Intro | Thursday, June 8th | Saturday, June 10th
Intro | Thursday, June 8th | Saturday, June 10th
Friday, June 9th — Aerosol Art, Free Verse, and Concert
Friday was filled with plenty of wonderful graf, incredible free verse, and a hell of a concert despite the inclement weather.
A wall of wood panels was erected at one end of Piazza Torre in Terranuova and invited
graffiti writers got busy. Those who contributed individual pieces included Yahoo and Flake of the As Crew, Zeno-K from Lecce, Wany from Brindisi and others.
At the end of the piazza, local DJs and MCs began a free style session on the raised stage. Things started heating up when Malaisa took the stage to level a blistering rap. I was amazed at her relentlessness as she took on suhc topics as the Italian diaspora and the need for Italians not to be consumer slaves to America culture. Malaisa was soon joined by the battle MC himself Mass from Australia who took no prisoners with his lyrical terrorism.
We were to return to the piazza for the evening concert but a terrible storm swept into town 20 minutes before show time. Lorenzo & Company gerry rigged a sound system together and the concert was held indoors at the Sala CIAF. The atmosphere was a friendly one, with plenty of good feelings despite the nasty weather.
La Famiglia opened the show with a powerful and playful performance. Sha-One and Polo traded rhymes, demanding audience participation in the intimacy of the improvised space. D.J. Simi showed his stuff on the turntables.
Like the other artists, BL One & Shorty were hampered by the sound system gerry-rugged due to the bad weather. They brought New York's hard edge to the small Tuscan town.
Malaisa and Ice One took the room by storm but after just three tunes, they blew the humble amplifiers to dead silence. They got another turn on Saturday night.
Hip Hop from the Italian Diaspora 2000
