Italian Rap | Hip Hop from the Italian Diaspora event in Tuscany 2000

Intro | Friday, June 9th | Saturday, June 10th

Hip Hop from the Italian Diaspora 2000

Thursday, June 8th — Symposium
There was a grand gathering of the clan from the four corners of the Nation. The event started with a symposium held in the the Sala CIAF/Informagiovanni, Terranuova Bracciolini. The idea was to explore issues that concerned hip hop in the various countries represented and points of encounter between Italy and the Diaspora.
Panelists included Lorenzo Brusci, Damir of AL Magazine, Frankie Hi NRG, Gazza, Ice One , Malaisa, Polo of La Famiglia, Joe Sciorra, and Toni L. Mass and Skizo were delayed due to traffic on the Italian autostrada.
The first issue to address was the use of language — was it to be Italian or English or both or a mix of the two? Unfortunately, translation didn't work out as smoothly as planned and as subsequently panelists BL One, Shorty, and Giustizia were not in a position to fully participated in the roundtable.
Some of the issues panelists discussed were:

There was a brief discussion about the possible links between the older oral poetic tradition of ottava rima and competitive poetry with the contemporary rap.

The use of dialect and the need to keep Italian HH rooted in the local. Polo was particularly articulate about this point.

Frankie talked about his experience adding lyrics to a song on the Italian release of Nas's CD.

Toni L discussed his role in the German HH scene and his collaboration with other immigrant/ethnic communities, especially in light of the rise of racist attacks in Germany.

The changing nature of Italian rap from its origins in the centri sociali (cultural squats) to multinational contracts.

After dinner, the Metro Hell Squad held a roundtable on the local HH scene in the small Tuscan towns. They showed clips from the film Wild Style and it was amazing to see the cultural impact that the film had on Italian youth. People still responded with enthusiasm and awe to the film, especially the break dancing segments. For many, this was the great Ur document on which the culture grew.

Intro | Friday, June 9th | Saturday, June 10th
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