Italian hip hop

Italian hip hop started in the early 1990s. One of the first hip hop crews to catch the attention of the Italian mainstream was Milan's Articolo 31, then and still today produced by Franco Godi, who had written the soundtrack to the animated TV series Signor Rossi in the 1970s. The European Music Office's report on Music in Europe claimed that, in general, hip hop from the south of Italy tends to be harder than that from the north [1].

Overview

In the early '80s, hip hop spread to Italy, along with meth fromJamaican raggamuffin, especially in centri sociali, alternative centers where several left-wing young people regularly meet. The first star, however, was Jovanotti, who used rapping in otherwise traditional Italian pop. Some of his tracks were however pure hip hop, e.g. "Il rap" which sampled Public Enemy's Chuck D. Hip hop is especially characteristic of southern Italy, a fact which some observers have contributed to the southern concept of rispettu (respect, honor), a form of verbal jousting; both facts have helped identify southern Italian music with the African American hip hop style.^[1]

Articolo 31 started out as a mainly East Coast rap-inspired hip hop duo, but changed to a more commercial style during their career and eventually evolved into a punk/pop/crossover group. Other important crews and rappers include Bologna's Camelz in Effect with their unforgettable early hit "Slega la Lega", Sangue Misto with their 1994 album SMX, the political crew 99 Posse whose music have influences from world music to trip hop. Gangsta rap crews include Sa Razza, La Fossa from Sardinia and Flaminio Maphia from Rome. Probably the most famous Italian rappers apart from Articolo 31 are Sottotono from Varese, Neffa from Napoli and Piotta who represents Rome and became famous through an ironic interpretation of the coatto (The stereotypical Italian boy with an attitude). Caparezza is often referred to as the Italian Eminem because his records sold many copies from 2000 on. Frankie Hi-NRG MC is often referred to as the Italian NAS, since his rhymes are very complex and intellectual. Turi from Calabria and Colle der Fomento from Rome are considered hardcore rappers by many. Italian hip hop also has a tradition of political-minded lyrics, e.g. 99 Posse and Assalti Frontali. Fabri Fibra has also become a very popular rap artist and has collaborated with Italian super stars Gianna Nannini and Pino Daniele as well as others.

There are also some crews rapping in the local dialects or languages, e.g. La Famiglia in napoletano; Sa Razza (partly) in Sardinian and DLH Posse that raps in Friulian, as well as in Italian. 99 Posse also use Italian as well as neapolitan while La Pooglia Tribe and Sud Sound System rap in both Italian and dialect from the Puglia region .

In the last few years new groups like Cor Veleno and Truceklan from Rome, Club Dogo, Marracash, Fabri Fibra and Vacca from Milan, Co'Sang from Naples or Stokka & Madbuddy from Palermo have emerged in the Italian hip hop scene.

See also

• List of Italian hip hop musicians

References

• Stokes, Martin (2003). "Ethnicity and Race". in John Shepherd, David Horn, Dave Laing, Paul Oliver and Peter Wicke. Continuum Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World, Volume 1: Media, Industry and Society. London: Continuum. p. 216. ISBN 0826463215. 

Notes

1. ^ Stokes, "Ethnicity and Race", pg. 216, in the Continuum Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World, Volume 1: Media, Industry and Society

External links

• Joe Sciorra 's site about Italian Hip Hop
• Zero-plastica 's site hip hop underground from Italy genova
• Italian based hip hop site supplying international exclusives (news, interviews, audios, videos, gallery)
• Italian Hip Hop Portal which includes a large database of Italian as well as International (mainly US) artists
• Brief overview of Italian Hip Hop
• Hip Hop Selection - Daily news and links about Italian and international Hip Hop