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Italian hip hop iship hop music rapped in theItalian language and/or made by Italianartists.[1] One of the first hip hop crews to catch the attention of the Italian mainstream wasBologna's Isola Posse All Star, then and still today produced by Sandro Orru, who had written the soundtrack to the animatedSignor Rossi TV series Signor Rossi in the 1970s. The European Music Office's report onMusic in Europe claimed that in general, hip hop from thesouth of Italy tends to be harder than that from the north.[2]
In the early 1980s, hip hop spread to Italy throughposse cuts, which were popular insocial centers, alternative centers where several left-wing young people regularly meet, and where the extremely influentialItalian hardcore punk scene was flourishing, from which the Italian posse cut movement inherited its social conscious. The first star to emerge from this scene wasJovanotti, who wouldrap in otherwise standardItalian pop.[3][4][5] While Jovanotti was discovered by the famous producerClaudio Cecchetto and quickly reached fame, in the underground Radical Stuff published the first Italian hip hop street video Let's Get Dizzy, featuring lo Greco Bros in 1989. Also that year, Marko Von Schoenberg of Stone Castle Records in Italy produced Dre' n OG along with Andre Herring (now known as the King of Art) and Nathaniel Goodwin, with songs such as AK-47, Got Damn, Do Beat, and Spread Your Legs. But DRE and OG never received any payments for recordings.
Underground hip hop group Assalti Frontali, was founded inRome in 1988. They are known for theirleft-wingpolitically andsocially charged lyrics.[6]
In 1991, the posse cut movement produced its first underground rap in the Italian language, with tracks such as "Stop al panico" by Isola Posse All Star, a track against murders and violence in the streets.[7]
Articolo 31, formed byJ-Ax and DJ Jad: they started out as a mainlyEast Coast hip hop-inspired hip hop duo, rapped in two commercials (for big companies such asFiat and Big Bubble) in 1993. The duo had always been criticized for their connection to the Italian pop music market. In 1996, as they started their performance atVenice's hip hop festival, the others rappers left the stage as a symbolic protest against them.[8]
Later that decade, adissing battle started between them and the Zero Stress Crew (formed by Sangue Misto and Radical Stuff). Other important crews and rappers includedBologna's Porzione Massiccia Crew,Sangue Misto (project born from Isola Posse All Star), with their 1994album SXM, which has influenced all subsequent Italian hip hop tracks.[9]
At the end of 1999, theMilanese group Sacre Scuole, made up ofJake La Furia,Gué Pequeno andDargen D'Amico, released the album3 MC's al cubo.[10]
The groupGemelli DiVersi was founded in 1997, it is a group which blends hip hop with vocal harmonies, and often withsocially conscious lyrics. Their firstsingle was thePooh sampling "Un attimo ancora" (1998). The group had a peak of success in the 2000s, with songs such as "Un altro ballo" (2004), "Vivi per un miracolo" (2007) and their biggest hit, "Mary" (2003).[11]
At the beginning of the new millennium, theApulian rapperCaparezza achieves success with the albumVerità supposte. In 2001, the group Sottotono took part in theSanremo Music Festival and then broke up shortly after.[12] After the dissolution of the Articolo 31 and the abandonment ofNeffa from the rap scene, there is a period of fatigue for the Italian scene that awakens with some productions: first of all we must rememberMi fist byClub Dogo,Fabiano detto Inoki byInoki,Mondo Marcio by Mondo Marcio, and above allMr. Simpatia byFabri Fibra.[13]
Although the Italian hip hop scene remains firm in the underground, the record market, and headed byindependent labels such as Portafoglio Lainz or Vibra Records. In 2006, several MCs manage to get a record deal with major majors: Mondo Marcio, a Milanese rapper, signs forEMI, Inoki withWarner,[14] Fabri Fibra and Club Dogo withUniversal,[15][16] whileCor Veleno sign for H2O Music,[17] being the first Italian artists to exploit digital music. Some video clips, such as that of "Applausi per Fibra" by Fabri Fibra, manage to reach broadcasters such asAllMusic orMTV and gain decent positions in the charts. Between 2006 and 2008, the genre expands to a wider audience, initially thanks to the albumSolo un uomo by Mondo Marcio, which brought the genre to the general public in Italy, then followed by the albumsTradimento by Fabri Fibra andMarracash byMarracash, who managed to conquer the top positions in the standings.[18]
Meanwhile inRome, among all thehip hop groups, theTruceklan was establishing itself, created by the union of the hip hop groups Truceboys and In the Panchine. Among the main members of the group stood out:Noyz Narcos,Metal Carter,Gel, Cole, Gemello,Chicoria, Benassa,Duke Montana (who left the group in 2011) and Zinghero. While on the production side: Lou Chano, DJ Sano Volcano, 3FX, Fuzzy,DJ Gengis, Rough, Giordy Beatz, Meme, DJ Sine, Marco Tozzi and Low Killa. The main album released by the collective isMinistero dell'Inferno. The genres touched by the group range fromGangsta rap toHardcore hip hop toRap metal.
Since 2010, after the success of the single "Tranne te" byFabri Fibra, a real phenomenon of the mainstream rapper is created.Artists such asEmis Killa,Clementino,Fedez,Gemitaiz,MadMan,Rocco Hunt,Baby K, andSalmo make their debut in Italian hip hop.[19]
At the same time artists are born who manage to bring their music to high levels of sale, examples of these artists areNoyz Narcos andNitro. Around 2015, thetrap influence arrives in Italy starting from albums likeSanteria byGué Pequeno and Marracash,XDVR andSfera Ebbasta bySfera Ebbasta,23 6451 bytha Supreme andThe Dark Album by theDark Polo Gang.[20]
It is followed by new artists such asAchille Lauro,Capo Plaza,Izi,Ghali, Ketama126,Massimo Pericolo,Ernia, tha Supreme and many others. Although, the underground remains firm with artists such asJack the Smoker, Lord Madness, Murubutu, Claver Gold,Primo Brown (died in 2016), DJ Fastcut, Suarez, Leslie, Hard Squat Crew,Inoki,Rancore, Mezzosangue, Lanz Khan, Mattak (Italian-speaking butSwiss), Gionni Gioielli, L'Elfo,En?gma and many others.[21]
During the decade, albums that have already become classics of the genre such asIl ragazzo d'oro by Guè Pequeno,Mea culpa by Clementino,The Island Chainsaw massacre by Salmo,Il cuore e la fame byEgreen andDead Poets by DJ FastCut are released.[22]
Among the artists of thealternative hip hop genre that include En?gma, with the series of albumsTotem, started withTotem – Episodio uno, anticipated by the single "Bomaye". Other important artists areMadame andWillie Peyote, both present at the71st edition of theSanremo Music Festival respectively with the songs "Voce", produced byDardust and "Mai dire mai (La locura)". At the start of 2021,Il Tre released his first album,Ali, that debuted on the first place in theFIMI chart just 1 week after its release. Other modern Italian rappers, such as Wado, focus more on issues of immigration and racism in their lyrics, which still affect many Afro-Italian rappers today.[23]
The first to have practicedfreestyle in Italy wereNeffa, Danno from Colle der Fomento,El Presidente and Moddi MC from thecrew Pooglia Tribe.Clementino is a multiple-time Italian freestyle champion.
From the overseas situation,writing,beatboxing andbreakdancing have been "imported", as well asDJing. DJs include DJ Jad,Don Joe,Shablo, DJ Tayone, DJ Squarta (Cor Veleno), DJ Double S, Deleterio, DJ Nais,DJ Gruff, DJ Shocca, Mr. Phil, DJ 2P,Bassi Maestro, Big Joe andDJ Harsh.[24]
