So We Loved Ourselves by Magno Garcia | My Thoughts

Magno Garcia is an artist I’ve been aware of for several years at this point, but I didn’t really start listening to his music until maybe 5 months ago. I think my introduction to him was his feature on Sleep Sinatra’s Lull EP with KNGKVMI. Before listening to this new album, I checked out its predecessor, They Never Loved Us, as well as his last album, La Gloria Sea. Both of those projects were great to me, and he reminded me a lot of Nas vocally, especially on the former. The similarity on a song like W.M.D.G. is uncanny in my opinion. These days he sounds more unique vocally though. That project dropped ten years ago, so I guess it makes sense that his voice and delivery would go on to evolve quite a bit. Anyway, this latest project was released at the beginning of April, and I’ve been listening to it ever since it dropped. I got the CD in the mail several weeks ago, but I’ve been playing it a lot more in the past few days. I already loved it when I first listened to it, but now I am even more obsessed with it. It’s almost entirely produced by EvillDewer aside from track 8, which is produced by William Wallace. I am just gonna be writing about my absolute favorite songs from this album, but it should be noted that there isn’t a single track here that I skip. I would consider damn near every song on this project to be a highlight.

The album begins with Poem Libations, which immediately had me hooked. This is my favorite album I’ve heard from Magno Garcia, and I think a lot of it has to do with the EvillDewer’s exceptional production. This opening track is a perfect example. This beat is just very… cinematic, I guess. It sounds like a whole fuckin’ team performed this shit. I wish I was a talented producer because I think it’d help me better understand what I’m hearing. Like, I have no idea how the fuck one goes about making something like this. I wouldn’t know where to begin. This shit works perfectly as an intro though. The way the instrumental develops throughout the track is enchanting. I would actually love to see this performed live. I think it’d be a perfect intro for a Magno Garcia set. He doesn’t even come in until after a minute into the song; the beginning is spent establishing the beat. I think another aspect of this song that I didn’t necessarily realize was elevating my enjoyment so much is the mixing quality. EvillDewer was the engineer in addition to being the main producer of the album, and he really just nailed it on all fronts in my opinion. This shit sounds pristine. Magno sounds perfect over it; I thought he sounded like Nas when I listened to what came out a decade ago, but nowadays the only artist I think I would compare him to vocally is Spit Gemz. Magno doesn’t have as much of an exaggerated tough guy delivery as him though. Anyway, I was pretty much hooked as soon as the rapping began. Not only the actual lyricism, but also just his flow and vocal delivery. He sounds excellent.

This fine dine chandelier wine grind with top dimes
Marshall's with the fire that's sparking, and carry 5 9's
Roses by the dozens, we tend to honor with much shine
Denim joggers, Hilfiger jacket combined with carmines

That Eminem reference was really nice. Obviously it connects with the Royce reference, but I also think he may have slipped a Mariah Carey reference in between. Maybe that’s a reach, but that’s what it made me think of. Even the following line made me picture Eminem showing up at Mariah’s house unannounced with a dozen roses. I’m sure that wasn’t intentional, but that’s where it took me. I love it.

Lost a dear friend
Fought for her dear life, but things end
Never said goodbye, see you soon, but until then
I'm gonna be the flyest in tune, give me the good gin
They don't care for losses you taking, just if you win
Boricua San Juan chilling, paper stacked, calm-feeling
Don Q rum spilling, heavenly God winning
Pimping get all women, stick and weave off peeling
Imagery bring you that inner G, drug dealing
Son give you potent rhymes
Since the beginning I've been Bond holding the golden eye
Hoffman's Colt .45, Baldwins last folk that died
My status in this game has been longtime certified
Brought back multiplied, weak humans turn an eye
I guess this verse will be my turn for a bold reply
Stone chilled bonafide

I really love everything about this track, and I think it’s one of the best album openers of the year. This song is dope as fuck.

It’s followed by the title track, So We Loved Ourselves. I’ve said this on social media already, but this project has my favorite album title of the year. I don’t really know how to explain other than… If somebody handed me a list of albums and asked me which project I wanted to hear based solely off their titles, I would undoubtedly pick So We Loved Ourselves. The implications behind that title are just really meaningful to me. Anyway, the whole first verse is really great, but I especially love the last part of it.

I tailor my vision like suits out of Milan
But speak for the tenants dodging suits from the big lord
Land stolen, sold back dressed as reform
I storm through the norm with a pen and a long arm, switch off

It transitions into what may be my favorite hook on the album really well.

Love yourself, that's the rebel act
They can't handle milk, it's just Similac
Figure that, all the bets gon' triple that
So we loved ourselves through everything you figured, black

The idea of loving oneself being a rebel act is quite profound to me. My interpretation of that message is that the motivation to rebel against any form of oppression arises from self love. If you loved yourself, you would embrace militant self-preservation. Okay, maybe it’s not as black and white as that, but you get what I mean. Self love is at the root of resistance. Anyway, the melodic, yet gritty production on this song is fantastic, and Magno’s flow on the second verse is dope as hell. I actually think the second verse is better than the first, despite its relative brevity.

Jet lag from the plotting, touching the projects
Where kids know the logos, but never know the context
I flex with restraint, every stitch got a subtext
Opulence paired with a message they cannot protect

I think that’s my favorite quatrain in the song. One thing I noticed is that there’s ostensibly this motif of fashion, or rather the literal garments and the history or context tied to them. I feel like he’s pondering the ramifications of his drip throughout this album, hence the “flex with restraint” line. It’s very interesting stuff. I love it. The song’s amazing.

The next track I wanna talk about is called Streets Desire. This may be my favorite song on the album, but I haven’t fully committed to that stance yet. A lot of it has to do with the superlative production. I had heard some work from EvillDewer prior to this record, but this is the project that really helped me fully understand just how amazing he is. This beat is gorgeous. It just sounds like a beautiful sunlight-soaked garden. It sounds like an audible butterfly. The sartorial motif persists in the lyricism as well.

Clocked in with demon time, the gods, yeah, I stitched love
Dreams fold in lunchbox, the privilege never fixed us
Park the 'yota like it's a Beamer, seat lean divine
Scene rewind plus the vino wash my feet in time
A genius, I'm fiending grind, being gene refined
You seeing prime, no gimmicks, and I'm feeding dimes
Fly talk, I wore struggle like a tailor-made suit
Tucked ambition in soles, Louis V boots
Seen bosses with the softest hands that's never seen broom
A flower planted 'mongst the forest doesn't mean it won't bloom

He even references it in the refrain, which is another one of my favorite hooks on the album. I really like the way he delivers it.

We could hear the screams from the fire
Marked up from the screech of the tires
I'm living hope with peace and attire
A car we named the streets we desire

I actually think the second verse is the best part of the song though.

My pigment divine, no designer ever could clone
Born from pyramids Botticelli wish he had drawn
I quote the lessons from the blessings that I learned from Qur'an
Half phonetic, half poetic, that's how scripture is born
Black philosophy in Moncler shells
My wrist ice cold, my heart straight braille
From the Moors to Medina, yeah, we should start there
Darkness here 'til my aura hits that glare

There’s a strong sense of pride in ones ancestry and identity in the face of belittlement and degradation conveyed throughout this entire album, and especially in this particular track. I think this is another pretty amazing song. Again, I still haven’t chosen a number one favorite song yet, but this is certainly a strong contender for me.

Track 9 is called Romeo Must Die. Once again, the production is very rich and layered. This might actually be the best song to be honest. One thing I really appreciate is how slow-paced it is. I think this is the most downtempo song on the whole album. The way the percussion slowly creeps in after the verse has already started is really awesome. Magno’s flow over it sounds amazing too. I’m still not exactly sure what role the Romeo figure in this song plays. I haven’t really deciphered the symbolism behind that or why Magno’s prioritizing his demise. That almost makes me love it even more though. I just wanna keep listening so I can figure it out. It actually sent me down a Shakespearean rabbit hole as I was doing research for this review. I was assigned Romeo & Juliet in high school, so I recall that they came from the two opposing Montague & Capulet families. When I remembered this, I figured that perhaps the family from which Romeo descended held more conservative, regressive, perhaps even fascistic values. I didn’t really have much evidence to support this theory; it was just an idea. A quick Google search led me to a Reddit page where I learned that these aforementioned families derived from actual medieval factions that really existed at one point—the Guelphs & Ghibellines. However, from what I understand, Shakespeare didn’t actually seem to be aware of the origins himself. It’s like if somebody was really influenced by ODB without knowing that Biz Markie was kinda the originator of that style. I’m digressing, but I do want to note that I always have a lot of fun when a song or album is able to send me down a historical rabbit hole like this. That happens with Iceberg Theory a lot as well. Anyway, from what I understand the Montague family is intended to be viewed as the more agreeable of the two factions. With that said, they’re still rich as fuck, so Romeo grew up super privileged and sheltered. I guess maybe that could have some connection to his pursuit, but further research seems to only confute my initial theory. I’m gonna have to do some more soul-searching on this one I guess. Anyway, let me get back to the actual music. The second verse is excellent. Again, the apparel motif remains present.

I'm morally torn 'cause I'm draped fly in the storm
Silk worn, but I mourn every child unborn
Locked borders that was drawn by the greed of a sworn
Elite sworn in, sworn out, still feeding the war
I speak for ignored allure, corners breeding the lore
Where fiends snore on dreams' floor, police roar at the core
We bleed more, yet I stay fly like Celine stores
A demigod with a seamstress weaving up the theme's core

The hook is very simplistic, but it works really well in my opinion. Again, I really love how slow this song feels. I think it’s rare for me to hear such a deliberately creeping pace in a rap song, and it’s even more rare for it to be this good. I tend to appreciate that style even more than a conventional tempo though. Maybe it’s because I’m a very “sluggish” person in general, for lack of a better term. Anyway, this is probably my favorite track if I’m being real. This is the one that has been the most fun to write about for me, and that’s usually an indication of my favorite song. With that said, I still haven’t committed to a number one favorite overall. I think this shit is incredible though.

The last song I wanna highlight is the closing track, Morticia Lives. I don’t know if the juxtaposition of Morticia’s survival with Romeo’s obligatory execution earlier on this album was intentional, but it’s definitely something I noticed. Lyrically, this is one of the most enthralling songs on the album for me. I haven’t deciphered the significance of Morticia Addams in the context of this song and/or album, but I still find it very interesting.

Her voice echo like jazz in a vinyl loop
I'm Miles Davis cool, pain in a tailored suit
Love's war, I lost battles, but I won poise
She left noise, I left art, that's the real choice
She saw a king, I was still learning the crown's weight
Heavy's the promise, the mind gon' need a sound state
Aura, ambition, I need a couple thou' straight
And even gold got flaws, that's just divine taste

This is one of the only songs on the album with three full verses, so that’s another element that kinda accentuates it in the tracklist. The final verse is probably my favorite.

This must be how the prize feels
Night thrills dripping in ice grills
My mom still taking them life pills
My dad slowly dying, man, I tell you this life's real
Niggas get their life shortened, hit with that light steel
And fuck what you might feel

I was pretty certain that track 9 was my favorite on the album for a bit, but now that I’m writing about the closing song I’m not so sure anymore. I’m about to relisten to finally make that decision, but as always it’s subject to change. Anyway, this song is phenomenal to me. I love it.

^{This album is amazing. As I said early on, EvillDewer’s production and engineering work is consistently exquisite, and that high quality bleeds into the writing from Magno Garcia himself as well. Lyrically, this album is the perfect “reading level” for me, so to speak. The writing is ambiguous enough to make me contemplate a viable understanding, without being so abstract that I feel completely lost. The lyricism is challenging and rewarding to sit with. I feel that I haven’t deciphered most of the concepts and themes on this record even after repeated listens over several months. In fact, the interpretations that I presented in this write-up are presumably divorced from what the artist intended. I had a lot of fun coming up with them though. Despite all my time spent on thematic analysis, this album most importantly just sounds fantastic. The beats sound excellent, and Magno’s flow and vocal delivery are splendid. Speaking of vocal delivery, one thing I noticed is that the way he says each line is, like… It just feels like the presentation of his bars indicates vast importance or profoundness. He sounds very “serious,” if that makes sense. Even when you can tell he’s smiling and having fun in the booth, it never feels like his bars are “just bars.” Every project I checked out from Magno Garcia was great, but this one is definitely his best that I’ve heard. At the very least, this is the best set of instrumentals he’s ever had for a full-length release. This is absolutely one of the best albums of the year, and I hope to see more discussion around it going forward, so give it a listen and let me know what you think in the comments. I think it’s dope as fuck.}