Album Review: Sugar Crush - New World Disorder

Aptly introduced with sirens and newscasters speaking in what is likely Portuguese, Sugar Crush’s new album New World Disorder, released under the umbrella of their Dirty Kidz Gang, brings new meaning to what you think of as trap music. These guys speak Portuegese and not too much English so it is a wonder I even received the link to this album smoothly. Somehow, someway when we chat online, we manage to make sense and communicate through the lines of broken english and without me speaking any Portuguese. I believe it is the music that brings people together. I actually think these guys would be more widely known if there wasn’t such a language barrier between us and them. Producers of such authentic favela music, their music reaches a degree of trap and twerk we strive to, and a level that most producers can only hope to achieve.

Straight. Up. Flame. Emojis.

It is the authenticity about these guys that makes me fall weak at the knees, bouncing my booty for anyone who can see into my apartment windows. The music drops into the depths of the ocean, going down, south, southern hemisphere, below the equator where the original dance halls were born; home of dancehall. Hopefully you are familiar with favela music and all that it contains and all that it influenced. Trap music for one, and arguably dance music period. I try to do my homework when it comes to these reviews, as I did a long time ago, when I volunteered to write up From Neighborhood, the first EP from Brazilian Trap Gods Sugar Crush, as they are called. It was love at first listen, and it was then that I began to to learn of the rich context that has made Brazil so ripe and relevant in our modern music community. The global one, that is. Or the virtual globe, I should say, where artists with under 5K followers on SC and minimal blog coverage can mean more than clicks could ever dictate.

This is not a quantifiable subject. It is heart, feels, and vibes. It is something transcendent of all five senses, really.

It is heavy bass, kicks and a snare. It is all kinds of vocal samples distorted to fit along the 808 or 404, because this album defies all notes of treble. It is heavy bass. I know I already said that, but the sounds of this album, although more complex than this, can be summarized into that tiny description. IAt one point on the LP, they use the ‘youuuu’ sample from “Soulja Boy,” and “Doo Doo Brown.” If that isn’t relevant, I don’t know what it. And that is the authenticity to which I am referring. These guys using traditional method of production, sampling popular sounds and making instrumentals that someone can rap on, vibe to, or go buck effing wild at the club to, swinging a rag in the air, not giving a f*ck. This may sound like typical trap tracks to a naked ear, but you should understand what is really going on here. This isn’t trap music based on the trends of what is considered good by any closed minded standards. This stuff has been here before the ‘trap’ as you may know it, and will stay through this falling of this particular trend. This shit is not a trend. This is a way of life for these guys, down to the gun clocks and heavy kicks and all the other sounds you can make out through the course of this album.

New World Disorder is the perfect name for this album. It is jarring because the language throws you, but also because you aren’t used to heard authentic Brazilian favela twerk music. You are used to hearing the crappy imitations. Sugar Crush’s music is an OG. They stay gangster, and true to themselves and their music, which gives them lasting power in this fleeting, flighty, fickly industry.

Give this album a listen, bump it through your hood. If you don’t have a hood and like to act gangster, bump this in your fancy headphones and bob your head like you rolling through the hood. No matter the circumstances, this music will bump and bounce you into submission, and you will love it. Let it take you over. Soon you will be wanting to move to Brazil to spend some time with this music and the guys who make it.

Check them out. You won’t be disappointed. Parting words from the guys themselves. I love what they have to say here:

Sugar Crush Apresenta:
New World Disorder Pt.1 (debut álbum)
F***-S* todas as regras, F***-S* todas as barreiras, F***-S* a divisão , F***-S* o que você acha ser bom ou ruim, F***-S* o que dizem sobre a música ser pop ou underground.
Nós fazemos parte de um novo time, um pequeno mas forte exército que nasceu para quebrar todo e qualquer tipo de gêneros musicais.
Nós somos a força – nós somos a única esperança – nós somos a luz na escuridão – nós somos a “NOVA DESORDEM MUNDIAL”.
“Boa ou ruim , pop ou underground, rápida ou lenta, música é sempre música ”

₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪₪
Sugar Crush Present’s:
New World Disorder Pt.1 (debut album)
F*** rules, F*** barriers, F*** division, F*** what you think good or bad, F*** what they say about pop or underground music.
We’re part of a new team, a small but strong army, that was born to break any kind of musical genres.
We’re the force, We’re the only hope, We’re the light in the darkness, We’re the “NEW WORLD DISORDER”.

“Good or bad, pop or underground, fast or slow, music is always music “