Ermal Meta can’t help but smile when he talks about “Good luck”his album out on Friday: Fortuna is in fact also the name of the little girl who is waiting with his partner, their first daughter: «She should be born in mid-June, I can’t wait to meet her. I’m very ready.”
The 43-year-old singer-songwriter explains that he wrote the album (12 songs including a feat with Levant and another with Jake The Fury) to tell his daughter «how I saw the world while I was waiting for her», with the idea of letting him listen to it «when he is able to understand music».
The theme of luck is the common thread among the songs: «The cases exist positive qualities, but luck is something that is built slowly – claims Meta -. Everyone creates it through what they do or don’t do, in the way they deal with everyday life and themselves. In the end, if you don’t learn to face yourself it’s difficult to deal with everything else.”
In his case, he reveals, the journey was long: «I was a self-saboteur for a long time, but I have learned to face this part of me. I did a lot of therapy to be able to contain myself because it happens at a certain point you are no longer comfortable with beautiful things that happen to you. At 25-26 there were times when I could have performed better, but I avoided doing things that were important to my career or I got myself into trouble with unclear behavior. It was all part of a subconscious process. I started a journey and with difficulty I managed to unravel some of the clouds. Therapy was key».
The thought goes to young artists who, after the first “blow” of success, find themselves struggling with their fragilities and, perhaps, need a break: “In the world of entertainment there is an imperative which is to be efficientexcept that there are times when what comes from the outside does not correspond to what you feel, therefore a rift is created – says Ermal -. I would advise these kids to ask themselves if what they do corresponds to who they are. Concerts, arenas, stadiums are wonderful things, but sometimes you feel crushed inside. Well, you know that it’s all normal, it can happen».
It also happened to him at an unsuspected moment: «2017 and 2018 were the best working years of my lifebut they were terrifying from an internal point of view because I was in so much pain panic attacks. It happened to me at every concert: in 2017 I did 80 and in 2018 I did 46. Everyone, without exception, was like this: I was free-diving for the first 4 or 5 songs, I would go on stage and start jumping to try to loosen up. It has been difficult. Already since 2016, then, I couldn’t take planes anymore». The solution, also in this case, was to seek help: «I went back to therapy and I realigned myself again. It’s important to prioritize how you feel because ignoring it doesn’t go away.”
Now Meta is experiencing a moment that he defines as “beautiful”: Wednesday will lead the May Day Concert in Rome together with Noemi, «a new role that I accepted with joy, on a stage that is based on themes dear to me such as those of freedom, peace, work and safety at work, things that we should breathe every day.”
TO July will kick off the tour and, in the meantime, his little girl will arrive: yes, always imagined father? «No, there was a moment when I thought I wouldn’t want to because this world scared me too much. But I grew up with a brother and sister who I always took care of, so maybe it’s a role I took on from an early age. I thought I would have more than anything adopted a child and that’s something I want still to do and what I will do».
For him, very involved in matters of violence against women, does the arrival of a daughter exacerbate certain themes? “No, I’ve always heard them at their best, because I see what happens.” Last summer, after the gang rape in Palermo, some of his sentences in which he wished similar suffering to the perpetrators attracted criticism: «I used strong words, but they came from the frustration of seeing people come to the defense of these people by saying “they’re boys” and blaming the girl. How is it possible?”.
After that episode he received thousands of messages: «In 99% of cases they said the same things and that is that many girls who have suffered this rubbish they were not helped. They stopped doing therapy because they didn’t have the money. Many have committed suicide. Everyone cares about re-educating rapists, ok, but let’s worry about the victims».
