now playing: Gracias - HKI
Sometimes some people do the right thing at the right time. Like Deogracias Masomi. He's released (in my opinion) one of the best rap/hiphop EPs in Finland possibly ever and the time is certainly right. Finland needed it. Gracias, formerly known as Luminate, has been in the game for a good time now but after giving out HKI, the first single of the Gracias EP, there has been a constantly growing interest in this 24-year-old Congo born talented rapper.
"Gracias made his debut in 2007 (as Luminate) with the mixtape Listenin Comprehension. Luminate faded himself away for a couple of years mainly because the bullshit politics in music and cheap beer. Uninspired by the state of hiphop, Luminate was quietly laid to rest. Metaphorically speaking. Gracias fell back and nourished his ears and soul with that vintage, golden-era, gritty hip-hop sound. He then reinvented himself after realizing how much passion he had for rap music + the local fanbase, consisting of little kids who were constantly demanding for new material. That was bugging the shit out of his nerves." (Quote from www.gracias.fi/bio)
Gracias EP was released in July 2011. From the start, it has been adopted by the Finnish hiphop heads and it has received good critique. Many say that it is not a brilliant album, yet, but a very promising debut that leaves you eagerly waiting for more. Personally, I find the production very nice. Laid-back, groovy and soulful is how I like my hiphop and that's what I get. I know I'm listening to something good when my head starts to nod and I feel like dancing. That's what's up.
Gracias was performing live in the opening night of Kluuvi shopping center and I was very pleased with his stage presence. (Footage coming soon). Rapping and performing seems so natural and easy for him - he has much less annoying mannerisms than Finnish rappers usually have plus his flow is very nice. Often I'm almost disgusted by the slow, hard and somehow pushy rapping that you hear a lot in Finland, but luckily Gracias makes a nice exception in this matter.
On the side of the tracks from the EP, he performed one new track from his upcoming album and it really left me waiting for more.
