{"id":48064,"date":"2025-09-28T10:16:17","date_gmt":"2025-09-28T10:16:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/48064\/"},"modified":"2025-09-28T10:16:17","modified_gmt":"2025-09-28T10:16:17","slug":"italian-rapper-ready-for-the-american-dream","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/48064\/","title":{"rendered":"Italian Rapper Ready for the American Dream"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tAt 22, Rondodasosa is ready to leave it all behind: his city, his language and the scene that made him a star. With Mattia, his final album in Italian, the Milan-born rapper \u2013 collaborating with the likes of Central Cee<\/a> and supported by Drake<\/a> \u2013 is closing a chapter and preparing for the next: in English, in the United States.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\u201cThis is the last Italian album of Rondodasosa,\u201d he says. \u201cMore than a goodbye, it\u2019s a move. It\u2019s like saying: it\u2019s time to level up. No one in Italy<\/a> does that, because many are afraid to take risks or just don\u2019t feel up to it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tSplit between the aggressive energy of his drill roots and more emotional, introspective tracks, \u201cMattia\u201d marks a turning point. Rondo speaks openly about fame, isolation, and the pressure of coming up young in a tough industry. But above all, the album is a rare look behind the armor \u2013 a way to show not just Rondodasosa, the artist, but Mattia, the person.<\/p>\n

\n\tRaised in the San Siro district of Milan, he broke through at 16 and quickly became a key figure in Italian rap. Now, he\u2019s aiming higher. \u201cIn America, if you\u2019re different, they support you. Here, they push you out. I\u2019m ready to take the risk.\u201d Below, Billboard Italy<\/a>\u2018s cover interview with Rondodasosa.<\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s like the album is divided in two parts \u2013 the first being more \u201cRondo,\u201d more trap-oriented, the second one being more emotional, more Mattia. Do you feel this distinction in yourself?<\/p>\n

\n\tYes. Let\u2019s say Rondo is kind of a shell, while Mattia is the person I show only to a few. The album is a sort of transition, like I\u2019m saying \u201cI give you both sides of me, I show the more energetic, aggressive side, but also the more melodic, more emotional one.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIn the album you say: \u201cThis is the last Italian album of Rondodasosa.\u201d What\u2019s in your future?<\/p>\n

\n\tThis is going to be the last album in Italian for a while. I\u2019m moving toward America and I\u2019ll start rapping in English. I can\u2019t focus on both things \u2013 it\u2019s impossible. This album is closing a chapter. I feel like I\u2019ve made it, but I\u2019ve never truly shown everyone who I really am. It\u2019s a way to close all my story here and begin a new chapter of my life.<\/p>\n

\n\tIs the album also a goodbye to Italy, in your own way?<\/p>\n

\n\tMore than a goodbye, it\u2019s a move. It\u2019s like saying: it\u2019s time to level up. No one in Italy does that, because many are afraid to take risks or just don\u2019t feel up to it. It\u2019s not for everyone: leaving a market where you\u2019re doing well, where you\u2019ve already made it, to go somewhere where you\u2019re nobody and there are artists who\u2019ve been doing it for years \u2013 that\u2019s not easy.<\/p>\n

\n\tHow long have you been thinking about this? I imagine it\u2019s been in your head for a while, especially since in recent years you\u2019ve been the Italian artist most pulling toward the States.<\/p>\n

\n\tIt all started when I was in Miami. The first time I went there for a month to work, I immediately realized that the life I was living was not the life I want \u2013 at least not for now. Italy is beautiful, but there\u2019s a world to discover out there. I can\u2019t stay here wasting myself trying to prove something that maybe people won\u2019t understand. I don\u2019t want to burn myself out: I want to close this chapter and step out. In Miami I realized I want to stay there for at least five to ten years. Then, maybe, I\u2019ll come back.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhat fascinates you the most about America?<\/p>\n

\n\tOver there, everything is more real. People are straightforward, they don\u2019t hide anything. Unfortunately, in Italy we have this bad habit of keeping everything inside. In America it\u2019s all spontaneous: if you piss me off, I\u2019ll tell you to your face.<\/p>\n

\n\tDo you feel freer there?<\/p>\n

\n\tYes, because everything is more genuine. You breathe freedom there, something you absolutely don\u2019t feel in Italy: we\u2019re all closed, oppressed. People follow the crowd, nobody has their own line of thought. And if you do, they either leave you out or say you\u2019re crazy. They always find a way to make you look wrong. In America, being \u201cwrong\u201d can become your strength. You can build an empire with it. It\u2019s a free world\u2026 as long as you don\u2019t mess up. Because if you do, you pay the consequences.<\/p>\n

\n\tIt seems you\u2019ve never let those dynamics condition you.<\/p>\n

\n\tNever. With \u201cBlue Tape\u201d I was the first of my generation to release an album without guest artists. I\u2019ve never followed the market\u2019s pressure. I just don\u2019t care. I do things my way, for better or worse. I feel like when they used to teach math problems in school with apples in baskets. I feel like I\u2019m in my own basket, alone.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhen did you start working on \u201cMattia\u201d? What influenced you in particular?<\/p>\n

\n\tThe only influence I had was myself. To make this album I really shut myself out from society, I disappeared. I thought of nothing else but finishing the album. I neglected everything: personal relationships, work, my body, everything. The most emotional part I was completely closed in myself. Then, in the more energetic side, I was still isolated, but I was doing things to make myself feel better. The more conscious tracks were written in a dark period of my life. Then I bounced back, I was reborn, and from there the other seven tracks, more energetic, were born.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn what way do you feel reborn?<\/p>\n

\n\tBefore, I was very materialistic, I put money before people. In part, I still do. I\u2019m very possessive of my things. But I learned the law of attachment: you can\u2019t get too attached to something, because when you lose it, you realize maybe it wasn\u2019t what you truly needed. Now material goods, money, don\u2019t have the same value to me, and that mindset has impacted not just the album, but me as a person.<\/p>\n

\n\tHave you understood what your priorities are?<\/p>\n

\n\tMore than anything, I understood how the world works. It\u2019s like when you wake up from \u201cThe Truman Show\u201d and realize everything you live in is an illusion. I no longer have trust in anything or anyone.<\/p>\n

\n\tTalking about the success you achieved so young, have you ever thought: \u201cI wish things had gone more slowly\u201d?<\/p>\n

\n\tYes, I often blame myself for being too in a hurry at 18-19. But I was naive, I didn\u2019t understand many things, and I was putting too much pressure on myself. I had entered an industry where everyone goes a thousand miles an hour, where people had already been doing it for years. I didn\u2019t have time to look around. I only began to understand recently. But in the end, I believe it\u2019s all part of the process. Until you make mistakes, you\u2019ll never realize where you\u2019re wrong. Only when you mess up can you become a new version of yourself.<\/p>\n

\n\tTell me a bit about your relationship with the artists you picked for this album.<\/p>\n

\n\tI respect Gu\u00e8 a lot. He\u2019s done so much for Italian rap culture. He\u2019s the only one who doesn\u2019t care if you have issues with someone. I support him because he\u2019s real with his cause. He doesn\u2019t care who you are, what your skin color is, or who you have problems with. He\u2019s straightforward. I believe a lot in Ally. I think she\u2019ll be the next big female artist in Italian rap. I can\u2019t wait for her to prove what I think she can. Heartman, instead, has a unique talent. He\u2019s too underrated in Italy, maybe because he never chose to stay comfortable with anyone. He\u2019s a phenomenon, but in Italy he cannot yet be fully understood. It\u2019s something too new.<\/p>\n

\n\tWill you miss Milan when you leave?<\/p>\n

\n\tFor the food\u2026 and for the women.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn \u201cAmico\u201d you say \u201cMy friend doesn\u2019t know whether to choose between Rondo and Mattia.\u201d That\u2019s thought\u2011provoking, because you always hear that success brings more people around you, but sometimes it also cracks relationships you had before, because not everyone is comfortable with that.<\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s true. The problem is you never know people\u2019s true intentions. They can be there for months, putting on a show, telling you things\u2026 but you don\u2019t know if they are there for you or for some other reason. I\u2019ve learned not to trust anymore. I expect nothing from anyone. I stay in my world.<\/p>\n

\n\tIt seems a very important track of the album.<\/p>\n

\n\tI placed it at the end precisely to close a chapter. It\u2019s not just something that happened to me \u2013 it happens to millions of people: you get betrayal or disappointment from people you thought were on your side. You give everything, you believe in someone, then you realize it was all fake. An illusion. The human being never settles. We are naturally selfish.<\/p>\n

\n\tYou also say: \u201cHow many people have I helped, never getting anything in return.\u201d Do you live that now as remorse, or would you do it again?<\/p>\n

\n\tI don\u2019t know. Maybe I do it because I follow somewhat the American model, where rappers support each other. In Italy, big artists are afraid to support up\u2011and\u2011comers, because they fear losing their place. And part of me understands: the market is saturated, we\u2019re too many, and everyone thinks about themselves. In America, it\u2019s all real. If a rapper has a problem with another rapper, it can really go down. And if they support you, they support you for real: even sending you money when you\u2019re locked up.<\/p>\n

\n\tDrake, for example\u2026<\/p>\n

\n\tExactly. Drake doesn\u2019t care how many followers you have. If he\u2019s down with you, he\u2019s down with you. Here instead everything is convenience. They support you only if they know they\u2019ll get something back. There\u2019s no genuineness or wanting to say: \u201cI believe in this kid, because I see myself in him and I care about him.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAnd you? Do you see yourself in someone younger than you?<\/p>\n

\n\tIn no one, because I am unique.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"At 22, Rondodasosa is ready to leave it all behind: his city, his language and the scene that…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":48065,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[41871,156,2526,1437,1224,157,3296,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-48064","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-billboard-italy","tag-entertainment","tag-genre-hiphop","tag-global","tag-italy","tag-music","tag-music-news","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48064","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48064"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48064\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48065"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48064"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48064"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48064"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}