Mother Tongue(s)
Hip hop ... even though rappers from the Beastie Boys and Run DMC, from MC Hammer and Vanilla Ice to Puff Daddy and Eminem were or still are very successful, hip hop as a culture is still basically a minority culture.
Even though in European countries such as Germany and France rap in the majority languages is very popular, the children of immigrants (called "secondos" and "secondas" in Switzerland) are very active in the hip hop scene. At first, the language of their parents was not used. Instead English (even Italo-French rapper Akhénaton first rapped in English), German (German hip hop pioneers Advanced Chemistry, all with mixed German and foreign parentage), Swiss German (P27, Switzerland), and French (Akhénaton has Hispano-Italian roots) were used.
However, in Germany and Switzerland is changing. Immigrant rappers or MCs of immigrant parents started rhyming in Turkish (Islamic Force/Germany), Italian (TCA Mic Mafia in Cologne; Vizioso and Stoffunita in German-speaking Switzerland), and Spanish (Documento C in Zurich). Of course, MC Carlos from the Romandie (the French-speaking part of Switzerland) was already rapping in French AND Spanish on Sens Unik's debut EP Le Vième sens.
Vizioso
Documento C is partly bilingual (Swiss German and Spanish), but Vizioso from Schaffhausen is 100% bilingual: Italian and French. On tune "La danza degli uomini spenti" (from the "Styles" soundtrack, known as "the Swiss hip hop movie"), Vizioso (formerly known as Cerchio vizioso) disses the world dominance of the English language, telling people not to "hide behind an Anglicism."
Vizioso's debut EP was produced in colloboration with Italian hip hop pioneer Fumo (Piombo al tempo; Tempo al tempo). While Tempo al tempo is known for its unique brand of hard core hip hop, Vizioso's sound is closer to alternative rap crews such as The Pharcyde although it's more laid back and less humorous.
Marcello and Fabio are Vizioso's rappers, while
Battista uses the Fender-Rhodes, Go is on the bass, Dominic is the drummer, Honi plays the saxophone, and Ramses is on trumpet. DJ Montes (Tempo al tempo) adds scratches on "L'idea giusta" and "Cadillac." Laid back hip hop — true to the game!
While countries like Switzerland, Germany, France, and also Sweden (to the Kurdish hip hop crew Kine Em), have plenty of immigrants, countries like Greece, Spain, and Italy have only a very few. Nevertheless, in those countries, hip hop is a music made and listened mainly by minorities. Some crews are very political, like 99 Posse or Assalti Frontali. Others such as the defunct Piombo al tempo from Milano stressed their Southern Italian roots on the tune "Immigrato totale. That's the same thing Sottotono are doing: "Sono più tamarro di Romano in TJ Hooker," one of the duo rappers from Varese in the north claims. "I'm more "tamarro" (a pejorative term for Southern Italians, derived from "someone who sells dates") than Romano in TJ Hooker."
Poeti del Quartiere
Poeti del Quartiere are really from the southern Itly, namely from Bari. They are also stressing their Southern identity, calling themselves "Adriatic terroni" ("terroni" is another pejorative term for Southern Italians, meaning "earth eaters"). Like Sottotono, Poeti is heavily influenced by G Funk, which results in a very professional and also creative kind of melodic hip hop with additional singing vocals. The Poeti started as radio pirates in the mid-1980s, and they also quote Public Enemy on their debut CD titled Niente da perdere (Caldacosta Records). "Auè!" (one of their dopest tracks!) has a bass line that will remind you of Sequence's 1979 rap classic "Funk you up," which has also been sampled by Dr. Dre ("Keep their heads ringin'"). At the moment, the Poeti — Panico, Lesto, Damaxx, Cipresso and Esplosivo — is preparing a new EP. G Funk per il nuovo millennio!
http://stage.vitaminic.it/poeti_del_quartiere
Guests
by N. D. Schäfer ID: 359
Courtesy gezetera online
http://digilander.iol.it/pdq
http://www.thegallery.ch/stoffunita/bio/index.htm
Vizioso