Caparezza

Caparezza ("Curly Head" in Molfetta's dialect), pseudonym of Michele Salvemini (born , 1973) is an Italian singer. He debuted in 1997 at the Sanremo Festival (an Italian singing competition) under the name MikiMix.

He was born in Molfetta, Apulia.

Biography and music

Caparezza is the pseudonym of Michele Salvemini. He was born in Molfetta in 1973 on the 9th of October, the same day as John Lennon. Caparezza is a famous Apulian rapper. He specializes in groom music, like Frank Zappa, who Caparezza considers his ?teacher?. This has earned him the title of ?the Beppe Grillo of music? among his fans; in fact, like Beppe Grillo, Caparezza criticizes society with a pungent irony in contexts which are often fantastic and unreal. At first Caparezza appears nonsensical due to his use of unusual metaphors, and above all because he has disowned the mainstream of hip-hop; thus he appears to be a nonconformist rejected by the Italian mainstream. His four albums contain a plethora of emotions: anger, while at the same time desire of redemption, nostalgia, love, guilt, but especially a wish for change. This aspect is particularly evident in his first album, where the artist disowns and nearly rejects his past, when he was Mikimix, because he was incoherent compared to his present self. But Caparezza has much talent, unfortunately wasted today.

Caparezza?s mother was a teacher and his dad was a worker who used to play in a group, so Michele has played since he was a child. He studied accountancy, although he dreamed of writing comics. After completing High School, Michele began to work in advertising, and won a scolarship for the Academy of Milan, but later decided to devote himself completely to music. Michele started his career under the name Mikimix, but composed melodic songs with poor artistic value and thus did not obtain widespread success. He also presented the program ?Segnali di Fumo? with Paolo Maugeri on Video Music. After some shows in Milan?s pubs, Mikimix made his debut in Castrocaro Festival and subsequently took part in two Sanremo Festivals in Categoria Giovani, in 1995 and in 1997, and succeeded in the publication of an album, ?La mia buona stella?, which however was a success only in France.

When he returned to Molfetta to make a new fresh start, he continued composing music in his garage and grew longer hair and a beard. Salvemini changed his pseudonym from Mikimix to Caparezza (?Curly Hair? in Apulian dialect) and in 2000 published his first album, Caparezza?!. Despite the high quality of the songs, it was his second album, Verit? Supposte, which led him to success in 2003-2004. His third album, Habemus Capa, is a criticism against society's contradictions. In this CD Salvemini imagines to be dead and descends to the Hell, which is our world, and in every song he describes a terrible aspect of modern society. It was published in 2006.

In 2008 his fourth and last album arrived, Le dimensioni del mio caos. The album takes the form of a science-fiction story starring Caparezza as the protagonist. In a concert to celebrate Jimi Hendrix, Caparezza destroys a guitar on an amplifer like him, and creates a space-temporal passage from which a girl from the 60's named Ilaria appears, and with whom Caparezza promptly falls in love. The sad singer realizes that the present is modified because the past was modified. If he doesn?t take back Ilaria, the future will never be the same. But Ilaria is conditioned by the third millennium and does not want to return to 1968. In this alternative 2008, the Church rules and Caparezza is arrested because he has pockets which are forbidden. After he is released from prison, he discovers that Ilaria has married Carneade, a famous person who is the leader of the ?Fronte dell?Uomo Qualcuno?, a party reserved for VIPs. Caparezza can?t take Ilaria back to 1968 and, to worsen matters, the ?Fronte? is planning to build a ?spaceport? in Apulia for the imminent elections. Thus Caparezza visits the construction site and meets Luigi delle Bicocche, a mason who is also the protagonist of the song Eroe-storia di Luigi delle Bicocche. Caparezza, completely demoralized, gives his Stratocaster and his amplifier to Luigi. Luigi is in reality a guitarist, Gigi Hendrix; he destroys the Stratocaster on the amplifer and creates a space-temporal passage which turns humans into bonobos. The future is all water under the bridge.

Caparezza also published a book in 2008, Saghe Mentali, the description of his discography.

Now Michele sings with Diego Perrone, singer in the group Medusa, who has replaced Stefano Ciannamea; Stefano is the creator of Caparezza?s official site. Caparezza is also a member of Sunny Cola Connection, a group who sings in Apulian dialect. Lately he has also cooperated with Mondo Marcio, Roy Paci & Aretuska, and naturally with Medusa. At present, Caparezza?s band includes Rino Corrieri (drummer), Gaetano Camporeale (keyboarder), Giovanni Astorino (bassist), Alfredo Ferrero (guitarist).

Caparezza became famous for his song Fuori dal tunnel, which was a summer hit. However, the singer has always protested against the use of the song in discos and on television, because it is meant to be a denunciation of the de-individualization of entertainment, especially in discos. Another important song on Verit? Supposte is Vengo dalla Luna, which tells about an alien (Caparezza) knocked down to Earth who is astonished by the human mistrust against a different culture. It is a song opposing the prejudices toward immigrants. In Habemus Capa there are many important songs, but the better is La mia parte intollerante which, once again, expresses the marginalization of Caparezza. In the last album there are two purposeful songs: Eroe and Vieni a ballare in Puglia. Eroe is a story of a mason who is regarded as a ?hero? because he manages to maintain a family without surrendering to the temptations of loan sharks and draw poker. Vieni a ballare in Puglia tells about the situation in Apulia today; the ?white deaths?, the forest fires in Gargano and the air pollution in Taranto. This song, like Fuori dal tunnel, was misunderstood by the public who considered it only a praise toward Apulia. But it?s quite another thing.

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Original Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caparezza