Critic's evaluation
She comes from São Paulo. With only two pairs of singles released, the singer has already been present at 2K22, a rap and trap festival held at Arena Anhembi, in São Paulo (SP), in June. This is Ajuliacosta who, at 24 years of age, is part of the new national rap scene with the announcement of Aju, her debut EP.
It is like the rising dusk of the next day. Like the light of the sun beginning to bathe the green scrubland giving it life. Linear in its wave, the melody gradually grows until, to the sound of flowing water, singing birds, and the sharpness of the flute delivering softness, a sudden silence settles in. Like drum cymbals being ricocheted, a fluttering sound serves as an entrance to a low pitched vocal. It's Ajuliacosta delivering a mix of sensuality, provocation, and debauchery amidst a rapped melody and surprisingly no use of sub bass. Between cacophonies and rhymes, the title-track is a song that serves as a praise to the rapper's figure, but also shows predatory behavior coming from others, from fear and admiration to envy. Like a self-analysis, the title track brings in itself the goal of answering questions about deserving, identity, and belonging. It is the duality between the desire to show off, to have a personality that sets Ajuliacosta apart from most individuals, and the desire to simply lead a quiet, ordinary life. The title-track is thus a conversation of the rapper with her own unconscious.
The sound of the guitar comes soft, warm, comforting. In the background, an echoing, omnipresent voice welcomes and introduces MAT, who is responsible for the beat in this track. With a reggaeton rhythmic base, the lyrical cadence comes more compassionate while inserting a plot that hovers over jealousy, belittling, self-worth and self-esteem amidst a lyricism full of colloquialisms. Não Foi Do Nada is the story of a relationship that ended by betrayal, but that showed the difference in mentality and maturity between the parties that once loved each other. A song where the final message is self-worth and self-respect.
Bringing a slightly velvety sonority and with influence from the melodies previously performed by Anitta, the song has a subtly accelerated rhythm. Like Não Foi Do Nada, here the colloquialism joins the informality, ingredients that result in sound rhymes created that give basis to a flirting plot, of provocation. Homens Como Você brings a current scenario that, immersed in the concept of hyper-connectivity, brings up the modality of stalking as a shortcut to meet someone through social networks. However, this is only the most salient thing the song has to say. In truth, Homens Como Você, in the midst of a subtly ostentatious dressing, brings the description of a self-confident, mature, conscious of her actions and prematurely adultized woman. A woman whose grandeur can transform and dismantle even those who claim to be unshakable.
With a slow sample of the introduction to Fala Mal De Mim, Ludmilla's single, the song has its awakening. Tense, dense and slightly dark, its first landscape is hazy in a way that makes the song Aju's rawest and most raw. With an aggressive rapped rhythm and embraced by the presence of sub-bass bringing pressure, the song's melody is brushed by sharp, icy piano notes that create a simple kinship with the keys performed by Alanis Morissette on her single Uninvited. Marido De Bandida is a song that mixes dispute, empowerment, belonging, and notions related to ownership from a feminist point of view. While Homens Como Você came with ostentation, Marido De Bandida came with a kind of sensual prohibition.
Sound of dial being tuned on the radio. Switching frequencies, white noise. Silence. It is then that a swing flirting with R&B begins to erupt from the melody while the sound takes on aspects of a sour and compassionate density. With the beat as the instrument that draws the rhythmic movement, O Suficiente brings slang, rhymes, and, as in Marido De Bandida, a strong notion of empowerment and self-esteem. A song that, besides dealing with the envy of others, brings the singer talking about her livelihood in an enigmatic and ambiguous tone. The interesting thing is that, in the midst of the lyricism that praises Ajuliacosta's figure and her imposing and confident posture, a low spoken voice comes on the scene in the second half of O Suficiente. It's N.I.N.A bringing a sense of partnership and brotherhood and a reinforcement in the concept of stateliness and self-confidence that surrounds, even, with an exacerbated notion of independence.
Dramatic, the song comes in the form of trap from the imitation of the sound of dark, classical strings that hover between double bass drums and fast chimbal tempos. Dense, 7 Ruas is a song that features Ajuliacosta as the mistress of the piece. The one who commands the laws of the streets around her. Who is followed, admired, feared. Cultured.
An EP that mixes ostentation and prohibition. That combines rap, trap, R&B and reggaeton. That speaks the language of the streets. Aju is a work that borders on self-analysis by bringing a content that praises Ajuliacosta's image as much as the attempt to create an almost mythological adoration.
Full of colloquialisms, informality, rhymes, sub recorded, quick chimes, and samples, the EP communicates an imposing, confident, fearless, strong, and independent rapper. Someone who knows the laws and the language of the streets. Someone who snubs before being snubbed. Someone who defends herself before others hit her. A conscious and prematurely mature person.
With production by a vast team of producers whose names range from Mat, DJ Victor, IAMLOPE$$ to Ykymani, Aju is a plural rhythm EP that presents good sound equalization in each of its six tracks. This is also thanks to mix engineers DJ LN, Deck 9 and DJ Victor. This technical team was the great talisman for the success of Extended Play.
Released on 07/07/2022 in an independent way, Aju is an imposing EP. A work that dialogues with the language of the streets in order to make its message heard and understood. A product that exudes a feminist and empowering aroma that encourages women to fight for their space and their sense of independence.
