Fresku – In De Lucht Part 1 (LP)

Fresku on his first independent record, In De Lucht Part I:

“In de lucht came together very naturally and organically, and I really hope you can hear that. Before I started recording, I did next to nothing for a year, partly because of the whole corona situation. In March and April 2020 I still hoped the virus would disappear quickly and I could go back on tour and all that, but yeah, little did I know. I was in a bit of a slump then, and I felt really awkward asking three of my favourite artists to come to a writing camp with me for two weeks and work on my new album. I thought: what if it doesn’t work? What if the mood I’m in now ends up in my music? Am I not asking too much of Lennard, Mucky and Shadi? But in the end, that approach worked really well. It turned out there was a lot of pent-up inspiration in me that came out all at once.

I remember sitting in the studio one day… Lennard had just finished a mix and took off his headphones, I was already working on another track and honestly couldn’t remember how our tune from earlier that day sounded. Then Lennard played the freshly mixed track and it hit me completely. And I started crying my eyes out. Out of happiness, you know. I felt: this is exactly what I dreamed of for this album. This is the sound I wanted. I got the right people together and in a short time we really made something new. I’m also sure this has become my most intuitive record ever. I really made what I felt, let’s go, bam. Sometimes I wrote bars without counting. I didn’t think: let’s calculate how long a verse should be, we just recorded. Usually I’m someone who analyses and overthinks things; this time I dove completely into the moment. And I really hope people can hear that on the record. Just as I hope they hear that we tried to make something new that still fits with my earlier albums.

In de lucht feels more carefree to me than the earlier Fresku. Years ago I often wanted to chew a subject over completely. Now I think: if we capture this moment, this vibe, that’s all good. On earlier albums I sometimes thought: people really need to know I mean it. But sometimes that took away the space for listeners to find or feel something themselves, or to figure something out on their own. I think I now make music that doesn’t push anything, that takes the listener along naturally and loosely. That also has to do with my age: nobody wants to hear a relatively old rapper who sounds preachy or know-it-all.

For me this album is very much about intuition. About feeling that something is in the air. And not knowing exactly what will come of it; not knowing, either, whether you’re flying or landing. That doubt, that uncertainty – that’s what this album is about for me. In de lucht is the first part of what’s meant to be a diptych; the second record will be more about the feeling that you’re taking off, about overview. I remember walking down the stairs during one of our recording sessions in Tenerife, the sun was blazing and at the same time I saw the clouds around me (that’s how high up we were). It felt like I’d ended up in the loading room from The Matrix, floating in infinite nothingness. It was magical. And that hopeful, powerful tone is something few people know from me yet: I’ve rapped a lot about my road to success, about the struggles, about the mentality you need to overcome them. From now on I want to cover more and more other subjects in my work.

All in all, In de lucht really feels like a new debut. That’s also because this is my first independent release – after twelve years at TopNotch, it was time. A new chapter. I now dare to carry the role of seasoned rapper or legend, or whatever others sometimes call me, a little more than before. And it makes me really excited to make music without compromise. Now I decide everything myself, and I can push a bit harder. When you go all in, like I’m doing now, you take more risk of course, but you can also carry things out exactly the way you see them. That’s in all kinds of small details: I’m someone who wants an extensive booklet with an LP. And in the future I want to grow the label Baranka step by step. Very carefully, only if I can invest the same time in someone that I invest in myself. But there’s some beautiful shit coming, just watch. This is a new beginning.”