From Salmo and Sfera to Marracash: rap conquering the stadiums

Rap is conquering stadiums. If once a symbolic space for big concerts like the one at San Siro hosted almost exclusively live rock and pop, today the wind has changed with several rappers, for now only Italian, who have gone or are about to go to conquer the Scala del Calcio . June 25, 2025 red circle on the calendar for Marracashwhich will take the stage of the Milanese stadium, a date that is part of a real tour and for this reason represents something new. There are six dates in total and they involve, in addition to Milan, also Naples, Turin, Rome, Messina, with date zero in Bibione, 6 June 2025. Marra said it with a punchline at the end of one of the first dates at the Milan Forum , in 2022: “I’ll do stadiums when I can do a stadium tour. Doing just one is like measuring your dick.” And, rest assured, new music will also arrive, a new album in 2025. In 2023 Marracash set up Marrageddon, 140 thousand tickets sold between Milan and Naples, now he is preparing for his first stadium tour.

And he’s the first rapper to be able to afford it, which is why it’s relevant. Because if it’s true that Psalmthe first soloist from the rap world to reach this goal (the first as a duo were J Ax and Fedez in 2018), “inaugurated” San Siro in 2022 for the hip hop scene, and names like Sfera Ebbasta, Club Dogo and Geolierthis year, have graced the stadium stages, the King of rap will be the first to set up a tour unveiled in recent months through a series of LEDs that appeared in the main Italian cities and stations, and then confirmed with the actual dates expected in 2025. Will it be the definitive national consolidation? There is another name that is eager to turn on the spotlight at San Siro: it is Lazzawho after releasing the latest album “Locura” will be the protagonist of a concert at the stadium on July 9th. There will also be a zero date, July 5th in Lignano Sabbiadoro at the Teghil stadium. The live show at the stadium comes after having already filled eleven Italian arenas scheduled for the first months of 2025. It will be interesting to understand what differences there will be, if there are, between the show in the arenas and the one at San Siro. For the launch of “Locura”, Lazza organized a free live event right in front of San Siro, whose tickets bookable on Ticketone were pulverized in a few minutes, accompanied by the Milan Symphony Orchestra conducted by maestro Enzo Campagnoli, as well as by his Drillionaire trusted manufacturer.

Now that his entry into the stadium is confirmed, in some parts of the concert will we see an evocative mix between rap and orchestra à la Kanye West in “Late Orchestration”? Another name, on which many are betting, who should soon announce a concert at San Siro, we don’t know in 2025 or 2026, is Teduawhich with 100 thousand tickets sold in Milan and over 257 thousand in total between indoor and outdoor tours, was one of the leading names of the 2023-2024 live season. Let’s analyze some stages of this climb towards the stadiums. Psalm in the summer of 2022 at San Siro he was the protagonist of a live show of pure energy, capable of leaving a historical imprint. He not only brought rap to the Scala del Calcio, but his world, his history, his music made up of many souls, not attributable to just one genre, and his friends: seeing him rap a cappella “La prima volta”, a eyes closed in front of 50 thousand bodies shaken by adrenaline, a song written in 2011, was the photograph of a path that led him from small clubs to being a big one. Furthermore, the show, from a scenographic and musical point of view, was of an excellent level. That of Sfera Ebbasta at San Siro (he did two dates, we reviewed the first this summer) it wasn’t “his” stadium and that’s it, but the storming of the Bastille of trap, which “desecrated” a place long forbidden to rap. The sold out at the Meazza were two out of two for the boy who started from the outskirts of Ciny, Cinisello, of which one was reached in 24 hours.

For some “Pharisees”, as Manuel Agnelli, also a judge on the in some cases even hated by a part of the country. The scenography, designed by Novembre Studio with visuals produced by Galattico Studio, with Laccio who conceived and orchestrated the performances, was monumental and brought together the urban suggestions that Sfera recounts in his songs. Even i Club Dogo they flew the flag over San Siro this summer, but they were less convincing in terms of show: it was certainly an event within the event capable of marking the highest moment, in terms of audience, of their career. “A dream achieved”, as they explained from the stage. A well-deserved celebration. But if no notes could be made in terms of performance, one of their lives is truly a “school of rap”, on the show-scenography-creative and narrative inventions front, finding itself right under the magical spotlights of San Siro (full of people but not sold out), for a single date, it was legitimate and necessary to expect more.

Also this summer Geolier he set foot in a stadium, his home stadium, Maradona. And not just once, but three: three sold-outs and 145,000 tickets sold. He was the first singer to reach this milestone in the history of the facility. A show that is spot on from many points of view and above all capable of creating a true intergenerational spirit. Geolier’s rap, and the date at Maradona clearly demonstrated this, transcends ages and manages to achieve, even in Italy, what hip hop culture was born for over fifty years ago: to represent in a profound way a community.