Neffa: “At a certain point I said: I kill him neffed”
Neffa, as written in the review of “Canerandagio part 1”, made peace with rap. It is rightly considered one of the pioneers of the genre thanks, of course, to its militancy in the mixed blood, which with “SXM” of 1994 have indissoluble the scene indissoluble, and to some seminal records such as “the Messengers of the Dopa” and “107 elements”. Before even he played in denial, marking the hardcore world and then, after pausing the rap in 1999, he dedicated himself to a more open solo career, in which he experienced and also reached the mainstream with pieces such as “my young lady” in 2001. Who is Neffa today? What does “Canerandagio part 1” represent in your path, or this flame return for the bars? There is a glue in all his career, which has to do with his punk debuts, and which can be summarized in this response: “I have always practiced the self -management of creativity”.
After so many years, does the release of an album still put you in a state of agitation?
In general I don’t rest, I never relax. Also because there will be part 2 of the project (smiles, editor’s note). It is also true that when there is music to be made, I’m always in mine, I am happy. I am never agitated at the exit of a new album, and not even in the following days, but at this tour I feel. Because there is a different interest, which in other cases, at the market and public level, perhaps there has not been. On this album there have been many people who have worked, so the pressure is different.
What excites you?
When I write a piece, maybe at night. Here, when it happens it is as if I had done psychotherapy.
In this album you are a bit of everything: voice and sound, because you also treated the productions, as well as artistic director. You talk about it as a “free project”. What does freedom in music mean today?
The story of the records I asked answers your question, in particular the last 3-4 projects. Which have been even more free. I even mixed some of those. “Very calm” of 2013 if it sounds bad it is because I did it like this (smiles, editor’s note). I was burned from the beginning, from the first rap pieces we did. If there must be something wrong with the sound, I prefer to be wrong, don’t let it be wrong to others.
Is this also freedom?
I’ll tell you a true story: I met a girl with a rottweiler. He was unable to keep him. Often the dog was at home alone. And he lived in total freedom, he did what he wanted. I too got used to living like this, without any order. Not even from my label. Every time I talked about artistic issues with Sara powerful, the capable of numbering, he told me: “These are your questions”. For me it was like inviting a hare to run.
Has it always been like this?
I have always confronted the records in a frank way. I also had to defend some career songs, such as “The new world” (2006, editor’s note) because for me there are no singles, each song is important. For me there are no songs without free ideas, re-raising me to the first speech.
With what spirit did you approach the idea of making a rap disco after over twenty years?
My priorities were two: not to revival. And that it was credible, who did not seem old. I can’t stand the image of a fifty year old who plays being a young man. I had to develop, towards me, violent honesty. Today for me music is still an escape from reality. To make a record so you have to be sure that the rap that is being done is credible. I have not stopped with rap years ago and then returning laterally little, for this reason today that I came back I do it with awareness.
The big bang?
The piece “All the stars”. When I did it I said to myself: “I’m expressing myself with rap”. My recording Sara powerful had told me about Ele A, I was hit by her freshness. One day, while I ate a plate of pasta, I said to Sara: can I send her a piece I am working on? Inside I knew that if Ele a had found that old song there would have been little to do, on the contrary…. It was she who gave me the first trusted injection because she liked it. But it is not enough to make a rap song to return to rap. Shortly afterwards “Death leaves” was born with Fabri Fibra, who came out in 2024.
A new signal?
Fiber had taken well when I sent him the piece, he sent the verse shortly after and still added rap bars. In short, slowly I was returning to rap naturally.
Is this a metropolitan and night album?
Absolutely. The night is the time of visions, the day of the reasons. In me there are two natures: that of the author, night, that of the producer, daytime. I like to get lost in a world of sound. In addition, inspiration comes when I least expect it. I remember that before making “bitter” in 2021 I said: “I kill him neffed” …
Did you want to stop making music?
I wanted to stop proposing music to others, not to do it for myself. They are just two different things. I am a craftsman of music, I work every day. Also for this album I happened to be overwhelmed by inspiration: I was in Milan and ideas didn’t let me sleep at night. Here, I realized that new music was coming for others …
Have you talked about craftsmanship: the red thread that binds the negation, the mixed blood and the solo neffa is the “do it yourself”?
Totally, it is the aspect that struck me of DJ Gruff in the time of mixed blood. While not coming from a punk environment, like me, this aspect united us. We were all for creative self -management. When I met the people who occupied the houses in Bologna in the mid -80s I was hit because we knew perfectly that music wanted to do, while not knowing practically playing. They did not have a precise idea, but they had creativity.
What role does the experimentation have?
In the self -management of creativity, which I continue to carry on, it is central. I have experienced a lot in my records. In “My young lady” there is a recovery of certain vintage sounds, for example. I also remember that I had discovered, in my house in Bologna, that to have a particular reverberation I could record along the staircase that connected two floors. Something came out at the Pet Sounds. I recorded the guitar of a cover of “Summertime”, in the version of Sam Cooke, exactly along that staircase. This type of experimentation in hip hop can be done less, in this album I wanted to focus more on rawness.
Bring on giant traces such as fiber, Gué and Noyz Narcos in what position did you put you on?
Doing again rap made me understand that I can do the rap. I don’t need to demonstrate anything. It took me some time, but I had no problems rapping with the strongest. I was next to it without making a bad impression. Maybe I could have beat more …
In my opinion yes, you can “beat” much more.
Well, no, look to believe me … there is no verse of this album that has not been made in more than ten minutes. I would find very out of place to take on the role of rapper Swagger, only in the intro there is a little arrogance and that’s it. Today I love introspection. I feel both a singer and rapper, but I know that I have more difficulties in singing than in the rapare. I deliberately didn’t want to push on the metrics. It would be out of place, I also talked about it with Kaos, to whom I made the album heard. I focused more on depth, on magnetism.
