Review: on 'Escorpião', MC Cabelinho opens his love diary across 9 tracks, nails it with Marina Sena and sends the internet hunting for the 'Escorpiana'

Review. MC Cabelinho reaches his sixth album with a simple thesis: an Aquarius with Scorpio rising, he says 'that mix says a lot' about who he is. 'Escorpião' turns that into nine tracks designed to be heard start to finish, from the seductive opener 'Não Me Compare' to 'O Triste Fim'. Producer Dallass sums up the method: Victor (his real name) creates 'from a real experience', 'like a diary'. That is the album's strength: desire, jealousy and loneliness show up without tough-guy posturing.

The best moments come where the record takes risks. 'Solitário' dresses post-breakup loneliness in orchestral strings and shows a more vulnerable Cabelinho than the flex-trap version. 'Veneno', with Marina Sena, opens with 'our vibe exudes sex' and works because each keeps their own identity — Marina herself called it the pair's best collaboration. 'Rótulos', with Klisman and Alee, tackles non-traditional relationships without moralizing. And 'Escorpiana', track three, has become fuel for gossip about the rapper's love life, which says a lot about the album's power to drive conversation.

The stumble is sameness: with Dallass, Palma, BAMMA and Qually stitching everything into one nocturnal mood, some mid-album tracks such as 'Pontas no Cinzeiro' and 'Jogo Perdido' feel more like atmosphere than memorable songs. Still, in an era of albums bloated to pump streams, nine cohesive, confessional tracks are a mature move. Score: 7/10