1980s In the early 1980s, hip hop spread to Italy through
posse cuts, which were popular in
social centers, alternative centers where several left-wing young people regularly meet, and where the extremely influential
Italian hardcore punk scene was flourishing, from which the Italian posse cut movement inherited its social conscious. The first star to emerge from this scene was
Jovanotti, who would
rap in otherwise standard
Italian pop. While Jovanotti was discovered by the famous producer
Claudio 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 in
Rome in 1988. They are known for their
left-wing politically and
socially charged lyrics. , ex member of the
Articolo 31 performing at a concert
1990s 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.
Articolo 31, formed by
J-Ax and DJ Jad: they started out as a mainly
East Coast hip hop-inspired hip hop duo, rapped in two commercials (for big companies such as
Fiat 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 at
Venice's hip hop festival, the others rappers left the stage as a symbolic protest against them. Later that decade, a
dissing battle started between them and the Zero Stress Crew (formed by Sangue Misto and Radical Stuff). Other important crews and rappers included
Bologna's Porzione Massiccia Crew,
Sangue Misto (project born from Isola Posse All Star), with their 1994
album SXM, which has influenced all subsequent Italian hip hop tracks. At the end of 1999, the
Milanese group Sacre Scuole, made up of
Jake La Furia,
Gué Pequeno and
Dargen D'Amico, released the album ''3 MC's al cubo''. The group
Gemelli DiVersi was founded in 1997, it is a group which blends hip hop with vocal harmonies, and often with
socially conscious lyrics. Their first
single was the
Pooh 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).
2000s At the beginning of the new millennium, the
Apulian rapper
Caparezza achieves success with the album
Verità supposte. In 2001, the group Sottotono took part in the
Sanremo Music Festival and then broke up shortly after. After the dissolution of the Articolo 31 and the abandonment of
Neffa from the rap scene, there is a period of fatigue for the Italian scene that awakens with some productions: first of all we must remember
Mi fist by
Club Dogo,
Fabiano detto Inoki by
Inoki,
Mondo Marcio by Mondo Marcio, and above all
Mr. Simpatia by
Fabri Fibra. Although the Italian hip hop scene remains firm in the underground, the record market, and headed by
independent labels such as Portafoglio Lainz or Vibra Records. In 2006, several MCs manage to get a record deal with major labels: Mondo Marcio, a Milanese rapper, signs for
EMI, Inoki with
Warner, Fabri Fibra and Club Dogo with
Universal, while
Cor Veleno sign for H2O Music, 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 as
AllMusic or
MTV and gain decent positions in the charts. Between 2006 and 2008, the genre expands to a wider audience, initially thanks to the album
Solo un uomo by Mondo Marcio, which brought the genre to the general public in Italy, then followed by the albums
Tradimento by Fabri Fibra and
Marracash by
Marracash, who managed to conquer the top positions in the standings. Meanwhile in
Rome, among all the
hip hop groups, the
Truceklan 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 is
Ministero dell'Inferno. The genres touched by the group range from
Gangsta rap to
Hardcore hip hop to
Rap metal.
2010s and
Gué Pequeno at the 2016
Wind Music Awards Since 2010, after the success of the single "
Tranne te" by
Fabri Fibra, a real phenomenon of the mainstream rapper is created.
Artists such as
Emis Killa,
Clementino,
Fedez,
Gemitaiz,
MadMan,
Rocco Hunt,
Baby K, and
Salmo make their debut in Italian hip hop. At the same time artists are born who manage to bring their music to high levels of sale, examples of these artists are
Noyz Narcos and
Nitro. Around 2015, the
trap influence arrives in Italy starting from albums like
Santeria by
Gué Pequeno and Marracash,
XDVR and
Sfera Ebbasta by
Sfera Ebbasta,
23 6451 by
tha Supreme and
The Dark Album by the
Dark Polo Gang. It is followed by new artists such as
Achille Lauro,
Capo Plaza,
Izi,
Ghali, Ketama126,
Massimo Pericolo,
Ernia, tha Supreme and many others. Although, the underground remains firm with artists such as
Jack 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 but
Swiss), Gionni Gioielli, L'Elfo,
En?gma and many others. During the decade, albums that have already become classics of the genre such as ''Il ragazzo d'oro
by Guè Pequeno, Mea culpa
by Clementino, The Island Chainsaw massacre
by Salmo, Il cuore e la fame
by Egreen and Dead Poets'' by DJ FastCut are released.
2020s Among the artists of the
alternative hip hop genre that include En?gma, with the series of albums
Totem, started with
Totem – Episodio uno, anticipated by the single "Bomaye". Other important artists are
Madame and
Willie Peyote, both present at the
71st edition of the
Sanremo Music Festival respectively with the songs "
Voce", produced by
Dardust 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 the
FIMI 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. ==Other forms of the hip hop==