Cossang

Chief's

AL No. 48 July - August 2000

Naples, which has always been the world capital of music, has long concealed, among the labyrinth of its alleys and the magic of its colors, a substantial reality linked to Hip Hop that has its roots in the early 1980s, giving birth to the first of the writers and breakers who appeared in the peninsula. It is still witnessed by characters of the ‘old guard‘ such as Sha One of La Famiglia who, flanked by the younger Polo, Speaker Cenzoù and 13 Bastardi, consolidate a scene of vital importance for the entire south. On this stimulating soil, fertilized by a solid and multifaceted cultural background and a rather ’thick‘ type of life, a new cohort of ’artists‘ has grown up. Prominent among them are Cossang (literally translated from the Neapolitan ’Col Sangue“) that is, Tony Molla and Luca Malphi. Growing up together, not so much in the Hip Hop scene but, as they themselves are keen to point out, in contact with the environment of Marianella, a town in the Neapolitan hinterland just a few steps from Secondigliano, they have always sought their own stylistic and musical identity that draws on their daily experiences. It is underpinned by powerful beats and content-rich lyrics with which they attempt to break away from the usual Italian canon, which they mostly see as a fad, even comparing it to the paninari movement. Says Tony, ”The boy from Capracotta who spends his weekly allowance to dress up like someone from Queens Bridge does nothing but make a fool of himself, especially when he then has no argument to expound...,“ and again, ”Abroad I see on stages people of character that here instead can be counted on the fingers of one hand.“.

The meaning of all this can be summed up in a willingness to push themselves beyond a simple musical choice, thus not just to screw the sounds of the U.S. scene. Their admonition to the Italian scene is not to expose yourself unless you have considerable depth, and this is above all what they repeat to themselves every time they sit down in front of a sampler or a sheet of paper. They wait, in fact, to churn out material of a certain level before venturing out on a possible journey into the world of discography, a peculiarity that is now increasingly latent among the new musical productions of the moment. In the meantime, they avoid Sunday sausage and rap gatherings while trying to make their presence felt between Naples and Rome, as well as preparing a new track for Clan Vesuvio's next release. One hopes that with such well-defined premises we will soon see a promising harvest from the tree of good fruit. Out.