Zell - Zelly: EP Review

Argentina has always had an interesting music heritage, from tango to rock music. In 2019, the Latin trap movement took off, in part due to names like Bad Bunny and Bryant Myers, with top artists like Maluma and J Balvin out of Colombia trying it out, and Paulo Londra and Duki dominating the movement in Argentina.

Argentina had this flair when doing trap, with many of the artists having interesting voices to begin with, like for example the raspiness of Paulo Londra’s vocals over trap production that was not a straight rip of ATL’s sound, but mixed with reggaeton, rock, and closer to Argentine roots. 

Now, in Argentina, the underground has become almost as numerous as the U.S. underground. We are now on the third generation of traperos in Argentina, and that brings us to Zell and his new EP, ‘zelly.’ From the start of the project, the influences acting as the north stars to his sound are clear from the first track, “vos, yo y tu Ego”: the singing along to the beat reminiscent of Slayr’s “love blur,” with vibrato vocal croons heard on Lil Yachty’s “Poland,” and sudden beat switches under the autotune flows à la Travis Scott. Regardless, I could see it hitting at a festival, as he took the stage at Argentina’s Lollapalooza.

Even though Zell wears the influences very clearly on his sleeve, the de facto differentiator here is the language and the accent. As he raps in Spanish, it allows for much smoother flows, as he blends English and Spanish, saying, “Baby, I’m the one in your heart, don’t leave me like this, I want to see you more time.” It is also notable how the Buenos Aires-born rapper leans into his accent, specifically through sheísmo, where “ll” and “y” are pronounced as a soft “sh” or “zh” sound, adding a little local flair to the music. 

“El infierno en persona” (“hell in person”) is another cool-sounding song of pop-rap or hyperpop, but once again the 2hollis influence speaks for itself, as Zell sings with proficiency but is not saying anything outside the typical trap tropes of sex and materialism.

On the next track, Zell actually does switch it up. “los hombres no lloran” touches on emotional depth if you listen to what Zell is really saying. He is questioning why his relationship ended, over what sounds like a 2020 Young Nudy-type beat, but there is still some depth as he ruminates on a relationship that is over. It might be a bit surface-level, as he says, “Those tears are faker than that Gucci on your jeans,” but that is not too crazy for a person in his early 20s. Some other lines really hit as well, like “At what moment did that whole flame die out?” which, if you are going through a breakup, hits like a bullet to the heart. The song is solid, but is just a little over a minute and does not let you live in the emotion unless you loop it multiple times.

“Tan fría” also hits that same singing vein, as Zell picks up the slack on both the production and the lyrics. The beat here mixes aspects of reggaeton’s dembow rhythms with soul pianos and heavy-trap percussion. He then sings his heart over the beat, humming in between the pianos as he riffs vocal, and it all sounds beautiful. He reflects on the lust of vanity, asking, “When I saw you, I didn’t know what I was getting myself into / Your personality doesn’t match your pretty face.” The song overall finds Zell at his strongest, taking an interesting production choice and pairing it with relatable lyrics.

“jenner” is a bit of an unceremonious closer for the album, as Zell once again returns to a typical triplet trap beat while longing for his first love to come back. 

Zell has a lot of potential as a rapper, as he is definitely emotionally aware of what people his age are going through. However, at times it feels like listening to a second-generation, digested emulation of U.S. Soundcloud rap. I would rather go listen to Paulo Londra’s ‘Homerun’ or anything from Bad Bunny’s ‘Nadie sabe lo que va a pasar mañana.’ 

Latin trap runs deeper than it might seem, with Argentinian artists in Zell’s class like Slimesanti and Shako each pushing the sound in their own direction. Zell’s full embrace of his Argentine accent, paired with a clear willingness to blend genres, points toward a more experimental future. He is still finding his footing, but the foundation is there.

Rating: 3/5