Caparezza

Caparezza is the pseudonym of Italian alternative hip-hop artist Michele Salvemini. Born on October 9, 1973 in Molfetta, he became interested in music from a very early age. After studying accounting, Salvemini began working in advertising but soon quit to pursue a career in music, performing as the b-boy style pop singer Mikimix. His 1997 albums, Tengo Duro and La Mia Buona Stella, went largely unnoticed by critics and audiences alike. That same year, he also made an appearance at the Sanremo Music Festival. With a completely revamped image and sound, Salvemini adopted the pseudonym Caparezza and released ?! in 2000 to rave reviews. More success followed with Verità Supposte (2003), Habemus Capa (2006) and the concept album Le Dimensioni del Mio Caos (2008), which obtained platinum status after selling over 50,000 copies. 2011’s Il Sogno Eretico debuted at Number 2 in Italy and 2014’s Museica did even better, reaching the top of the charts upon its release. Another concept album followed in 2017 with Prisoner 709, inspired by Caparezza’s struggle with tinnitus. Preceded by the pop rap single “La Scelta,” eighth album Exuvia arrived in 2021. The rapper followed up with a new concept album, Orbit Orbit (2025), closing a trilogy started with Prisoner 709 and analyzing the theme of freedom. A comic book of the same name surfaced at the same time.