Fabio Bartolo Rizzo, better known by his stage name Marracash (), is an Italian rapper. Starting his career in the rap group Dogo Gang, he debuted as a solo artist rising in fame in the 2010s releasing six studio albums that reached the top ten of the
Italian Albums Chart
The Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana (FIMI) is an umbrella organization that keeps track of virtually all aspects of the music recording industry in Italy. It was established in 1992, when major corporate labels left the previously exist ...
, including two top positions with
''Santeria'' (2016) and ''
Persona
A persona (plural personae or personas), depending on the context, is the public image of one's personality, the social role that one adopts, or simply a fictional character. The word derives from Latin, where it originally referred to a theatr ...
'' (2019). The rapper has also released numerous successful singles and collaborations scoring seventeen times the top ten of the Italian Singles Chart. Thanks to his work he has sold over 5 million copies in Italy, becoming one of the top selling Italian rappers in the 2010s.
In the course of his musical projects he has sung and written songs with numerous artists including rap artists like
Gué Pequeno,
J-Ax
Alessandro Aleotti (; born 5 August 1972), known as J-Ax (), is an Italian rapper, formerly in the rap group Articolo 31 with his DJ Vito Luca Perrini (DJ Jad). He is the brother of Weedo (also known as Grido from boyband Gemelli DiVersi). On ...
,
Fabri Fibra
Fabrizio Tarducci (born 17 October 1976), better known as Fabri Fibra, is an Italian rapper. In his career he has sold more than 2.3 millions of certified copies.
Biography
Tarducci was born in Senigallia, Marche. He became interested in mus ...
,
Emis Killa
Emiliano Rudolf Giambelli, best known as Emis Killa (born 14 November 1989), is an Italian rapper.
Biography and career
Emis Killa was born in Vimercate to a Sicilian mother from Palermo who worked as a metalworker and a Lombard father who a ...
,
Club Dogo
Club Dogo was an Italian rap group from Milan ( Lombardy) that consists of Guè Pequeno and Jake La Furia, and beatmaker Don Joe.
The group was born in 1999 from the friendship between rappers Gué Pequeno (whose stage name was Lucky Luciano) ...
,
Baby K
Stephanie Keene (October 13, 1992 – April 5, 1995), better known by the pseudonym Baby K, was an anencephalic baby who became the center of a major American court case and a debate among bioethicists.
History
Prenatal assessment
Stephanie Ke ...
, and pop influences artist as
Tiziano Ferro
Tiziano Ferro (; born 21 February 1980) is an Italian singer, songwriter, producer and author. He broke through in 2001 with his international hit single " Perdono" and has remained commercially successful since then, in several countries. Ferro ...
,
Giusy Ferreri
Giusy Ferreri (; born Giuseppa Gaetana Ferreri on 17 April 1979) is an Italian singer and songwriter. In 2008, she took part at the first Italian edition of the talent show X Factor, coming in second place.
She topped the Italian Singles Chart ...
,
Elisa
The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) (, ) is a commonly used analytical biochemistry assay, first described by Eva Engvall and Peter Perlmann in 1971. The assay uses a solid-phase type of enzyme immunoassay (EIA) to detect the presen ...
,
Federica Abbate
Federica Abbate (born in 1991) is an Italian composer, lyricist and singer-songwriter.
Life and career
Abbate started playing piano at 5 years old and graduated in sociology. In 2013 she won a contest for songwriters promoted by SIAE and by the ...
and
Elodie.
In 2013, together with producer Shablo, he founded the independent record label Roccia Music, which involves established figures and newcomers to rap, producers and DJs. From 2012 to 2014 he host
MTV Italy's
freestyle music TV program ''MTV Spit.''
Biography
Fabio Rizzo Bartolo was born in
Nicosia, Sicily from a mother who worked as a custodian and a father who worked as a truck driver. He has a younger brother. His family then moved to
Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
in a house in Bramante;
when he was ten, he was expelled from his home with his family, who moved to the suburbs of
Barona
Barona is a border district ("quartiere") of the city of Milan, Italy. It is part of the Zone 6 administrative division, and it is located south of the city centre. Its population can be roughly estimated to 85,000 (official data are not available ...
, where he grew up and still lives.
After graduating as an electronical technician, Rizzo recorded his first verses under the pseudonym Yuza delle Nuvole, appearing in Prodigio's 1999 demo "The Royal Rumble", alongside
Il Guercio, Fame, Aken and Corvo D'Argento. He adopted the stage name Marracash after his childhood nickname, (, jokingly because of his
Sicilian origins), as a pun on the name of
Marrakesh.
Career
Its debut dates back to 2004 in the PMC VS Club Dogo mixtape - the official Mixtape, product born from the collaboration between the
Club Dogo
Club Dogo was an Italian rap group from Milan ( Lombardy) that consists of Guè Pequeno and Jake La Furia, and beatmaker Don Joe.
The group was born in 1999 from the friendship between rappers Gué Pequeno (whose stage name was Lucky Luciano) ...
and the Massive Crew Portion, contacts in Milan and
Bologna
Bologna (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language, Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 1 ...
. In the same year the collective Dogo Gang came to life, within which Marracash's militancy is gradually consolidating, marking a new stage with the participation within ''Regular'', album of
Club Dogo
Club Dogo was an Italian rap group from Milan ( Lombardy) that consists of Guè Pequeno and Jake La Furia, and beatmaker Don Joe.
The group was born in 1999 from the friendship between rappers Gué Pequeno (whose stage name was Lucky Luciano) ...
, and of ''Hashishinz Sound Vol. 1'', by
Gué Pequeno and Deleterio.
In 2005, under the Contagion Area label, Marracash published "Popolare", a single product by Don Joe made available for free download for network users. The song anticipated the release of the mixtape ''Roccia Music I'', mixtape in which the Dogo Gang (Club Dogo, Vincenzo da Via Anfossi, Deleterio and Ted Bundy) collaborated and guests such as
Inoki
Inoki, also known as Inoki Ness, pseudonym of Fabiano Ballarin (Rome, October 2, 1979), is an Italian rapper and record producer.
It owes its nickname to its old Enok tag, which he later associates with the Old Testament character Enoch. "Ness" ...
, Co'Sang, Rischio, Shablo, Misa and Royal Mehdi.
In June 2008, his first solo album
''Marracash'' was released by
Universal Music
Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...
, which reached the ninth position of the Italian Albums Chart, receiving a gold certification. Guests of the album are
Gué Pequeno and
J-Ax
Alessandro Aleotti (; born 5 August 1972), known as J-Ax (), is an Italian rapper, formerly in the rap group Articolo 31 with his DJ Vito Luca Perrini (DJ Jad). He is the brother of Weedo (also known as Grido from boyband Gemelli DiVersi). On ...
,
Vincenzo da Via Anfossi and
Jake La Furia. Two singles were extracted from the album: "
Badabum Cha Cha
Badabum Cha Cha is an Italian song by Sicilian rapper Marracash. Released on April 18, 2008, the song is the album and rapper's lead single. The song was first released on Marracash's official website and just in two days, the song had been list ...
", which becomes the singer's first top ten, and "Estate in città".
In 2009, he participated together with 55 other Italian singers in the realization of "Domani 21/04.2009", a musical track published in a charitable way to remember the victims affected by the
2009 L'Aquila earthquake. Towards the end of the year the song Cani pazzi, which anticipated Marracash's second album ''Fino a qui tutto bene'', out on 13 July 2010. The collaborations present are with
Giusy Ferreri
Giusy Ferreri (; born Giuseppa Gaetana Ferreri on 17 April 1979) is an Italian singer and songwriter. In 2008, she took part at the first Italian edition of the talent show X Factor, coming in second place.
She topped the Italian Singles Chart ...
in "Rivincita" and
Fabri Fibra
Fabrizio Tarducci (born 17 October 1976), better known as Fabri Fibra, is an Italian rapper. In his career he has sold more than 2.3 millions of certified copies.
Biography
Tarducci was born in Senigallia, Marche. He became interested in mus ...
in "Stupidi", with less success than the previous project.
In September 2011, he released the song "King of rap", which anticipated the eponymous album released in October. The album debuts at the third position of the FIMI chart receiving the platinum certification. Later in 2012 he released the collaboration "Giusto un giro" with
Emis Killa
Emiliano Rudolf Giambelli, best known as Emis Killa (born 14 November 1989), is an Italian rapper.
Biography and career
Emis Killa was born in Vimercate to a Sicilian mother from Palermo who worked as a metalworker and a Lombard father who a ...
and announced the inauguration of his own record label, La Roccia Music.
On 22 December, Marracash conducts the first episode of ''
MTV Spit
MTV Spit was a music program aired on MTV Italy and hosted by the italian rapper Marracash. This show focuses on freestyle battles on various current issues including rapper in the underground scene.
The first season is aired from 9 March to 4 M ...
,'' a television program focused on the rap battle between artists of the underground scene.
After the release of the collective album ''Genesis'' with the artists of the Rock Music of 2013, on 20 January 2015, he published his fourth studio album ''Status'' which reached the number 2 position of the Italian Albums Chart and 32 of the Swiss Charts.
From the album he releases the homonymous single "Status", which peaked at number 2 of Italian Singles Chart, "Senza un posto nel mondo" with
Tiziano Ferro
Tiziano Ferro (; born 21 February 1980) is an Italian singer, songwriter, producer and author. He broke through in 2001 with his international hit single " Perdono" and has remained commercially successful since then, in several countries. Ferro ...
, "In radio" and "Niente canzoni d'amore" with
Federica Abbate
Federica Abbate (born in 1991) is an Italian composer, lyricist and singer-songwriter.
Life and career
Abbate started playing piano at 5 years old and graduated in sociology. In 2013 she won a contest for songwriters promoted by SIAE and by the ...
.
In 2016 the rapper announced the release of a studio album with
Gué Pequeno. Published on 24 June of the same year, the album is entitled
''Santeria'' and is composed of fifteen tracks, which became his first number one album. The forerunner single "
Nulla accade", released on 7 June, is certified double platinum and reaches position number 16 of the Italian Singles Chart.
After the release of the album collecting hits for the 10th anniversary of ''Marracash''s release, on 12 June 2019, he published the collaboration with singer
Elodie, "Margarita", which peaked at number nine of Singles Chart and selling over 100,000 copies in Italy. On 31 October 2019, the sixth album of the rapper ''Persona'' is released. The album peaked at number one of FIMI Chart and receiving the double platinum certification. It was supported by several hit singles, including "Marylean", with
Salmo
''Salmo'' is a genus of ray-finned fish from the family Salmonidae. The single ''Salmo'' species naturally found in the Atlantic North America is the Atlantic salmon, whereas the salmon and trout of the Pacific basin belong to another genus, '' ...
and Nitro, "Crudelia - I nervi" and his number one song" Supreme - L'ego".
On 6 March 2020 he released a new track "Neon - Le Ali" featuring Italian songwriter
Elisa
The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) (, ) is a commonly used analytical biochemistry assay, first described by Eva Engvall and Peter Perlmann in 1971. The assay uses a solid-phase type of enzyme immunoassay (EIA) to detect the presen ...
, peaking at number five of Italian Singles Chart. In 2020 the rapper collaborated with
Dardust in "
Defuera
"Defuera" is a song by Dardust featuring vocals from Ghali, Madame and Marracash. It was released on 15 July 2020 by Island Records.
Music video
The music video for "Defuera", directed by YouNuts! and Bendo, premiered on 17 July 2020 via Durdus ...
" and the third lead single from ''Persona'' "Sport - I muscoli", which peaked at number three of Italian Chart.
On 17 November 2021, Marracash surprisingly announced on Instagram his seventh studio album ''
Noi, loro, gli altri'' (Us, Them, The Others), which was released two days later. The album, consisting of fourteen tracks, was entirely produced by Zef and Marz and features three guests: Gué Pequeno,
Calcutta
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...
and
Blanco
Blanco (''white'' or ''blank'' in Spanish) or Los Blancos may refer to:
People
*Blanco (surname) Fictional characters
*Blanco, a hobbit in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth
* Blanco Webb, character in the BBC sitcom ''Porridge''
* El Blanco, albin ...
. The first extract from the album was "Crazy Love", promoted by the related music video, starring his ex-girlfriend Elodie.
Music influences and style
In a TV interview with
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...
in July 2008, Marracash said he regularly listened to
Metallica and
883
__NOTOC__
Year 883 ( DCCCLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place Europe
* Spring – Viking raiders ravage Flanders, and sack the abbey at Saint- ...
as a child. He takes inspiration from American artists such as
Jay-Z,
Drake
Drake may refer to:
Animals
* A male duck
People and fictional characters
* Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family name
* Drake (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name
* ...
,
Kanye West
Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer.
Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...
,
DJ Khaled
Khaled Mohammed Khaled (born November 26, 1975), known professionally as DJ Khaled, is an American DJ, record executive, record producer and rapper.
Khaled first gained recognition as a radio host in the 1990s on the radio station 99 Jamz, a ...
,
Nas,
Kendrick Lamar
Kendrick Lamar Duckworth (born June 17, 1987) is an American rapper and songwriter. Known for his progressive musical styles and socially conscious songwriting, he is often considered one of the most influential hip hop artists of his generat ...
,
Wu-Tang Clan
Wu-Tang Clan is an American hip hop group formed in Staten Island, New York City, in 1992. Its original members include RZA, GZA, Ol' Dirty Bastard, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God, and Masta Killa. Close aff ...
. From Italy, he cites
Frankie Hi-NRG MC.
Marracash described his writing and writing process for the 2019 album ''Persona'' in an interview on
Rolling Stone Italy: "''It develops over time, in the sense that I mature stuff, it's something I do on an introspective level, I do it without writing. I just take notes and then at a certain point I throw them out, and when I started writing the pieces flowed out like blood from a wound.''" He then describes his feelings and the way he analyzes the situations he reports in the texts: "''I exercise a constant self-consciousness that leads me to experience emotions very intensely.
..But each time I tend to pull the rope a bit to its extreme and it is perhaps also a way to feel alive, a search for adrenaline, because in the end I detach myself enough to find them stronger than before.''"
Criticism and controversy
In 2006, when Marracash criticized
Nesli's way of rapping through the song "Popular", a kind of rivalry between the two began. The following year, in fact, Nesli responded to Marracash with the song "Life is just one", accusing him of making neighborhood rhymes and being a chatterbox. Marracash's response came in 2008 with the song "Dritto al punto", in which he reversed the quotations made by the opposing rapper, who replied with "Riot", closing the debate.
On 14 January 2017, six months after the publication of Santeria, Marracash and
Gué Pequeno gave an interview to
Corriere della Sera, in which they commented on the musical style adopted by their colleagues
Fedez
Federico Leonardo Lucia (born 15 October 1989), known professionally as Fedez (), is an Italian rapper, singer, songwriter, social media personality and businessman. In 2011, he released the albums ''Penisola che non c'è'' and ''Il mio primo di ...
and
J-Ax
Alessandro Aleotti (; born 5 August 1972), known as J-Ax (), is an Italian rapper, formerly in the rap group Articolo 31 with his DJ Vito Luca Perrini (DJ Jad). He is the brother of Weedo (also known as Grido from boyband Gemelli DiVersi). On ...
, at the time close to the publication of ''
Comunisti col Rolex'', criticizing the artists and accusing them of masking their intent to make numbers and money with false intentions. Fedez responded to the accusations by explaining that the two rappers criticized the duo on purpose to have visibility, as well as calling Marracash a coward to not meet him during
Moschino's fashion show; Marracash, referring to Fedez as "''dwarf with
Napoleon complex
The "Napoleon complex", known informally as small man syndrome, is a syndrome normally attributed to people of small stature. It is characterized by overly-aggressive or domineering social behavior, such as lying about earnings, and carries th ...
''", denied what Fedez said about the fashion show, claiming that the colleague had not even sought eye contact with him on that occasion, and ironic about the choice to attend the parades with bodyguards.
Personal life
Between 2019 and 2021, the rapper was in a relationship with singer
Elodie.
Discography
Studio albums
Live albums
Mixtapes
Singles
As lead artist
As featured artist
Other selected charted songs
Guest appearances
References
External links
Official website*
{{Authority control
Italian male singers
Italian rappers
People from Nicosia, Sicily
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)
Musicians from the Province of Enna