Hands off Italian pop: the revenge of the over 40s
Tough to beat. Max Pezzali, Nek and Francesco Renga sang it in 2017. Today that slogan seems to perfectly describe the golden moment – or rather, the golden moments – of other protagonists of that Italian pop which to define as “old” sounds ungenerous and inelegant. Better call it “classic”: a scene which, after years of shadows and crises, is experiencing a surprising new spring. In recent years, the generational change in Italian music, marked by the advent of rappers and trappers and by a new paradigm in the charts, increasingly dominated by streaming and less by physical sales, seemed to have relegated to the margins the over 40s of pop music who had dominated for over two decades. It seemed, indeed. Why history is made up of courses and recurrences. Even that of pop music.
Giorgia’s case and Emma’s case. And Tiziano “challenges” Taylor Swift
And so Georgieregenerated by her experience as host of “X Factor” and by her moral victory at the last Sanremo Festival with “La cura per me”, returns to the top of the Fimi/Gfk chart of the best-selling albums of the week with her “G”: a milestone that the 54-year-old Roman singer had not reached since 2013when Spotify was still far from being the true arbiter of the market. «I realized I had to get out of my comfort zone», said the Roman singer, who for this rebirth has entrusted herself to the pens and ideas of young authors and producers – from Blanco and Michelangelo, behind the same “La cura per me” in Calcutta, passing through Federica Abbate and Davide Petrella – without however distorting her own identity. Even Emma, despite belonging to a generation following that of the voice of “Come saprei”, experienced a new exploit: at the age of 41 she took first place in the ranking of the most played singles on the radio with “Bad story”co-signed by Olly and Juli. This hasn’t happened since 2020 with “Latina”. Whoever is aiming for the top this week is Tiziano Ferro45 years old, with the single “I pretend&push”, second extract from the album “Sono un grande” after “Cuore Brotto”: it will have to contend with “The fate of Ophelia” by Taylor Swiftan authentic giant who contributed to bringing pop back to the top of the charts worldwide.
“Pop will never die”
Meanwhile Eros Ramazzotti relaunches with “An important story”, an album that mixes unreleased and new versions of his classics, embellished with collaborations with other “titans” of classic pop: Giorgia, Elisa, Jovanotti and Max Pezzali. «Pop, for me, will never die», said the 62-year-old Roman singer-songwriter, expected next summer in the stadiums twenty-two years after the last time. The trailblazer single, “My favorite day”bears the signature of Calcutta and Tommaso Paradiso: «They have an identity, it’s not for everyone», he commented. In the same week the new works by Jovanotti And Cesare Cremonini. The former has shuffled the cards as only he can do with “Niuiorcherubini”, an album recorded in just one week in New York, strictly in analogue, far from contemporary trends: «It’s my favorite album: it will be a success even if five people listen to it», said the 59-year-old eternal “Lucky guy”. Cremonini, however, published “Cremonini Live ’25”, testimony to the shows that filled Italian stadiums last summer: «The market is a slot machine that rewards discography from an economic point of view. But we artists must remember that the human and artistic journey also exists and must be kept alive – underlined the 45-year-old singer-songwriter from Bologna – my generation, Lorenzo’s, are lucky to have a status. We must offer the freedom to make records following personal pleasure, discoveries and challenges that arise personally».
In short, between new collaborations, artistic rediscoveries and an audience that seems to have rediscovered a taste for “classic” pop, while signs of a crisis around rappers and trappers are starting to appear, the over 40s of Italian music demonstrate that their season is far from over. In a landscape dominated by streaming and flash fashions, the lords and ladies of the scene continue to represent a fixed point: not only because they have an important past, “an important history”, to quote Ramazzotti. But because they evidently still know how to speak in the present tense, like the tough guys they are.
