2016–2017: Debut singles In 2016, Villain signed with the famous Italian
hip hop independent label Machete Empire Records, becoming the first female artist of the roster. On 19 July 2016, she released her debut single, "Get the Fuck Out of My Pool", which mixed electronic music and hip hop; the music video of the song was shot between
Brooklyn and
Manhattan. A couple of months later, she released her second single, "Geisha", which earned her the title "Artist of the Month" on the Italian
MTV New Generation. On 11 November 2016, the Italian rapper Salmo released the single "Don Medellín", featuring Villain, for the re-release of his album
Hellvisback; it peaked at number 13 on
FIMI's singles chart and was certified platinum, in addition to being viewed over 16 million views on YouTube. In 2017, Villain signed a distribution deal with
Universal Music Germany; through the label, she released the a remix of "Geisha", who was remixed by
Swanky Tunes. In the same year, which was a difficult year due to the untimely death of her mother, Villain released the singles "Kitty Kitty" and "Don't Call The Po-Po", shooting and directing the latter's music video in New York. In 2020, "Don't Call The Po-Po" was included in the soundtrack of the second season of ''
L.A.'s Finest''. The first singles immediately caught the attention of Eddie O'Loughlin of
Republic Records, who decided to meet Villain and offer her a record deal.
2018–2019: Signing with Republic Records In early 2018, Villain announced the signing with
Republic Records, becoming the first Italian artist to sign a
record deal with the label. The first single with Republic Records, "Funeral Party", was released on 20 July 2018 and was a mix between pop and
dancehall, the music video of the song was directed by the same Villain and was shot in
Kingston, Jamaica. Later that same year, she signed with Next Model Management. On 26 July 2019, she released her second single with Republic Records called "Swoop!", produced by
Sidney Swift and Sixpm; it contained a sample of
Whoomp! (There It Is) by
Tag Team. She also released "Kanye Loves Kanye" via
Island Records UK, with MDNT and SIXPM. At the end of 2019, due to different artistic visions with her A&R, Villain ended her contract with Republic Records, refusing even to renew the deal, she decided to be an independent artist for a while; in fall 2019, she released two singles, "Sneakers" and "It's Snowing Motherfucker", releasing a music video for the former in December 2018.
2020–2022: Italian projects In 2020, Villain joined MeNext Agency, signed a new record deal with
Arista, Sony Music Italy, and she released her first single in Italian, named "Bundy". A couple months later, she released the official single in Italian titled "Il Diavolo Piange"; its music video was shot in New York and was directed by Joe Mischo, also known as Brume. In the summer of 2020, she was featured on "Chico" by the Italian rapper
Guè Pequeno; the single was part of his studio album
Mr. Fini and also featured
Luchè. "Chico" became a success in Italy; it peaked at number 5 on FIMI's singles charts, was certified 4× platinum, and was named as one of the ten top-selling songs in 2020 in Italy. After the success of "Chico", Villain released her third single in Italian, titled "Goodbye". She appeared on "Stone Cold Digital", part of
A Pale Blue Dot by Dreamshade, a Swiss
melodic death metal band; the album was released in March 2021. She also appeared on
Corona Love Story by Mondo Marcio, released in February 2021. On 13 April 2021, she announced her collaboration with
Paco Rabanne, having been chosen as testimonial for the launch of the fragrance
Lady Million Fabolous. On 4 May 2021, Villain released "Soli" with Giaime. On 2 July 2021, she released via
Coulumbia Records Italy and Arista Records Italy the single "Elvis" featuring
Guè Pequeno and SIXPM who produced also the record, she recorded the record few months back in
Santo Domingo, the single contains a sample of
Heartbreak Hotel of
Elvis Presley. The video of the single directed by The Astronauts was released on 6 August 2021. The single to date has surpassed over 3 million plays on Spotify. On 9 July 2021, Italian DJ and producer Don Joe released his album entitled
Milano Soprano, the album contains the single "Kandinsky", which saw Villain and Italian rapper
Ernia as featured artists. On 23 July 2021, Italian rapper
Emis Killa released the mixtape
Keta Music Vol 3; the mixtape includes the song "Psycho", which saw Villain as featured artist. On 1 September 2021, Villain was chosen by
Apple Music as the
Up Next Italia artist, the Apple Music initiative aimed at identifying and promoting emerging talents. On 15 September 2021, on the occasion of 100 Years of Fashion of ''
L'Officiel Italia, Villain has been selected by Italian singer Elisa as one of the most relevant female presences in Italian music. On 8 October 2021, the single "Eva+Eva" by Italian singer Annalisa was released, the song is contained in the album Nuda'', for the occasion, the singer decided to revisit the song and launch it as a single in collaboration with another female artist of the Italian scene, so she chooses Villain. The music video of Eva + Eva was released on 12 October 2021, on the YouTube channel of
Warner Music Italy. On 12 November 2021, Villain released the single "Gangsta Love" featuring the Italian rapper
Rosa Chemical via Columbia and Arista records Italy. On 10 December 2021, Billain's third collaboration with
Guè Pequeno was released for the song "Piango sulla Lambo" included in the seventh album of the rapper titled Guesus. In the summer 2022, "Piango sulla Lambo" is certified platinum . On the same day,
Orietta Berti's single "Luna piena", of which Villain was the songwriter, was released. On 18 March 2022, Italian rapper
Fabri Fibra released his tenth studio album titled
Caos. Villain is featured on the song "GoodFellas". On 22 April 2022, Italian rapper
Fred De Palma released the EP
PLC Tape 1. Villain is featured on the song "Au revoir" together Guè. On 13 May 2022, Villain released her single "Michelle Pfeifer" featuring Italian rapper
Tony Effe. "Michelle Pfeifer" is certified gold by FIMI in October 2022, while is official platinum in February 2023. On 20 May 2022, the official soundtrack for the Italian TV series
Blocco 181 created and produced by Italian rapper
Salmo was released. Villain is one of the artists chosen by the rapper for the soundtrack; she is featured alongside Italian rapper
Jake La Furia on the song "M.S.O.M.". On 28 June 2022, Villain was chosen by the Italian rapper
Fedez as one of the performing artists for the benefit concert Love Mi. On 22 July 2022, the collective Italian rap group SLF released the mixtape
We The Squad Vol. 1 (Summer Edition); Villain is featured on the remix single "Travesuras" together MV Killa, Yung Snapp, Vale Lambo, and Fred De Palma. On 7 October 2022, Villain released her single "Rari". The official music video of "Rari", directed by Amedeo Zancanella, set in New York, and inspired by the movie
Kill Bill was released on VEVO on 13 October 2022. On 4 November 2022, Italian rapper
Rondodasosa released his debut album titled
Trenches Baby; Villain is featured together Italian rapper
Ghali on the song "Cell". On 18 November 2022, Italian rapper
Ernia released his fourth studio album
Io non ho paura; Villain is one of the writers of the single "Bella fregatura". On 25 November 2022,
Irama released the deluxe edition of his album
Il giorno in cui ho smesso di pensare with three new songs; one of them is "Canzoni tristi", where Villain is the featured artist.
2023: Radio Gotham On 19 December 2022, Villain announced the release of her debut album titled
Radio Gotham, released on 20 January 2023. The album was anticipated by the singles "Elvis", "
Michelle Pfeiffer", and "Rari" released between 2021 and 2022. On 10 January 2023, she released the single "Lamette" featuring Italian rapper
Salmo. The video of "Lamette" was directed by Amedeo Zancanella, produced by Maestro & Think Cattleya, and was released on 18 January 2023. The following day, Villain appeared on the cover of
Rolling Stone Italia. On 13 January 2023, Italian rapper Guè released his eighth studio album
Madreperla. Villain again worked with Guè, this time as a songwriter on the song "Chiudi gli occhi".
Radio Gotham was released officially on 20 January 2023. The album includes 14 songs featuring
Salmo,
Tedua,
Geolier,
Carl Brave,
Elisa, Tony Effe, and Guè. The album is fully produced by her husband, Italian producer Sixpm, with Zef, Young Miles,
Stevie Aiello, and HNDRC as co-producers.
Radio Gotham is an ode to
New York; the lyrics were written by Villain, who was inspired by personal experiences. The album peaked at number 5 on the Italian albums chart, while two songs from the album, "Due facce" and "Fantasmi", debuted at 47 and 56 on the Italian singles chart respectively. On 10 February 2023, Villain joined
Rosa Chemical for the duets evening of the
Sanremo Music Festival 2023 to cover "America" by
Gianna Nannini, ranking eighth in the contest. On 14 April 2023, the song "Cartoni animati" was released as the next single from
Radio Gotham. On 1 May 2023, Villain was one of the performers of the annual concert of Primo Maggio in Rome organized by
CGIL,
CISL and
UIL for
Labour Day. On May 12, 2013, she was featured on the single "
Fragole" by
Achille Lauro.
Radio Gotham was certified platinum by FIMI for sales exceeding 50,000 copies in Italy. In June 2023, in conjunction with the announcement of her participation as a judge for the
Netflix show
Nuova Scena - Rhythm + Flow Italia together
Fabri Fibra and Geolier, her single Lamette with Salmo was certified gold by FIMI. On 9 June 2023,
Carl Brave released his new album
Migrazioni, for the project the artist chose to work with Rose for the track "Rimpianti". On 27 June 2023, she announced her moving and signing to
Warner Music Italy, and she announced the two date shows:
A Villain Story: The Beginning in Rome and Milan. In July 2023, "Fragole" with Lauro reached the Top 10 of the FIMI official singles chart and was later certified double platinum. the single was certified gold by FIMI, her first single as a solo artist to do so, on 23 January 2024 . On 1 December 2023, she collaborated with the Italian band Yosh Whale for the single "Blu". On 9 December 2023, she was featured on the song "Hall of Fame" included in the joint album of
Artie 5ive e
Rondodasosa titled
Motivation 4 The Streetz. Villain competed in the
Sanremo Music Festival 2024 with the song "
Click Boom!". The song placed 23rd in the competition and peaked at number 8 on the Italian singles chart, becoming her first solo song to reach the top ten. It was certified gold for sales exceeding 50,000 copies. Villain's second studio album,
Radio Sakura was released on 8 March 2024. Following the album's release, "
Come un tuono" featuring Guè, achieved virality on
TikTok and reached the number one of the Italian singles chart, ahead of its release as the album's third single on 29 March 2024. and "Non lo sai" by pop punk band
La Sad. On 26 April, together with
Tananai and
Madame, she released the single "Ho fatto un sogno", a celebrative song for the 20th
scudetto of soccer team
Inter Milan. On 15 May, she founded together the publishing company Cash and Carter Music, with her husband Sixpm, administrated by
Warner Chappell Music Italy. On 17 May, she featured on the comeback project of Italian band
Finley, on the song "Killer" included on their mixtape
Pogo Mixtape Vol. 1. In July, she was the opening act for
Coldplay's Italian shows for their
Music of the Spheres World Tour at the
Stadio Olimpico. On August 30, after being defined by Italian media as one of the summer 2024 Italian hits, Villain released the Spanish version of the single "Come un tuono" (in Spanish "Como un trueno") featuring
Blessd. On September 6, she collaborated with her husband Sixpm, for his single "My Love!" featuring
Ernia and the SLF. On September 16, she received the Impact Award at the first
Billboard Italia Women in Music.
2025–present: Sanremo 2025 and Radio Vega In December 2024, Rose Villain was announced as one of the participants in the
Sanremo Music Festival 2025. She placed 19th with the song "
Fuorilegge". Her third studio album,
Radio Vega, was released on 14 March 2025. == Musical influences ==