“Everyone says, ‘Oh, we need to find a single,’ but I’m like … I feel the whole album is a single,” the Irving native says. “There’s something that can go here, there’s something that can go there. Something that’s not successful here is going to be killing it over there.”
As guests took their seats, Valenti opened with a PowerPoint presentation titled, “What the heck is a Valenti Funk ....…?” The slideshow reviews his adolescence as a band kid in Irving, his day job as a licensed mortician and his musical journey that led him to Valenti 2, including how he came to know his many collaborators.
"What the heck is a Valenti Funk?" Don't worry. The slideshow explained everything.
Carly May Gravley
The tracklist for the record caught the crowd’s attention before Valenti even pressed play. Featured North Texas artists include Stan Francisko, 88 Killa and Rakim Al-Jabbaar among many others. Guitarist Max Townsley contributes to most of the tracks and is one of the few credited instrumentalists who isn’t Valenti himself.
The album was mixed and mastered by MouseQuake, who is known for his work with Nas, Lil Wayne and Pimp C, among other legendary artists. Aside from Mousequake and Valenti, only one other producer is credited on the record: Flava Dave, Valenti’s longtime friend from his marching band days.
The record itself was exactly as promised: diverse and eclectic. It opens with the jazzy and futuristic “The Thinking Intro” before weaving through all kinds of musical influences: '90s R&B on “Say Less,” LGBTQ-inclusive rap on “It Is What It Is” and even French-language coffeehouse jams on “Le Jeune Filles Aux Cheuveux Blancs.”
“Le Jeune Filles Aux Cheuveux Blancs” and Spanish-language “Musica Valenti” are meant to “[spotlight] Valenti’s global appeal” and “[transcend] all cultures, genres and musical personalities,” according to a statement released to the press.
Four of the tracks on Valenti 2 come with music videos, and all four were screened at the listening event. “Animal,” which features Rakim Al-Jabbaar, was given an animated video of a towering version of Al-Jabbaar rapping into Reunion Tower as if it were a microphone. The animation style and visual puns have an Adult Swim type of feel.
The video for 88 Killa collab “Come On Through” stars Dallas-based artist Alex Blair as its sultry leading lady. The collab with Dallas-based rapper Breakfast Santana, “It Is What It Is,” has Santana announcing to Valenti that she plans to propose to her girlfriend and Valenti taking her to shop for rings.
“I’m an ally,” Valenti later tells the crowd as to why the story of this video was important to him.
The fourth video, for “Le Jeune Filles Aux Cheuveux Blancs,” depicts watercolor paintings that tell the story of a woman who turns her life around when her kindness is noticed and repaid.
After we finished listening to the album and the applause had died down, audience members immediately began requesting that certain songs be played again. “Say Less” and “Le Jeune Filles Aux Cheuveux Blancs” received the most requests and were each played again three times by the end of the event. The guests clearly saw these as the standout tracks on the record, and we can’t say we disagree.
Valenti 2 will be released on all streaming platforms on Feb. 14, which is both Valentine’s Day and Valenti’s birthday.
