Noyz Narcos

Born in Rome in 1979, Emanuele Frasca, of Sicilian descent, is the most menacing and famous representative of Italian horror-core, which he dominates under the stage name Noyz Narcos. After early experience as a freestyler and writer, he grew close to the Truce Boys and also made his mark through the TruceKlan experience. For his solo debut, “Non dormire” (2005), he gathers his friends and steeps Rome's hardcore hip-hop in an unsettling taste for the macabre and the grotesque, recounting the paranoia and hallucination of street life, where drugs, violence and hatred are the only possible subjects. The second album is credited to Noyz Narcos and Chicoria, another Rome-based rapper, and is called “La calda notte” (2006). On “Verano Zombie” (2007), his second solo work and the album that marked his breakthrough in terms of fame, he picks up where “Non dormire” left off. It has the full horror-and-satanic repertoire you'd expect: violence, monsters, demons, sex, drugs.

“Guilty” (2010), on the other hand, moves away from horror-core in favor of more palatable thrills borrowed from gangsta rap, while “Monster” (2013), crowded with producers, strikes the best balance between the gritty moral decay of his early work and an aggressive hip-hop sound ready for a wider audience: it's his first gold record, a feat also achieved by “Localz Only” (2015), with Fritz Da Cat, but what follows is a less prolific period, suggesting his career might be winding down. Instead comes the renewal of “Enemy” (2018), a hardcore hip-hop album with crossover leanings toward indie and trap, as well as more conscious content, which earns his first platinum certification. With the following “Virus” (2022) he channels his negative aesthetic into despair and self-reflection, scoring another platinum record.

(Antonio Silvestri)