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.

In the early 80s, hip hop spread to Italy, along side Jamaican raggamuffin, especially in centri sociali , alternative centers in abandoned buildings. 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.

Articolo 31 started out as a mainly East Coast rap-inspired hip hop duo, but changed to a more commercial style during their career. 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. Gangster rap crews include Sa Razza and La Fossa from Sardinia, Flaminio Maphia from Rome, Sottotono from Varese, while Piotta represents the true spirit of Rome, symbolyzed by the figure of the coatto. 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.

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 their own dialect.

List of artists

• 99 Posse
• Articolo 31
• Assalti Frontali
• atpc
• Balentia
• Bassi Maestro
• Brunello Team
• Camelz
• Chef Ragoo
• C.u.b.a. Cabbal
• DJ Enzo
• DJ Flash
• DJ Gruff
• DJ Shablo
• DJ Shocca
• DLH Posse
• Do Ut Des Gang
• Duke Montana
• Emmerre
• En mi casa
• La Famiglia
• Flaminio Maphia
• La Fossa
• Frankie Hi-NRG MC
• Fritz da Cat
• Gemelli DiVersi
• Gente Guasta (aka Otierre)
• Gopher
• Ice One
• Indelebile Inchiostro
• Inoki
• Jamax
• K Wild
• Left Side
• Maku Go & Sardo Triba
• Malaisa
• il Maniaco
• Mikimix aka Caparezza
• Neffa
• Nuovi Briganti
• Piante Grasse
• La Pina
• Piombo al Tempo
• Piotta
• Poeti del Quartiere
• Posi Argento
• Rawl MC
• Rookie
• Sab Sista
• Sangue Misto
• Sa Razza
• Sarda Krikka Famiglia
• Solo Zippo aka Zippo
• Sottotono
• Space One
• Toscani Classici

External links

• Joe Sciorra 's site about Italian Hip Hop