Project details
Category
Fifty Fifty, Passed
Yong Yello :
Until recently, Yello Staelens existed mostly in small print on record sleeves. As a beat supplier of Tourist LeMC, for example. Or as creative sparring partner of Glints. As a composer and producer he is also responsible for the solo success of Noémie Wolfs. Really nice references. But at the same time he felt the need to tell his own story. In his own language. With his own words. Last year’s brilliant debut single ‘Als Ge Slaapt’ already gave an idea of what that would sound like, and ‘Waanzin’ – the precursor to the first full-length album – confirms it: Yong Yello has something to tell. And let it be immediately clear that he is not the man to hide the truth. On the contrary: Yello tells it like it is, sparing neither himself nor the people around him.
No, this is not a party record, but you can have fun with it. Because in addition to being an extraordinary visual storyteller, Yong Yello shows himself to be an exceptional composer. You can hear that in the meticulous precision with which each melody falls into just the right fold. To call this simply hip hop would be to understate the songs. Because there’s also funk in it. Pure pop, too. And even a sigh of jazz. What’s more, it’s been a long time since we’ve heard a record where there are so many potential singles to choose from. Marcel en het magnetisme van de goot is a world record in a world language; Antwerp dialect. Yong Yello has taken his time for this. But the result is commensurate. He’d better get used to the fact that his name will appear in slightly larger letters on the cover from now on.