Manuel Cuni (born 16 September 1983), known professionally as Immanuel Casto, is an Italian singer-songwriter and activist. Since 1 November 2019, Cuni is also the president of the organization Mensa Italia.

Biography

1983–2008: Early works

Born in

Alzano Lombardo Alzano Lombardo (Bergamasque: ) is a in the province of Bergamo, Lombardy, northern Italy. Alzano received the honorary title of city with a presidential decree of 11 March 1991. It is home to the San Martino Museum of Religious Art and the Basi ...

, Cuni moved to

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...

in 2002 to work as an art director. Between 2003 and 2004, with the stage name Immanuel, Cuni produced and released the EPs ''On the Road'', ''Voyeur'' and ''Vento di erezioni''. The songs showed an ironic take on sex and pornography, in a

dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

electronic Electronic may refer to: *Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductor * ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal *Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device *Electronic co ...

style. According to Casto, his work belongs in the

porn groove Music in pornography is the non-diegetic soundtrack behind pornographic films. Like in other visual media, music in pornography is considered high-quality when it is unnoticed by viewer, but is nonetheless considered an integral part of the ex ...

music genre. In 2005, the song "Io la do" got to be broadcast nationally on

Radio Deejay Radio DeeJay is an Italian radio station. It was founded on 1 February 1982 by the Italian radio and television personality Claudio Cecchetto and was acquired by the Gruppo Editoriale L'Espresso in 1989. In 2020 EXOR (of the Agnelli-family) became ...

. The 2008 music video for "Anal Beat" was Casto's big break. He became a regular guest on

MTV Italia MTV is an Italian pay television network, owned by Paramount Networks EMEAA and operated by Sky Italia. History Prior to the launch of a 24-hour Italian speaking MTV, MTV viewers in Italy received the pan-European version of MTV Europe, MTV. Reg ...

's ''Loveline'', and got to be featured on ''

El País ''El País'' (; ) is a Spanish-language daily newspaper in Spain. ''El País'' is based in the capital city of Madrid and it is owned by the Spanish media conglomerate PRISA. It is the second most circulated daily newspaper in Spain . ''El Pa ...

''. In the same year, Casto signed with Jle Management. In June, Casto performed at the National Gay Pride and published his first greatest hits ''The Hits''.

2009–2014: ''Adult Music'' and ''Freak & Chic''

In 2009, Casto went on his first national tour and released the single "Touché (Par l'amour)", his first song available on digital stores and produced by his future main collaborator, Keen. In 2010, he began his collaboration with singer-songwriter

Romina Falconi Romina Falconi (born 1 January 1985) is an Italian electropop singer-songwriter. Biography Early life and career Romina Falconi grew up in Torpignattara (a known area of Rome), and made her debut on Teatro Ariston, at the 57th Sanremo Music Fes ...

, releasing "Crash", one of Casto's most successful singles, later included in his first studio album, ''Adult Music'' (

Universal Universal is the adjective for universe. Universal may also refer to: Companies * NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company ** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of NBCUniversal ** Universal TV, a ...

2011). On 13 September 2013, Casto published his second studio album ''Freak & Chic'', which included the singles "Tropicanal" and "Sexual Navigator" (featuring the

drag queen A drag queen is a person, usually male, who uses drag clothing and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate female gender signifiers and gender roles for entertainment purposes. Historically, drag queens have usually been gay men, and part o ...

Minerva Lowenthal). Romina Falconi is featured on the third single, "Sognando Cracovia", which became the title for Casto and Falconi's joint tour in 2014–2015. In turn, Casto appeared on the song "Eyeliner", included in Falconi's album ''Certi sogni si fanno attraverso un filo d'odio''.

2015–2018: ''The Pink Album'' and ''L'età del consenso''

In 2015, Casto released "Deepthroat Revolution" and announced his third studio work, ''The Pink Album'', published on September 25. With "Rosico" Casto begins his collaboration with Tying Tiffany, while "Rosso oro e nero" is a cover of

Einstürzende Neubauten (, 'Collapsing New Buildings') is a German experimental music group, formed in West Berlin in 1980. The group is currently composed of founding members Blixa Bargeld (lead vocals; guitar; keyboard) and N.U. Unruh (custom-made instruments; perc ...

's "Sabrina", performed with Italian

post punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-roc ...

band Soviet Soviet, and "Horror Vacui" features once again Romina Falconi. The video for "Alphabet of Love", featuring adult performer Franco Trentalance, has been officially released in September 2016 on

Pornhub Pornhub is a Canadian-owned internet pornography website. It is one of several pornographic video-streaming websites owned by MindGeek. , Pornhub is the 10th-most-trafficked website in the world and the second-most-trafficked adult website aft ...

. According to a statement released by Casto's production company, it is the first time a European artist gets to release their video on the site. On 14 September 2018, Casto released the greatest hits ''L'età del consenso''. The lead single, "Piromane", featuring Romina Falconi, was released on 5 June 2018.

2019–present: ''Malcostume''

On 1 November 2019, Casto became president of the organization Mensa Italia. On 18 June, 2021, Casto released the single "Dick Pic", a ballad about the annoying habit, widespread in the gay community but not only, of sending unsolicited images of genitals, in chat or on social networks. On 3 December 2021, Casto released the single "Piena" in collaboration with the group Karma B. In 2022, Casto edited the graphics of the book ''Rottocalco'' by Romina Falconi. On 10 June 2022, Casto released his fourth studio album, ''Malcostume'', preceded by the single "Wasabi Shock".

Controversies

In 2012, Casto released ''Squillo'' (lit. "call girl"), a

collectible card game A collectible card game (CCG), also called a trading card game (TCG) among other names, is a type of card game that mixes strategy game, strategic deck building elements with features of trading cards, introduced with ''Magic: The Gathering'' in ...

about

prostitution Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in Sex work, sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, n ...

sex trafficking Sex trafficking is human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation. It has been called a form of modern slavery because of the way victims are forced into sexual acts non-consensually, in a form of sexual slavery. Perpetrators of the ...

, and various criminal activities. On 9 October 2012, senator Emanuela Baio Dossi urged for the game to be removed from stores due to its controversial and offensive content. The song "Da grande sarai fr**io" (lit. "When you grow up you'll be a f*ggot") from ''The Pink Album'' sparked some controversy upon its release, in spite of carrying an "

it gets better It or IT may refer to: * It (pronoun), in English * Information technology Arts and media Film and television * ''It'' (1927 film), a film starring Clara Bow * ''It! The Terror from Beyond Space'', a 1958 science fiction film * ''It!'' (1967 f ...

" message aimed at

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

youth. Due to Casto's trademark explicit and politically incorrect style and his use of slurs, it was deemed offensive by part of his LGBT audience, prompting Casto, himself an out gay man and LGBT activist, to make a video addressing his fans and explaining the meaning of the song. In 2016, Casto released a satirical

board game Board games are tabletop games that typically use . These pieces are moved or placed on a pre-marked board (playing surface) and often include elements of table, card, role-playing, and miniatures games as well. Many board games feature a comp ...

called ''Witch & Bitch''; the politician Mario Adinolfi threatened to report Casto and the co-creator of ''Witch & Bitch'' Marco Albiero because he recognized himself in the illustration of the card "Omofobo" (lit. "homophobic").

Discography

Albums

*2011 – ''Adult Music'' *2013 – ''Freak & Chic'' *2015 – ''The Pink Album'' *2022 – ''Malcostume''

Compilations

*2011 – ''Porn Groove 2004/2009'' *2018 – ''L'età del consenso''

Singles

*2009 – "Touché (Par l'amour)" *2010 – "Escort 25" *2010 – "Crash" (feat.

) *2011 – "Revival" *2011 – "Killer Star" *2012 – "Zero carboidrati" *2012 – "Porn to Be Alive" *2012 – "A pecorina nel presepe" *2013 – "Tropicanal" *2014 – "Sexual Navigator" *2014 – "Sognando Cracovia" (feat. Romina Falconi) *2015 – "Deepthroat Revolution" *2015 – "Da grande sarai fr**io" *2015 – "DiscoDildo" *2016 – "Alphabet of Love" *2018 – "Piromane" (feat. Romina Falconi) *2021 – "Dick Pic" *2021 – "Piena" (feat. Karma B) *2022 – "Wasabi Shock"

Comics

* ''Squillo – The Comic'' n. 0, Freak & Chic,

Ariccia Ariccia (Latin: ''Aricia'') is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Rome, central Italy, southeast of Rome. It is in the Alban Hills of the Lazio (Latium) region and could be considered an extension of Rome's southeastern suburbs. On ...

, Magic Press, 2014 (drawn by di Matt Core) * ''Squillo – The Comic'' Vol. 1, Freak & Chic, Ariccia, Magic Press, 2016 (drawn by Matt Core) * ''Morte Bianca'' (foreword),

Verona Verona ( , ; vec, Verona or ) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Northern Italy, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and the ...

, Poliniani, 2021 (story by Mortebianca, drawn by Marco Albiero) ,

References

External links

Sito ufficiale
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Casto, Immanuel Italian male singer-songwriters Italian singer-songwriters 1983 births Living people 21st-century Italian male singers Italian gay musicians Italian LGBT singers Italian LGBT songwriters Gay singers Gay songwriters People from Alzano Lombardo 20th-century Italian LGBT people 21st-century Italian LGBT people