude made me play him the entire album one day at the store after he bought it.  I was very impressed.  But we sold out quickly so I couldn’t get my own.  Remember, we were a little mom and pop shop so for albums in demand, but not that hot, we would order about 6 at a time, at most.  It was only for albums like Aventura or Barrio Fino where we ordered a few dozen at a time.

And "Palabras" made me just recall who Nach was.  But I still didn’t dive deep into his catalog.  Around 2010 I found a Spanish Rap blog that had all the albums.  I was really only interested in Violadores after selling my copy a couple years earlier.  But I downloaded everything from Tote to 7 Notas to Makiza and heard only about 2% of the several dozens of albums I saved to my computer.  I did hear “Poesia Difusa” but mostly as a passing fancy.  I barely paid attention to it and it was more like background music while I fixed up my room and stuff.  I lost most of those albums too.

It would be many many years until I heard “Poesia Difusa” again.  I don’t think it had been quite Covid yet.  But because I had a free Apple Music subscription, I decided to investigate.  Since back then, Apple was always pretty bad at classic Reggaeton.  They are worse now.  There are several dozens of Classic Reggaeton albums available on Spotify, Tidal has even more that is nowhere to be found on Apple. 

It appears that albums with songs that are featured on several projects will often be the victims of this.  And because Apple thinks the solo albums are the first albums, that’s why they will get rid of Mas Flow 1, Kilates 1 & 2, Los 12 Discipulos, Desafio and others.  It doesn’t help that most of these classic albums are independent or reverted to their original owners in recent years as Apple tends to favor major label releases over independent ones.  At least they have the RIMAS Classic line, thanks Bad Bunny, Noah and Alex Gargolas, who runs that division with Revol, I think?… but there is just way too much missing from Apple.

However, when it comes to Rap from Spain, Apple is very good on that.  They have like 90% of the classics except stuff that was discontinued from all services like La Alta Escuela.  And they do keep away some stuff like Makiza and Tiro De Gracia whose classic releases only remain exclusive to Chile because of sample clearance limitations where they don’t possess international rights, only local ones.  But you will find almost every classic from Spain Hip Hop on Apple Music.

So I finally heard “Poesia Difusa” but this time it was intently and really paying attention to the lyrics.  The first thing that came to my mind was that when Tego visited Spain in 2004, there was a radio interview of his available online which took place there.  Nach was apparently the promoter who brought Tego to Spain as Tegui during the interview mentions Nach and thanks him for bringing him to Spain.  Not just that, but in the interview, Tego called Nach the best lyricist in the world.  And I felt that in 2003, at least, Tego was right.

IDK if “Poesia Difusa” is the best example of Spanish language Rap even for 2003.  Vico C came out that same year with “En Honor A La Verdad”.  But as far as lyrics is concerned, there are few works in the history that have ever matched Nach’s lyrical prowess on “Poesia Difusa” and it was the peak of his greatness.  I don’t think anyone has ever surpassed Nach’s lyrical abilities here either.

But in later years, I feel Nach’s “Verboseness” hindered him.  He made some gimmicky Raps that were just about putting words together rather than saying something.  His beat selection got worse over time, except in “Mejor Que El Silencio” which probably has his best collection of beats ever. 

And later Nach lectured the audience too much.  He told people not to listen to Reggaeton unless they want to be ignorant and dissed Wisin & Yandel on more than one occasion.  And he became way too political, mostly about Spain which no one outside of there really cares about.  He started talking down to people instead of being relatable.  It is harder to reach people that way.  Later Nach albums are a chore to complete for the most part, though “Ars Magna” sounds like it could be kind of good, but it’s too slow to hook you and I can never finish it.   “Almanauta” was horrendous however and that was Nach’s last album.  *

* While I wrote this review, I recalled that Nach just put out a new album back in September which I have yet to hear.  I forgot about it.  I will listen soon hopefully.

Of what I heard, “Poesia Difusa” is Nach’s most universally reaching album.  You don’t have to be a lover of socially conscious Rap to appreciate Nach’s skills.  A close second would be “En Brevedad De Los Dias” which is wonderful at some points.  And “Mejor Que El Silencio” was definitely Nach’s attempt to go Eminem with highly elaborate production and even a collaboration with legendary American Rapper, Talib Kweli, but I feel that unless he has a great chorus singer, you want Nach more stripped down with his lyrics as the highlight instead of the production.

That’s just my opinion.  But he would be better doing an album full of 90’s Boom Bap style Jazzy beats, which he has never done.  And the Spaniards are good at those type of beats.

A funny detail someone like me remembers because though I know I am not the only one, those of us that wanted to see Nach collaborate with the likes of Daddy Yankee, Vico C or Tego Calderon were few and far between.  We now see Nach collaborating with Residente and Eladio Carrion because of Bad Bunny bridging the gap between Hip Hop and Reggaeton moreso than ever.

But didn’t Nach bring Tego to Spain?  Why wouldn’t they have collaborated, then?  There were rumors back in the day that Nach and Tego were going to collaborate but nothing ever manifested.  Mala Rodriguez went on to record with Residente, Vico C and Tego during this period, but no one else from Spain collaborated with Caribbean Hip Hop talents.  But the question again is… Why?

Reggaeton became a sensation in Spain during late 2002, like it did everywhere else with the explosion of Tego, Hector & Tito, Don Omar and others into international markets for the first time since the early Vico C & El General days of 1991.  But by 2003, pundits and the Hip Hop crowd already began rejecting Reggaeton artists for their perceived misogyny in lyrics.

Because of this, Reggaeton became more of a “Pop” act in Spain, which made it very anti Hip Hop over there.  It wasn’t until local Hip Hop act, La Mafia Del Amor who are also known as PXXR GVNG when they do Trap/Rap, began creating Reggaeton music in the mid 2010's , did the genre become respected in Spain again.  C. Tangana who came to prominence making Reggaeton style songs a couple of years later also was instrumental in making the genre popular in Spain again.

The reason why PXXR GVNG created an alternate identity in “La Mafia Del Amor” was to not turn off Rap audiences in Spain whenever they did Reggaeton as the genre used to be really hated in Spain by some of the “Urbano” community.  Now people don’t care anymore and the founders of La Mafia Del Amor/PXXR GVNG, Kaydy Cain and Yung Beef make as much Rap & Reggaeton, though they still adopt the moniker “La Mafia Del Amor” for commercial Reggaeton songs, fully aware of what they are doing.

It’s doubtful that a recording between Nach and Tego ever occurred, even when they were both in the same vicinity.  But even if it did, it was probably wise for Nach to avoid acknowledging it as the Spanish Rap community was very anti-Reggaeton during this timeframe and not until recently, again thanks to Bad Bunny and PXXR GVNG too, are the Spaniards more open to the blending of Rap with Reggaeton.

Back then, even if you did Hip Hop very competently like Tego, the fact that you did Reggaeton at all, cut you off with most of the Hardcore Hip Hop community in Spain.  I write this because it is interesting to think of what could have been.

“Poesia Difusa” is the perfect blend of great beat selection, songs with a strong positive message, both from an introspective and storytelling point of view.  But on songs like “Ser o No Ser” Nach spits classic battle lyrics showing how capable he is on all fronts as an MC.  The album is a must listen for anyone that believes they love Hip Hop in the Spanish language.  It is basically college course on how to be a great MC en Español.

Over time, the influence of "Poesia Difusa" has greatly diminished.  I remember even Daddy Yankee bigging up the album on an interview, of course Nach later dissed him, mostly on interviews which quelled any ideas of the two collabing some day.  That's also probably why DY now acts like Nach doesn't exist, which probably hurt Nach more than helped him.  I would have preferred a back and forth lyrically, but Nach only sent subliminals and never anything direct like he did with Wisin & Yandel.  Nowadays, I even see some greatest Spanish Rap albums list that no longer place "Poesia Difusa" so high when back in the day it used to be #1 on most lists.  They still revere "Madrid Zona Bruta" and "Odisea En El Lodo" universally but as time has gone by, "Poesia Difusa" has been hit or miss with Urbano history buffs.

If I can take a shot in the dark as to why "Poesia Difusa" is being forgotten by a new generation.  1)  Socially conscious Hip Hop today is Passe even in Spanish and most of the youth wants nothing to do with it.  2)  Nach's later inferior works diminished his legacy long term and led to him being mentioned less and less until his big comeback with Residente in late 2018.  But the subsequent album disappointed, sadly.  3)  Poesia Difusa was too big in its day.  It is one of the few Spanish Rap albums in history to ever sell over 100 thousand units, physically!  It was big in Mexico, Colombia, Argentina and the Dominican Republic.  And the Spanish Hip Hop crowd is weird that when something becomes too popular, they begin to resent it, feeling like it's no longer theirs.  For example, Alejandro Sanz fans listen to "Poesia Difusa" and that may be too much for the Spanish Hardcore Rap community to tolerate.

But I could see "Poesia Difusa" restoring its legacy much like Luny Tunes "Mas Flow" has done in recent years after being forgotten by the J Balvin generation.  This was due to Bunny's constant reference to "Mas Flow" which has resurrected the album's popularity.  Someone new in Spain could do that for "Poesia Difusa" in the future.  Still, this album deserves to be highly regarded.  It is one of the most impressive works you could ever across in the culture.

Notable Songs:  “Desafio”, “Walkman”, "El Cuentacuentos", "Chico Problematico", "Ser o No Ser" ft Lirico, "El Sexto Mandamiento", "Mi Pais", & "Amor Libre" ft Shuga Wuga.

Rating:  9.5/10

Nach - Poesia Difusa (2003) is available on all digital audio streaming services such as Spotify, Apple Music etc...