YOUNG SIGNORINO - MMH HA HA HA

Italian rapper Young Signorino's new one, "Mmmm Ha Ha Ha," is utterly ridiculous. It may also be the soundtrack for these times. Either way, the beats are fire.

Hip-hop has probably always sounded like gibberish to adults. Obscure slang from every conceivable culture mixed with highly specialized jargon from every corner of the criminal underworld are spit out in rapid-fire, gatling-gun staccato. It can be hard to know what rappers are talking about, even when you're familiar with the slang. And that's not even to mention the music is usually made with obscure samples from dusty old records, or else drum machines and synthesizers are corrupted and defiled into all manner of strange new sounds and shapes.

Hip-hop leaves the uninitiated scratching their heads, sometimes even declaring that it's not even music. It's the prime target for old fuddy duddies wanting to talk smack about the "kids these days."

Italian rapper Young Signorino's new single, "Mmmm Ha Ha Ha," is strange by even the most hardened hip-hop heads standards, however.

YOUNG SIGNORINO - MMH HA HA HA

First and foremost are the lyrics, or lack thereof. "Mmm Ha Ha Ha" is more onomatopoeia than any attempt to convey meaning. At first, it might seem you're missing something from the Italian. Looking at the English translation shows that's not the case. In English, the lyrics go something like:

Alpha-
Alpha-
Alphabet ah ooh
Ah ooh
Ah ooh ah
Alpha-
Alpha-
Alphabet rappapappapappapà"

That's just the first sign of what a strange new world you're entering when you hit play on Young Signorino's surreal underground world. Look closer, and you'll notice he's wearing a pair of jeans with an extra leg. He's covered with abstract tattoos, as SoundCloud Rappers are known to be, but these strange glyphs fail to transmit any meaning. What does "sex by the numbers" mean? Why does he have a cigarette tattooed on his face?

Either Young Signorino is the ultimate conclusion of style-over-substance. Or he's some sort of prescient genius, foretelling a resurgence of surrealism and Italian futurist poetry.

Either way, it sounds good. We're not above getting down to some gibberish if it's got a dope beat. "Mmmm Ha Ha Ha" has just that.

Most Internet commentators seem to agree - "Mmmm Ha Ha Ha" might not, in fact, be that good. It's going to be huge, regardless. In a world where it's so hard to find common ground and understanding, perhaps this is the ultimate Postmodern conclusion?

We Are: The Guard are into it if the beats slam and the style is sick. So cover yourself in tattoos, build yourself a bunker, and prepare for a brave new world.

J. Simpson occupies the intersection between criticism, creativity, and academia. Based out of Portland, Or., he is the author of Forestpunk, an online journal/brand studying the traces of horror, supernatural, and the occult through music, fashion and culture. He plays in the dreamfolk band Meta-Pinnacle with his partner Lily H. Valentine, with whom he also co-founded Bitstar Productions, a visual arts collective focused on elevating Pop Culture to High Art.