Isco Cruz’s new album ‘Heartbreak’s Paradox’ is a well-produced fusion of great songwriting, cool beats, and interesting artistic and melodic choices.
Isco Cruz – Heartbreak’s Paradox
A child of Angolan parents, Isco Cruz was born in Cape Town (South Africa) to a hybrid of cultures and music, resulting in an artist who is not afraid of taking risks.
The album ‘Heartbreak’s Paradox’ is a great example of using one’s personal experiences as material to develop artistry. The listener will be transported deep into the soul and mind of Isco Cruz, through his painstakingly clever lyrics which paint a picture of a reflective, intelligent and observant artist who has configured and tweaked his ”lenses” both inwards and outwards in equal manner. He sees himself as part of the context that’s an ever-changing process, a trait that most great lyricist have in common throughout the genres and writing styles.
Some of the explicit songs feature ”words” (you know what I mean – greetings ”Yours truly, a millennial auntie”) here and there but never in a truly disrespectful manner (towards women) even when the protagonist is seemingly pissed. One of the reasons why I was eager to review this album – apart from its sultry sonic appearance to describe the heartbreak’s paradox – was to be able to examine, appreciate and highlight the lyrics on the brilliant album within a genre/genres that are sadly sometimes associated with misogyny and poisonous, highly contagious, toxic masculinity in a pre-defined manner regardless of what colour is the artist’s skin.
The boring ”Me male, you woman, me Tarzan, we copulate”-manuscript often follows the same path and storyline where the ”queens” or ”bitches” are the property of (a male-) artist, and they are in constant debt to their owners physically, mentally and emotionally in the lyrics which have kind of ruined many otherwise great albums for me as a feminist, no matter how good the songwriting itself has once been (like is the case with for example Kanye West). Isco Cruz’s artistry doesn’t rely on hatred – the heart can break paradoxically in many ways but be only mended with one. He delivers a short and sweet 24-minute 47-second-long album whose songs are consistently excellent.
I am a white caucasian woman. I cannot possess truly, utterly and honestly ANY idea of what it means, what it causes within oneself, what it feels like to experience social injustice, and racism in daily life due to the colour of my skin. Therefore I cannot possibly be in the position of having a say on what black artists SHOULD and SHOULD’T write about, how the frustration and understandable anger should come out to THEIR art and music, as I am only a minority by my gender.
I must emphasize and underline that Isco Cruz is a refreshing, modern, current and fine contemporary example of storytelling where the artist is fundamentally strong enough to treat people in the lyrics profoundly fairly, and with respect. From the perspective of the roots of R&B – which kind of translates as white guys having enslaved fellow members of our species just because they could – we cannot ignore the fact that we have music because of black artists. We have rock because of black artists. We have soul, funk, R&B, jazz… because of black artists. Anyone who disagrees can piss off.
Misogyny, on the other hand, is derived from the same almost hopeless source and a fact – people are divided by those in power, to maintain their power, be it political or social ”divide et impera”-kind of ”ruling the world”. Isco Cruz doesn’t need that as he has already conquered something almost unconquerable – himself and his talent. I simply cannot wait to see his career going global. His voice as an artist is authentic, his charisma is undeniable and what is normally, almost typically considered as a by-product of talent and branding – the music itself and the artistry behind it – is just so fucking good.
”Beautifully conducted fusion R&B with melodically catchy hooks and brilliant songwriting – Isco Cruz is a voice we need and a vocalist we love hearing”
Discover more from Isco Cruz
Discover more on Right Chord Music
- Complete The Musicians Census 2024 & Win Musosoup Promo
- The Spotify Popularity Index Chart
- Music Marketing vs Music Promotion Avoid These Three Mistakes
- Social Media. How To Create Content People Want To Watch
Words Leena Mertanen
