Rapper Dici Continues to Surge Via New Single

Despite a rough go of it for the concert circuit, pop music hasn’t really been as impacted by the ongoing pandemic as a lot of other genres have, mostly on the strength of a vibrant underground evolving from homes rather than nightclubs. Take Dici for example – rather than seeing his budding career slowly lose steam because of a lack of access to the stage, it’s only gotten stronger through the past year, with his latest single “u n i” representing a new highpoint both aesthetically and commercially for his brand. “u n i” doesn’t ask for permission to swing from pop to hip-hop and back within the same track, but instead dares to be different where a lot of other singles would stay safe. 

INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/dicimusic/?hl=en

Although I haven’t had the opportunity to see him in concert just yet, I’ve got a feeling that Dici would sound pretty on-point doing a freestyle version of this song in the future. There’s a lot of room for improv between the beats here, and because he’s using his natural voice rather than relying on auto-tune, there’s a good chance that his harmonies would feel even fuller in a live setting than they do in this studio version of “u n i.” I plan on finding out for myself at some point, but until then, the production quality of this single is strong enough to give me a decent idea of what I should expect out of the concert experience this artist is bringing to the table. 

As much as I was initially attracted to this piece because of the vocalist, there’s as much to be said about the guitar he’s working with in this mix. Instead of synthetics, some of which have brought his material to a new level of surrealism in the past, Dici is committing himself to something slightly more emotional with the introduction of the string-born melodies in “u n i,” and when isolated away from the other components of the single, there’s no questioning the influence they hold over everything from the tone of the lyrics to the potency of the narrative they form. It’s an irreplaceable part of this song, and something I would like to hear this creator challenge himself with just a bit more in future works. 

Dici once again has proven to me that he doesn’t get into the recording studio simply to make a new jam, but to raise the bar for himself and the competitive scene that is the city of Miami in 2022. “u n i” does everything I expect out of one of his tracks, and although it has a serious radio appeal, it isn’t dripping with the kind of polish that discriminating critics like me typically find repellent. This is a player who doesn’t need the buffers, the nonsense press, the constant chatter online, the virtuosic samples, nor the big-name features to sound like a star within his scene and well outside of it, and I think anyone who was wondering as much is going to get the point with “u n i.” 

Trace Whittaker