SPILL MUSIC PREMIERE: MESSINESS – “FEATURE WITH A RAPPER”

MESSINESS – “FEATURE WITH A RAPPER”

A SPILL EXCLUSIVE MUSIC PREMIERE

Seems like just yesterday that psychedelic-tinged indie rockers Messiness released their debut single “Previous Life” (it actually came out in March), but they have cooked up something truly special, a one-of-a-kind track where seemingly disparate sounds collide in a brilliant composition. “Feature with a Rapper” is a motley but brilliant smorgasbord of Balaeric psychedelic pop, swaggering rap verses and Britpop-tinged indie rock guitars – making for a wild, yet wonderfully cohesive ride.

While their overall vibe delivers an accessible and vibrant feel-good indie rock with those Britpop nods, dig deeper and you’ll find art pop flourishes, hazy psychedelic textures, and even a touch of space rock drifting in the atmosphere.

A tongue-in-cheek narrative of artistic frustration—a lamentation of an independent musician’s doomed quest to secure a high-profile collaboration – but beneath the satire, this song reveals a deeper, biting critique of cultural capital, market-driven validation, and the inherent contradictions of contemporary music industry hierarchies. Messiness, both as the artist and as the protagonist within the song, constructs a tragicomic odyssey that exposes the transactional logic of creative legitimacy.

Revolving around Sicilian singer, composer, multi-instrumentalist, writer and sociologist Max Raffa, Messiness is the welcome result of his remarkable journey, carved through Europe’s cultural landscapes, from sun-bleached Balearic shores to British harbour towns, as Raffa performed in various rock’n’roll bands while conducting the ethnographic research that ultimately shaped his musical vision. With Raffa being somewhat of a Renaissance man, so to speak, it’s no wonder his lyrics run much deeper than surface level.

Finally landing in Milan’s shadowy outskirts – in the gritty underbelly of Italy’s fashion capital – Raffa assembled a proper motley crew: Rosario Lo Monaco wielding guitars, Filippo La Marca manning the keys, Giovanni Calella thumping the bass, and Luca Anello keeping the beat.

Beginning with an aphorism disguised as wisdom: “Wanna shine? Do a feature with a rapper”, the statement is brutally direct in its commodification of artistic credibility, framing success not as a function of craft, originality or artistic merit, but as a matter of visibility—a metric determined not by the intrinsic value of one’s work but by the proximity to already established figures. Once a symbol of organic artistic collaboration, “the feature” here is now reduced to a calculated career move in an industry that thrives on association rather than innovation. Messiness internalizes this wisdom unquestioningly: “So I tried, as I wanted to shine, / To do a feature with a rapper.” The passive construction here is essential—agency is surrendered in favor of a prescribed path to legitimacy.

The rapper’s verse, by contrast, is a hyper-performative, self-referential exercise in verbal bravado. The rapid-fire flow—“Wanna rock it with a rapper? Then rap that RAP / Yeah, beats in ya face like ‘CAT CAT’”—parodies the spectacle of contemporary mainstream music production, where percussive ad-libs often function as signifiers of credibility independent of lyrical substance. The sequence of percussive onomatopoeia (“PAP PRRR DAT PAP”) mimics the sonic texture of mainstream music but also deconstructs it, reducing it to rhythmic play. There is an implicit irony in how this moment—ostensibly the most dynamic part of the song—is also its most vacuous, emphasizing style over meaning.

The industry, as depicted here, is a closed circuit, where legitimacy is not earned through talent alone but through prior recognition. In an era where visibility is currency, those without prior capital are functionally non-existent.

The protagonist’s ultimate solution—sampling royalty-free rap vocals—serves as the song’s most pointed critique. If access to established artists is denied, the alternative is simulation. The phrase “now I hope no one spots me and asks, ‘Who are you?’” suggests a kind of imposter syndrome but also a broader commentary on authenticity in the digital age. The gesture of repurposing pre-existing material—essentially manufacturing a feature—ironically mirrors the very logic of the industry that refused to grant access. The tension between striving for legitimacy and recognizing its arbitrary nature underscores the song’s broader thematic preoccupation: the erosion of authenticity in a system where validation is dictated by pre-existing status rather than artistic contribution.

In its absurdist circularity, “Feature With a Rapper” transcends its narrative of industry frustration and becomes a broader indictment of neoliberal cultural economies, where creative legitimacy is both a commodity and a privilege. The protagonist’s journey—from naively seeking validation through established figures to cynically circumventing the process through royalty-free loopholes—mirrors the contemporary artist’s existential dilemma: to play by the rules is to remain invisible, but to cheat the system is to risk exposure as inauthentic. Messiness delivers this critique not with heavy-handed indignation but with a biting, self-aware irony that makes the song as humorous as it is damning. It is, in the end, a manifesto of disillusionment—an acknowledgment that in an industry where credibility is dictated by association, authenticity itself becomes a construct.

As of May 9, “Feature With a Rapper” will be available from fine online music platforms, including Spotify, Apple Music and directly from the artist via Bandcamp. The band’s debut album is slated for release towards the end of the year via Tarla Records and StoneFree Records.

Credits

Lyrics & Music written by Massimiliano Raffa
Massimiliano Raffa – Vocals, Guitars, Mellotron, Synthesizers, Sound FX, Oud & Shawm
Rosario Lo Monaco – Guitars
Giovanni Calella – Bass
Filippo La Marca – Keyboards
Luca Anello – Drums & Percussion
Beppe Scardino – Baritone Saxophone
Produced by Ivan A. Rossi, Massimiliano Raffa
Recorded by Ivan A. Rossi – 8brr.rec Studio, Milan; Lorenzo Di Blasi – Sartoria 57 Studio; Milan Giovanni Calella – Diabolicus Studio, Milan
Edited, mixed & mastered by Ivan A. Rossi at 8brr.rec Studio, Milan
Cover artwork by Güneş Akyürek
Released by Tarla Records and StoneFree Records
Publicity by Shameless Promotion PR

While you’re here, you can also enjoy the band’s earlier single “Previous Life” – you can get quite a different flavour of their multi-faceted repertoire here:

Messiness
[Single]
(Tarla Records/StoneFree Records)
Release Date: May 9, 2025

Artist Links

Background Photo Credit: Roberta Ferrante