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HH from the Italian Diaspora

Neffa

Discography SXM (1994) - with Sangue Misto Neffa e i Messaggeri della Dopa (1996) 107 Elementi (1998) Chicopisco (1999) Arrivi e partenze (2001) I molteplici mondi di Giovanni, il cantante Neffa (2003)

BIO

Who is Neffa aka Giovanni Pellino aka Jeff Pellino? That's easy to answer: Neffa is a B-boy guaglione (street kid) rapper who has been part of the Italian Hip Hop scene from its early beginnings.

He began playing drums in various hardcore punk bands, ending up in the band Negazione which had some success in the second half of the 1980s.

Then, at the end of the 1980s, Neffa discovered da Funk. He became the drummer for the second incarnation of the Isola Posse All Stars in 1991 at the same time that DJ Gruff joined the group. It was at this time that Neffa began rapping and soon decided that rap was his sole vehicle for expression.

Isola morphed into Sangue Misto and then spilt up. After a few years of intense work, Neffa, Deda, and DJ Gruff created the new Sangue Misto with their 1994 recording SXM, considered the first masterpiece of hip hop italiano. Rap Italiano was changed forever, and Neffa became one of the most copied MCs in the scene with his esoteric & self-referential hip hop lyrics like già sai and sniff snaff.

With Sangue Misto "on hold," Neffa headed out on his own with his debut 1996 solo release Neffa e i Messaggeri della Dopa. His "Messengers of Dope" included Kaos One, Deda, DJ Gruff, DJ Double S, as well as Americans Dre Love and Phase II. The song "Aspettando il sole" about the daily tribulations of il guaglione, contemporary Italian youth, has become a classic rap Italiano recording.

In the spring of 2001, Neffa released the hit single "La mia signorina," effectively transforming himself into a R&B crooner and renoucing rap, and was summarily vilified by members of the Italian hip hop community.

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