Geolier, Fibra and Rose Villain: “Rap is the most sincere genre”
Rap has its own show, with a high production budget, and capable of finally and potentially being pop, popular. Over ten years ago MTV Spit tried, but the times and the commercial strength of the genre have radically changed today. “Nuova Scena – Rhythm + Flow Italia” is a new musical competition in the rap world, transformed into a showproduced by Fremantle, starring Fabri Fibra, Geolier and Rose Villain (the latter veterans of the Sanremo experience, but obviously the episodes were filmed before) who go in search of boys and girls who could mark the new Italian rap scene, with a prize up for grabs for the winner of 100,000 euros. The show in 8 episodes It is divided into three parts: episodes 1-4 will be released Monday, February 19th and will see the three leave from some of the most representative cities of Italian rap, Rome, Naples and Milanto find new generation talents, who will have to battle it out.
Between mainstream and conflict
The three judges pass through symbolic places of these urban centers, from bar Berlin in Milan to Piazza Ciro Esposito in Naples up to the “stairway 126” in Rome, the Scalea del Tamburinoall crucial points for Italian urban history. “When you talk about rap you often deal with the same topics, you talk about songs, records, producers, you do promos – says Fibra – here we don’t talk from a record perspective, but we give advice to the new generations who have found rap in the charts, we don’t tell them how to go in the charts, but how to approach the genre. The difference between this generation and ours? We had no certainties.” The show arrives at a historical moment in which rap is mainstream, but rap lyrics and rappers often end up in the crosshairs, as demonstrated by what also happened at the last Milan Music Week. “Let’s hope it’s always like this, that there is someone who wants rap ‘badly’, if it isn’t like this there will be no reason to rap anymore”, says Fibra, recalling and claiming the corrosive nature of this genre, which must not be accommodating at all costs.
Storytelling
“I asked myself: but can I be a judge on a program? – admits Rose – looking at the hunger of these kids I saw myself again. I remembered my apprenticeship. More than a judge, I felt I could help. For me the strength of rap has always been in its universal language. And today it has become popular, it is in the charts, at the top. What also emerges from the show is that a lot of quality rap comes from the province”. In the first phase, the three judges are supported by colleagues and other big names: Ernia, Fred De Palma, Ketama126, Lazza, Lele Blade, Nayt, Nitro, Rocco Hunt, Squarta and Yung Snapp. And together they analyze the first bars spat out by the candidates. Everything is accompanied by a story that is not only musical, but also personal, as happens in X Factor or MasterChef, that is, we enter the lives of young people with cameras: the family and the neighborhood serve to contextualize where the new generations come from and return warmth to the viewer by exploiting storytelling.
The sincerity of rap
“At the beginning it was difficult to put myself in the shoes of a judge – recalls Geolier – I’m 23 years old, it wasn’t easy to judge another boy, perhaps reporting something negative to him, but then seeing masters at work like Fibra, I found my dimension . The city that comes out best? In Naples the kids always want to be the best, they want to bring a message, but talent is truly everywhere”. Fibra explains what pushed him to become a judge: “I would never participate in a talent show where pop music is about, here there is a concrete interest in rap – he reiterates – if they had proposed a program like this to me ten years ago, I would have done it. The most genuine and sincere genre is rap. Everyone seems afraid to be themselves, with rap you can be. Italian rap emerges victorious from this show, it’s not just one city that wins. Does today’s rap deal with complicated issues? Well, today’s rappers come out of an uncomfortable situation with art, they tell it. And this is already a first step to try to get out of it.”
The latest episodes
In episodes 5, 6, 7 which will debut on Monday 26 February, the young rappers will have to compete with tests of freestyle, rap battle, video clips and, above all, working on featuring with Guè, Madame, Marracash and Noyz Narcos. The final will instead be available from Monday 4 March, and will see the three most deserving artists called to present their own original song, guided by the desire to transform their dream into reality. The show written by Dino Clemente, Matteo Lenardon, Paola Papa, Antonio Vicaretti and by Chiara Guerra, Vincenzo Majorana, Marina Pagliari, directed by Alessio Muzi, arrives in our country after the success achieved in the USA and France, representing the first Italian adaptation of a Netflix original format.
