Egreen: “A danger? Appreciate the interpreters and not the genres “

The word most used by Egreen, in telling the new album “Fare rap is not mandatory”, which will also be presented live with ad hoc concerts, It is “curiosity”the one that according to the 1984 rapper, should “move everything we do”. It is no coincidence. Curiosity, etymologically, has to do with care and with the discovery, which often go hand in hand. After a year dedicated to the growth of his label (here an in -depth analysis), working as a label manager at the records of other artists, Egreen has returned with a job that It represents much more than a classic solo album. It is a project that arises from a deep necessity: rediscover the pure pleasure of making rap, freeing himself from the emotional weight that has characterized his recent publicationsincluding “Nicolàs”, “beautiful” and the celebratory edition for the ten years of “The heart and hunger”.

Awareness

A record that is also a scream in silence, A record that tries to be an alternative: twelve traces and eighteen featuring, a choice that confirms the desire to create a choral work which gives voice to a varied and authentic scene. All this going out for Payback Records, his label. “This record, somehow, It is the natural evolution of the work done with many young artists during 2024emerging artists who deserve to end up in an album not for a matter of ego, but because it must be written in caps lock that An alternative is there, another way is possible”, Says Egreen. But it costs effort, because creating a scene different from that of the mainstream requires economic sustainability which in this historical period is a real chimera. “Certainly it costs effort and curiosity is needed, as well as organization, no job is taught, you have to roll up your sleeves – continues the rapper – In an independent circuit it is not enough to pull out of beautiful music, you need to structure yourself, become aware of what you can and have to do, only in this way do things change. It is not enough to put on collectives that make hardcore rap, you have to understand how distribution workshow the media work, when a press office is needed. If an artist wants to remain independent, he must dedicate a lot of hours to this dimension. ”

The title

The album title is not accidental. “Making rap is not mandatory” it has always been a claim that accompanies Egreen. “Through the years this sentence made me famous, generated debate, frictions and sides, but above all has distinguished anger and frustration towards Those who approached rap with superficiality, with a vision different from mine and often in the wake of the various ‘booms’ of the genre of the last 20 years – recalls Acen – I don’t hide that I had to work a lot on me to open myself, to stop being clear against those who approached this worldgoing from a destructive dimension to a more constructive one. When my album ‘Nicolás’ came out in 2022 I thought I had written a will. It wasn’t like that: I got back into the game as an artist and label manager. Today for me that provocative phrase, ‘rap is not mandatory’, almost overturns and becomes: ‘If you have something to say and believe it, yes, it becomes mandatory that you do it‘”.

Not the usual feat

Often we complain that in the records of the most famous rappers there are always the feat themselves. Egreen, starting from the bottom, overturns this dynamic. “Yes, but in Italy There is no real curiosity for the rap genre – underlines the artist – Many ask for new names, but then? If they come out of certain circuits already outlined, they are welcomed with enthusiasm because the system has already cleared through customs, but if it is not so they do not work. In my opinion there is a danger: what in rap is becoming more attached to the interpreters than to the genre. They affect the characters of music more. I don’t see a widespread desire to deepen and discover news “. This does not mean surrendering. “No, of course, the disc was made to show another way, but has no claims, What I heartfelt is that people and the media are understanding because we did it – concludes Egreen – I do it I found the pleasure of rap, I felt less heavy. In my previous records, somehow I made peace with some aspects of music and with what they are. Now the time had come for sharing“.