Jake La Furia

Jake La Furia, aka Francesco Vigorelli, born in Milan in '79, is an Italian rapper formerly of Sacre Scuole and Club Dogo. He's been a constant presence on the Italian scene since the Nineties. A graffiti writer turned emcee, he went solo after the breakup of the group he formed with Guè Pequeno and Don Joe. Armed with a hardcore hip-hop style with clear gangsta influences, a technique honed over the years into a natural, fluid flow, and the connections of someone who influenced many of his peers, he debuted with "Musica commerciale" (2013), which with its title track promises a hard, raw record, flexing the muscles of someone who could easily intimidate younger colleagues, before settling into a more moderate compromise. With his second album "Fuori di qui" (2016, inexplicable cover art), he puts together a somewhat different record, overall more coherent in its pervasive melancholic, resigned mood, without the hardcore excesses but also with fewer radio-friendly clichés (though some remain). He shares the collaborative "17" (2020) with Emis Killa, a result perhaps preferable to his solo work in the strict sense, including the later "Ferro del mestiere" (2022). "FAME" (2025), produced entirely by Night Skinny, doesn't change much the general opinion of his solo career.

(Antonio Silvestri)