Avida Dollars

Coined by Andre Breton in response to Salvador Dalis increasing financial gains, the phrase “Avida Dollars” (an acronym of Dali’s own name) was employed by the surrealist progenitor to critique Dali’s perceived capitalist tendencies. Whether Breton was truly incensed at Dali’s success (or perhaps, his increasingly fascist captivations) remains undecided, but in light of his colleague’s ever more corporate collaborations, Breton no doubt felt that the unconscious goals of his manifesto had suffered somewhat. In the 2000s, Anton Alvarez Alfaro endured similar critiques. Having forged his place in Spanish hip-hop under the alias of Crema, the rapper now known as C. Tangana received significant backlash for his move toward more modern rap threads. The weight of this criticism is a silent presence across the rapper’s 2018 mixtape, Avida Dollars: Opener “Still Rapping” is stalwart in its titular defiance, while “Cabernet Sauvignon” bats away critics with a simple “?Quien quiere tu respeto cuando tengo un millon?” Elsewhere, Tangana speaks more directly to his own Avida Dollars critiques, “el arte de los negocios es el paso que sigue al arte” proves a bold closing statement for “Baile de la Lluvia.” Wherever you look, there’s a sense that Alfaro still has something to substantiate. In his quest for new proving grounds, C. Tangana finds himself chameleon-like, negotiating between modern traps airier sonics and his own signature sound. In this transitionary experimentation, the rapper creates some of his most compelling trap to date -- in the traditional braggadocio of “Cabernet Sauvignon,” the “Roll in Peace”-like flows of “Sangre,” and the earworm “prefiero un beso, tus besos” of “Llorando en la Limo. Not to mention late-album standout Huele a Nuevo, which catapults its freewheeling brags forward through sticky flows, rising strings, and an appearance from Agorazein co-star Sticky M.A. It’s hard to fault C. Tangana for continuing to move with the times. Tracks like “Huele a Nuevo” and “Llorando en la Limo” offer a template for some of the rappers most unique trap to date, and his fans will surely find plenty to savor among the projects breezy 23-minute runtime. ~ David Crone