On his final album, rapper Quebonafide settles accounts with his own past and tries to give his audiences the most ambitious concept album.

And the effect is, well, unusual, mad, chaotic and completely unhinged. PÓŁNOC/POŁUDNIE is not a rap album, nor a hip-hop one. It’s more of a pop mix of some cosy sounds, yet eclectic, as we can hear everything there, from the aforementioned rap to even some orchestra sounds. It’s a record that tries to be everything, so it’s losing its own identity. But at least Quebonafide is trying something new, even if, with every idea he tries to grasp, the Polish rapper falls over, as most of them don’t really work. 

Take, for instance, too many invited musicians on this record, from Mata to Jakub Józef Orliński. “Just look what a prominent list of guests we have,” Quebo shouts to his listeners, but the amount doesn’t necessarily equal the quality. And, we cannot forget that the entire album has 22 tracks – way too many.

It’s difficult to treat PÓŁNOC/POŁUDNIE seriously when Quebonafide jumps from one flower into another. Sometimes, we are bombarded by some hardcore electronic sounds. At other times, his songs are reminiscent of the music from the Polish interwar period. Quebo tries to become a music magician, always having another surprise in his black hat. However, the listener gets tired of each black rabbit proposed to him in the following track. Instead of producing a rather coherent record with a self-aware idea, Quebo is lost in his massive ambition. 

In the end, it’s an album worth experiencing at least once, to see the scope and the vision of what exactly Quebonafide has tried to achieve. Yet, his critics might actually be right: maybe he is aiming way too high in this case. It feels like the eclecticism of PÓŁNOC/POŁUDNIE makes the record suggestive, but way undercooked. As if Quebo might have listened to some suggestions from his producers, yet still decided to stick to his intuition. For what it’s worth, 

Photo: Magnetowid

2,5/5 stars

Author: Jan Tracz