Do you remember «Black Pulcinella», the last album by Clementine? “It was Osimhen and I didn’t know it, the black mask was his, not the one I was wearing on the cover, it was the black Pulcinella who came to take us to heaven looking at the moon.”
Like “Looking at the Moon”, Clemi?
«Yes, the third championship took us all to heaven, with our noses held high, to look for Diego, our loved ones to whom to dedicate this triumph. We are looking at the moon and enjoying it all.”
Well, “Guardando la luna” is your piece that is depopulating, almost a hymn of champion Naples.
“Let’s go slowly: the hymns are already there. There is “‘O surdato nnammurato”, a mournful song transformed into a stadium song. Then there is “Napoli” by Nino D’Angelo confused among the boys of curve B, and then the anthem of the city, “Napule è” by maestro Pino Daniele. My cover, in the best of cases, is the soundtrack of these parties, I thought of it as a tribute to the city, people took over it, fans made it their own on Tik Tok and Instagram”.
Where did you find the song?
«At my 40th birthday party -you were there- they played it several times. It is a song by the Spanish rapper Quevedo and the Argentine producer Bizarrap. It stuck with me, that night Aurelio De Laurentiis and Captain Di Lorenzo were also there, but when I did the Italian version I wasn’t thinking about the Azzurri, the Scudetto. It exploded in the stadium, Politano, Elmas, Di Lorenzo, Gianluca Gaetano relaunched it via the web. Then Bzrp, one with twenty million followers, who just released a song with Shakira to explain who we are talking about, promoted my version between Italian and Neapolitan, gave me the ok to make it official and also upload it to Spotify, I will record the video within and outside the Maradona stadium. Thank you all, when you sing it in the stadium a chill runs down my spine ».
Will you also sing it in the former San Paolo on June 4?
“We will all sing it together. “I remember the waterfront, the parties at three / and I don’t ask for anything from those who are not with you”».
Earlier you were talking about Gianluca Gaetano, who scored the third goal against Inter: he comes from your land, he’s from Cimitile.
«I saw him grow, I followed his exploits in youth and minor fields, he lives 500 meters from my house. You could already tell when he was at Napoli’s Primavera that he was destined for great feats: I saw him score from a corner, from a heel shot… He is the pride of Cimitile, I went crazy for the goal for the Champions Cup finalist. . I am preparing a surprise for him, do not make me say more ».
It’s ok, but there is a spoiler.
«Of course: on May 31, also to give my contribution to the celebrations for the first half century of hip hop, a single will be released with one of my teachers, the champions of Newpolitan rap: his face is on my shirt, speaker Cenzou di San Gaetano, where Nero a Metà has taught us that silence is golden and Vincenzino Artegiano has also weaned me on the art of flowing».
Meanwhile you will be on the stage of Gigi D’Alessio under the cameras of Raiuno.
“I can’t miss it, now we are a common-law couple.”
And the summer?
«Live as always, but with some surprise, because this summer I am on tour with the band and dividing the show into several moments. The rap one with my hits, the most reggae one in which I also give myself over to Marley in “Redemption Song”, a theatrical moment with a tribute to Federico Salvatore of which I will repeat “Se io fossi San Gennaro”, and then another dedicated to the music legends worldwide: with Greg Rega to give me the second voice, but it would be better to say that I will be his second voice, we will go from Pink Floyd from Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the wall” to Iggy Pop from “The Passenger” , from Linkin’ Park’s “In the End” to Queen’s “Another Wave Bites the Dust”, from Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean” to “Yes, I Know My Way.” The band plays, my rap on the original bases and the choruses shot into the sky by Gregorio Rega».
Isn’t it that rap is starting to get closer to you, that you’re more and more of a showman?
“I won’t quit rapping, but it’s not enough for me. I will continue doing television, in fact I have just started, if they call me an actor… I like the figures of Will Smith, Adriano Celentano, Fiorello… yes, I like them».
