Fabri Fibra
Never quite fitting in among his peers, Fabrizio Tarducci finally found
his niche in hip-hop, a genre that began developing seriously in Italy
in the early '90s with the emergence of groups like Sangue Misto, 99
Posse, Articolo 31, and Gemelli Diversi. Tarducci, who rapped under the
name Fabri Fibra, released a series of albums in the late '90s with a
variety of different artists, including his own group Uomini del Mare,
DJ Lato, and his brother Nesly Rice. After some encouragement from
former hard rocker turned rapper (and later pop singer) Neffa, Fabri
Fibra worked on creating his debut solo album, Turbe Giovanili, which
came out in 2002. Despite the fact that he was happy with the results,
he decided he needed to take a break from music and left for England,
though he soon changed his mind and returned to Italy, where he issued
his second record, Mr. Simpatia, in 2004, after which he broke from his
label, Vibra Records, and signed with Universal Music Italia.
In 2006, his major-label debut, Tradimento (which means "Betrayal")
came out, and immediately found its way onto the Italian charts, despite
some criticism for its lyrics. Bugiardo, released in 2008, featured one
of the biggest Italian hits of the summer, "In Italia," featuring
singer Gianna Nannini. Controcultura appeared in 2010, and soon became
one of his biggest hits, selling double-platinum due to the success of
its singles "Vip in Trip," "Tranne Te," and "Qualcuno Normale."
Three years passed before the release of Fabri Fibra's next proper
album, although he did spend time forming a side project called Rapstar
with Clementino and recording the album Non รจ Gratis for a 2012 release.
Guerra e Pace finally appeared in early 2013, and quickly reached
number one, staying in the charts for the entire year. It was notable
for its many American producers, including Organized Noize, Lee Major,
Dot da Genius, J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League, and Fyre Dept.
2017: Fabri Fibra is back with a new album "Fenomeno", and a new tour!