Piotta

Piotta is the nickname that made Tommaso Zanello, born in 1973, famous: a rapper closely tied to Colle Der Fomento, a key figure in the Taverna VIII Colle experience, later active both with the Roma Zoo collective and, more significantly, with Roba Coatta.

At the turn of the millennium, when Italian hip-hop had already moved from the posse scene to the mainstream and was desperately searching for a future, Piotta's case is telling of the state of the scene. Named mc of the year by "Aelle" in 1998, then crowned a rising star by hip-hop purists, he unexpectedly became hugely famous thanks to a wildly colourful, deliciously kitsch and crudely Roman-dialect pop-rap track, the platinum record "Supercafone" (1999), accompanied by an unmissable, hilarious video by the Manetti Bros. The short-circuit between underground and mainstream pop hit the exposed nerve of a contradiction, presumed and distinctly Italian, between quality rap and successful rap. "Comunque vada sarà un successo" (1998), Piotta's debut, is a concentrate of funk and pop-culture references, a blend of trashy aesthetics conveyed by a rapper who is anything but naive, backed by Dj Squarta (Cor Veleno) and Calabrian Turi. An album that plays with dialect, dreams of America, and suggests an unexpected connection: poliziotteschi films and sex comedies serve, alongside hip-hop, as the bridge linking the Roman borgata to New York. Tommaso Zanello plays the part of the "supercafone", but once the mask comes off he proves to be a thoroughly respectable hip-hop connoisseur. Reissued after the summer success of "Supercafone", it became a target of hatred and mockery, to the point of flattening the character onto the person. Disowned by his admirers, Piotta did nothing to shake off the one-hit-wonder image with "Democrazia del microfono" (2000) and "La grande onda" (2002). He veered towards pop-rock with "Tommaso" (2004), which used rap merely as a pretext. He entered Sanremo, unexpectedly became famous in Japan thanks to "Supercafone", and published his first (but not last) book. He returned with "Multi Culti" (2007), closer to hip-hop, then once again chose pop-rock, with punk and ska added in the style of the latest, most crowd-pleasing Articolo 31, on the brief "S(u)ono diverso" (2009) and then on the more politicised "Odio gli indifferenti" (2012), his best attempt at a rap-rock crossover, featuring guests Di Giacomo (!), Capovilla and Rancore, as well as the entertaining hit "Piotta è morto". He became increasingly socially engaged, collaborated with numerous Italian and international artists, moved into theatre, and somehow still found time for "Nemici" (2015; featuring "7 Vizi Capitale" with Il Muro Del Canto), another crossover chapter, and "Interno 7" (2018), more intimate and closer to trap-pop and it-pop influences. The tenth album of his career is the most painful: "'na notte infame" (2024) tells of the death of his brother Fabio.

(Antonio Silvestri)