The title, «Fra»? It’s slang, not just youthful slang. Neapolitan, it stands for «brother», for «bro», for the Roman dialect «friar». But it also stands for Francis, his fifth child (“in June I reach six, but I stop, I don’t surpass Mario Biondi’s record, who reached 10”), to whom the title track is dedicated. And it is also a preposition: after «Buongiorno», the album of hits reinterpreted with the Newpolitan rap contingent, a second similar album was supposed to come, but in an Italian style. «I didn’t have time, and so an album of ten songs came out, new and reworked, to be placed “between” the previous one and the one to come».
«Fra» will be the icing on the cake of the eight sold out events in Piazza del Plebiscito. And then the summer tour. The album features Guè, Geolier and Clementino to re-read «Never give up». Elodie and Ernia for «I would like», your son Lda for «The first appointment», Alessandra Amoroso for «A sick heart». Will they also be at the plebiscite?
“Yes. I didn’t need to do anything new to sell tickets, but I felt I owed it to those who follow me. We will record with them on June 7th and 8th, to be broadcast once again on Raiuno on the 13th.”
And on other evenings?
«Whoever wants and can stays. Otherwise the audience will have to… make do with me. And who else will want to join me: the guests, both on the record and on the shows, are all my brothers… brothers.”
The name of the female voice of «Nu dispietto» is missing from the list.
«She will also be there, but only on stage will you find out who she is».
From «Liberato’s Secret» to D’Alessio’s secret. What is certainly not a secret is your understanding with Geolier.
«There is a red thread that connects Merola to D’Alessio to Geolier, passing through Carosone and Daniele. Emanuele is a great talent, we met to spend a bit together and “Senza tucca’” was born: in the animated video clip he and I fly, on a motorcycle, over a futuristic Naples».
Naples, and its song, are at the center of extraordinary attention.
«Yes, and I am proud of it, even if I am afraid of the earthquake, of my land being so fragile, as well as beautiful and proud. After decades of negative, or holographic, or snobbish narratives, today it has been seen that Naples holds opposites together, it is that of union and not of separation. And our dialect, or rather our language, has once again become the language of song, as in the times of Di Giacomo and Bovio. No comparison, let’s be clear, but today everyone wants to sing in Neapolitan, those who understand it and even those who don’t understand it, but are satisfied with the sound. Neapolitan, like English, sounds much better than Italian.”
Why is all this only happening now?
«Because the kids have revolutionized the sound. Pino Daniele did it too, but they called him a rebel. Nino D’Angelo and I also did it, but they called us neomelodici. Now Geolier and a thousand others do it, but, just like Carosone did, they are in tune with the international youth sound of the moment, they are the voice of the present that sees the future.”
A passing fad?
«I don’t think so: at my first Sanremo, 24 years ago, they asked me to remove a phrase in dialect from my song. Today maybe they would ask me.”
Speaking of the Festival: are you coming back to the Ariston as co-host for an evening?
«No, I’ll be on tour, but best wishes to Carlo Conti».
The tribute of devotion that the three “featers” of “Never give up” bring you is impressive. «Piazza Plebiscito is my favorite film, the one that has never been released at the cinema», raps Guè, the veteran from Milan. «The healthy act, the infamous dance. I arrive like Gigi, alone, in an instant, never give up, speed up your heartbeat”, relaunches Clementino. «I didn’t want to be reborn anywhere where I wasn’t born. I never give up because, no matter how majestic, I would disappoint the entire city”, sings Geolier.
«Having them together in a song from 2002 gives a sense of what Naples is today. Then I was discriminated against, today around me there is unity that makes strength.”
Ps. Yesterday at Naples posters appeared announcing an Elodie concert at Maradona in 2025. It’s not fake news: date booked for 12 June, could Fra Gigi not be there?
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