Fabri Fibra

by Marisa Brown
Never quite fitting in among his peers, Fabrizio Tarducci finally found his niche in hip-hop, a genre that began to develop seriously in Italy in the early '90s with the emergence of groups like Sangue Misto, 99 Posse, Articolo 31, and Gemelli Diversi. Tarducci, who rapped under the name Fabri Fibra, released a series of albums in the late '90s with a variety of different artists, including with his group Uomini del Mare, DJ Lato, and his brother Nesly Rice. After some encouragement from former hard rocker turned rapper (and later pop singer) Neffa, Fabri Fibra worked on creating his debut solo album, Turbe Giovanili, which came out in 2002. Despite the fact that he was happy with the results, he decided he needed to take a break from music and left for England, though he soon changed his mind and returned to Italy, where issued his second record, Mr. Simpatia, in 2004, after which he broke from his label, Vibra Records, and signed with Universal Music Italia. In 2006 his major-label debut, Tradimento (which means "Betrayal") came out, and immediately found its way onto the Italian charts, despite the criticism it received for its violent, profane, and often misogynistic lyrics.