“Something’s Right” (SINGLE/VIDEO) by DICI

“Five Rings” dropped, Dici takes a step back from the adrenaline and gives us something a little more casual and low-fidelity in this piece, sparing none of his trademark charisma along the way. The whole postmodern pop thing is starting to feel a lot more mainstream than it is indie, and to this end, we’re seeing this artist modify his sound to fit a more uniquely experimental picture. This is neither selling out nor stripping down the cosmetic frills of his sound, but rather proving once and for all that true alternative music lives and dies by your willingness to push the boundary a little more than you did the last time you were in a recording studio. “Something’s Right” is well-titled in this regard and a telling sign of what’s to come from this player’s output. 

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

Abandoning surreal themes for a more cutting lyrical focus was only half the blueprint for this single; the other half is admitting that amalgamative aesthetics are going to serve Dici’s sound better than any purist design ever could. His vocal has more edge in this performance than I was originally expecting, and it’s largely because of how freeform his approach to the lyrics sounds.

He isn’t bound to the politics of a specific scene nor the persona of a genre he’s trying to live within; the instruments embody minimalist notions but, outside of their contribution to the track, there’s no pigeonholing the foundational artistry of “Something’s Right.” Dici is learning to appreciate the roles of the subtler elements in his music and using even the minute details to convey an emotional presence that I do not hear enough of in mainstream hip-hop at all these days, nor in the whole of pop at the moment, to be frank. 

“Something’s Right” is a more grown-up Dici than I thought I was going to find, but it’s also representative of a stealthier sonic profile that I want him to run with from here on out. Miami has been producing some pretty hot beats throughout the pandemic, and 2021 has only seen the competition around this player grow by leaps and bounds.

He doesn’t sound particularly intimidated by the scenesters blowing up around him, but instead really focused on developing the parts of his music that matter the most to him. The heartfelt passion in his sound becomes harder for us to resist here, and if it gets even stronger in the next release he drops, one has to wonder when the mainstream pop crowd is going to come around to his masterful hooks and meaningful lyricism. I’m already on board, and I think you will be courtesy of “Something’s Right” this August. 

Mindy McCall