The hero’s journey of Marracash is something to believe in

Paola Zukar explains it well in the preface of one of the most anticipated volumes of the year, “Something to believe in”published by Rizzoli Lizard and signed by Marracash and by (our) journalist Claudio Cabona: that of the infamous trilogy – that is, the albums “Persona”, “Noi, lui, gli altri” and “È finite la pace” – is the hero’s journey, made of ruinous falls and dizzying rebirths. A story that would be perfect for an American film, one about underdogs who ultimately triumph over adversity; and instead it became a book. A real musical bookgood God, not one of the many supermarket memoirs that have been in circulation in recent years, all good feelings, motivational anecdotes and gossip. Here we talk about songs, about artistic vision, about the creative process, with one graphic design of a high-quality coffee table book which makes you appreciate the effort of care even more. On the other hand, records like Marra’s deserved nothing less.

During the presentation of the book last Tuesday, Marracash and Claudio Cabona retraced the stages that led from a moment of black crisis to the birth of three albums that marked a before and after in the history of Italian music. “In 2019 as an artist they thought I was deadand I felt a bit like that too. I remember going to the psychologist and telling him that I didn’t know if I would be able to make another album.” It was the day after the release of “Santeria”, the joint album with Gué that had consolidated the success of both of them, but something was missing: “I had left out many aspects of my life. I was fulfilled in my work, but unhappy in many others” he recalls. “And in moments of fragility it is easy to find oneself doing harmful things.” The reference, obviously, is to the toxic relationship then masterfully described in “Cruella”. The rebirth started precisely from music, even if it was uphill: “The meeting with Marz and starting to work again on ideas that I had in store for a whole life was saving” he says. The idea in question is that of an album “that was in my image and likeness, a simulacrum. The avatar, Frankenstein, the golem, the homunculus: the mythology of man creating another man has always existed, and I wanted to make it a record at its core. One day I was in Mace’s studio and I was talking about my concept: at a certain point Venerus, who was there with us, says ‘Ah, just like Bergman’s film, ‘Persona”: everything was born from there.”

“Persona” represents a turning pointfinally the public is able to understand Marracash in all its facets. “Before then I saw that people came to my concerts and struggled to understand me: but who is this, the suburban yokel with diamonds on his earlobes or the one with the conscious pieces? I was a bit envious of Caparezza who always had a coherent image even in the eyes of his fans”, he reflects. The intention is to continue in that direction, but “perhaps if there hadn’t been Covid ‘Us, them, the others’ would never have existed” he admits. “As things normally go, I would have gone on tour and then thought about other projects”. And instead, the tour is postponed for a year and a half due to the lockdown. “At first I thought it was Murphy’s law, then Marz and I decided to take advantage of the downtime to work on other songs: we wanted to make an even more our own record”. Initially it was supposed to be an EP, but then the pandemic prolonged and it arrived ‘Us, Them, The Others’, which is still my favorite of the trilogyOnce again he puts his experience at the service of the narrative, but talking about things that everyone can relate to: “When you listen to a song that the performer hasn’t experienced firsthand, you can feel it, it has no strength” he observes. “If you imitate what’s fashionable and adapt to clichés you can work for a while, but never in the long term. Ordinary people have an almost animal perception of what is authentic and what is not, you can’t fool her”.

“We, them, the others” is a thorny album, in which the message is very powerful but potentially misunderstandable on multiple levels, see the case of songs like “Cosplayer”. “I always try to measure my words very carefully, but being careful about what you say for fear of offending someone ultimately harms everyone, a bit like patriarchy paradoxically harms all men too” reflects Marracash. “Stone throwing is always around the corner and everyone is afraid to express themselves. Even kids don’t post anymore, there’s a cringe culture that’s now raging.” But this doesn’t stop him from continuing on his path and coming out in 2024 with “Peace is over”in his opinion the chapter most underrated of the trilogy because of its social connotation. “The political aspect of the songs doesn’t take rootor it becomes a team battle that no one wants to face” he says. And the psychological one flattens out to the point of becoming almost inconsistent: “The mantras that are so popular today, such as ‘Be the best version of yourself’, are somewhat new age slogans: what does yourself mean today? It’s important to understand what really makes us happy and chase itand it doesn’t necessarily have to be success, money, popularity. You will never be fully happy if you aspire to a model of happiness that doesn’t work for you.”

And it is a decidedly happy moment for Marracashwhich during its stadium tour last summer showcased the conflict and reconciliation between the person and the character. “I feel very calm, that reunion between Fabio and Marra that we represented on stage finally happened” he smiles. For his upcoming tour of the arenas “I want to enjoy the journey, sing my songs, talk to people without thinking about the very tight script of the concert that must go on. It will be a party to close this period” says. LHis trilogy left an important legacyfirst of all for himself: “It helped me a lot, it was therapy, albeit a very public onethe way it happened” he laughs. “I hope it helps and inspires others too: I don’t want to be avant-garde or do stuff that remains elitist, but to communicate to everyone.” From here on, we think about the future. “There was a period in which I wondered who my sword was in the service of, who I had to fight for” he recalls. “When I was little there was a great sense of belonging to our social class: we despised the rich, today kids from the suburbs want to imitate them.” A paradigm shift that initially put him in a bit of a crisis. “But then I realized that already committing and being consistent is a very powerful gesture. You can’t change society if you don’t do the things you preach in your social media posts in your personal life. If we all committed ourselves to doing what is best in our own small way, it would already be a political act”.