Former rapper important figure in Italian pop culture
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| Jovanotti is now one of Italy's most popular performers, attracting sell-out crowds |
The singer-songwriter Lorenzo Cherubini – better known as
Jovanotti – was born on this day in 1966 in Rome.
Famous in his early days as Italy’s first rap star,
Jovanotti has evolved into one of Italian pop music’s most significant figures,
his work progressing from hip hop to funk and introducing ska and other strands
of world music to Italian audiences, his increasingly sophisticated
compositions even showing classical influences.
He has come to match Ligabue in terms of the ability to attract massive audiences, while
his international record sales in the mid-90s were on a par with Eros
Ramazzotti and Laura Pausini. Since his
recording debut in 1988 he has sold more than seven million albums.
Although born in Rome, Cherubini came from a Tuscan family
and spent much of his childhood and adolescence in Cortona in the province of
Arezzo, where he now has a home.
He began to work as a DJ at venues in and around Cortona,
mainly playing dance music and hip hop, which at the time was scarcely known in
Italy. After finishing high school he went back to Rome because he felt he had
a better chance of launching a musical career via the capital’s club
scene.
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| Jovanotti started out as a DJ before turning to hip hop and rap |
Jovanotti became his stage name not quite by design. He had intended to call himself Joe Vanotti –
the name meant to sound like giovanotti, the Italian word for “young people” –
but the promotional poster for one of his early club bookings as a deejay
incorrectly billed him as Jovanotti and the name stuck.
His success in Rome earned him bookings further afield,
particularly at holiday resorts, and it was on one such gig that he met the
entrepreneur record producer Claudio Ceccheto, who would give him national
exposure via his radio station, Radio Deejay.
Jovanotti’s early work was raw and basic. He fashioned
himself as a Paninaro – a kind of Italian version of the English mods of the
1960s, who favoured Vespa and Lambretta scooters and had signature clothes, in
particular Timberland boots, Levi jeans and American military flying jackets.
Yet he became an icon for Italian youth. Songs such as Sei
come la mia moto – roughly translated: “You’re like my Lambretta/Vespa” – and
Gimme Five became youth anthems, the first of many that Italian teenagers, who
love to memorise the lyrics of their favourite tracks and sing them together,
would turn into pop classics. Fans refer to him often as simply Jova.
His 1988 debut album, Jovanotti for President, was panned by
the critics, yet sold more than 400,000 copies. His second, La Mia Moto, topped
600,000. His catalogue now stands at 13
studio albums, four live albums, six compilations, a remix album and four video
albums, plus 82 singles.
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| Jovanotti songs became anthems for Italian youth |
The last seven of his studio albums have gone to number one
in the Italian music charts and songs such as A te, L’Ombelico del Mondo,
Bella, Fango, Piove, Penso Positivo and Per Te – which he wrote for his newborn
daughter, Teresa, in 1998 – have entered what writers have dubbed The Great
Italian Songbook.
Initially loved for the fact that his songs tended not to
carry any political or ideological messages, from the 1990s onwards, Jovanotti
became much more political. As a committed pacifist, he frequently worked with
organizations such as Make Poverty History and Amnesty International, and he
has contributed to events dedicated to debt relief, forming a friendship with
the similarly minded U2 front man Bono.
He declared his support for the Partito Democratico della
Sinistra (the Democratic Party of the Left), which formed from a split in the
Italian Communist Party, in the 1992 general election.
In September 2008, 10 years after the birth of their daughter, Jovanotti married his long-term partner
Francesca Valiani at Cortona, in the Church of Santa Maria Nuova.
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| The Palazzo Comune in Cortona |
Travel tip:
Cortona is a charming small city in the Valdichiana, or
Chiana Valley, in the province of Arezzo in southern Tuscany, about 120km (75
miles) southeast of Florence. The city, enclosed by stone walls dating back to
Etruscan and Roman times, sits on the top of a hill about 600m (2000ft) above
sea level, offering spectacular views.
It is characterised by steep, narrow streets – indeed the main street,
Via Nazionale, is the only street in the city with no gradient. Among the main
sights is the domed church of Santa Maria Nuova, designed by Giorgio Vasari.
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| The Best Company label favoured by Paninari |
Travel tip:
The Paninaro youth culture of the 1980s began in Milan among
a group of teenagers who fashioned an identity for themselves around certain
clothing brands. They tended to meet in particular cafes and fast food outlets
in central Milan, in particular Al Panino in Via Agnello, a stone’s throw from
the Duomo. As befits the fashion capital of Italy, they favoured expensive
labels and it was not unusual to see Paninari dressed in Armani jeans, although
the real must-haves in addition to Timberland boots were brightly coloured Best
Company sweatshirts and Alpha Industries or Schott flying jackets.