Giovanni Pellino (born 7 October 1967), best known as Neffa, is an Italian singer-songwriter, rapper, composer, producer and musician.

Life and career

Born in

Scafati Scafati () is a city and ''comune'' in the province of Salerno, in the Campania region of southern Italy. Geography Scafati is situated on the river Sarno. Under the bridge over the river into the village, the Sarno divides into a primary and t ...

, at young age Pellino moved to

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language, 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 1 ...

with his family. In the late 1980s he adopted the stage name Jeff Pellino and was a drummer in several rock and punk bands, notably

Negazione Negazione was a hardcore punk band based in Turin, Italy during the 1980s and early 1990s. Formed in 1983, they were one of the most important bands of the hardcore punk scene in Italy at the time. They were one of the early bands of the Itali ...

. In 1991, he joined the hip hop ensemble Isola Posse All Stars and adopted the stage name "Neffa" in honour of Paraguayan footballer

Gustavo Neffa Gustavo Alfredo Neffa Rodríguez (born 30 November 1971 in Asunción) is a retired footballer from Paraguay. He started his career on Olimpia Asunción, and at the age of 18, noted by Juventus, Neffa moved on loan to Serie A club U.S. Cremone ...

, at the time playing with

U.S. Cremonese Unione Sportiva Cremonese, commonly referred to as Cremonese, is an Italian football club based in Cremona, Lombardy, which plays in the . History Cremonese was in the Serie A in its first season, 1929–30, but entered a long period of decli ...

. After the album ''SXM'' with the rap group

Sangue Misto Sangue Misto was an Italian band, one of the first groups of Italian hip hop. It was formed in Bologna in the early 1990s. Its members included Neffa and Deda (rappers, producers), and DJ Gruff (rapper, DJ, producer). Their only album, '' SXM'' (19 ...

, in 1996 Neffa started his solo career, with the successful album ''I messaggeri della dopa'' which was led by the single "Aspettando il sole". In the following albums he spanned various styles including funky, pop, soul, jazz and R&B, getting his major success in 2001 with the summer hit "La mia signorina" and the relevant album ''Arrivi e partenze''. The same year he was nominated as best Italian act at the

MTV Europe Music Awards The MTV Europe Music Awards (originally named MTV European Music Awards, commonly abbreviated as MTV EMA) are awards presented by Paramount International Networks to honour artists and music in pop culture. It was originally conceived as an a ...

. In 2004 he entered the main competition at the 54th edition of the

Sanremo Music Festival The Sanremo Music Festival, officially the Italian Song Festival () and commonly known as just (), is the most popular Italian song contest and awards ceremony, held annually in the city of Sanremo, Liguria. It is the longest-running annua ...

, placing ninth with the song "Le ore piccole". In 2007 Neffa composed the musical score of

Ferzan Özpetek Ferzan Özpetek (born 3 February 1959) is a Turkish-Italian film director and screenwriter, residing in Italy. Biography Ferzan Özpetek was born in Istanbul in 1959. In 1976, he decided to move to Italy to study Cinema History at Sapienza Unive ...

's ''

Saturn in Opposition ''Saturn in Opposition'' ( it, Saturno contro) is a 2007 Italian-Turkish drama film directed by Ferzan Özpetek. The Turkish title is ''Bir ömür yetmez''. It had its United States premiere at Frameline in San Francisco on 20 June 2008. Plot A ...

'', for which he won a

Globo d'oro The Globo d'oro (internationally known as Italian Golden Globe) is an Italian annual film award. It was established in 1960 and it has as jury the Rome Foreign Press Association. The first awards ceremony took place in 1960 and was won by the film ...

for best score and a

Nastro d'Argento The Nastro d'Argento, also known by its translated name Silver Ribbon, is an Italian film award awarded each year since 1946 by the Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists (Italian: ''Sindacato Nazionale Giornalisti Cinematografici Italiani ...

and a

Ciak d'oro ''Ciak'' is a popular Italian film magazine published in Milan, Italy. It is the most popular film magazine in Italy. The title is the Italian word (also spelled ''ciac'', for a film clapperboard. History and profile ''Ciak'' was established in 1 ...

for best original song ("Passione"). In 2010 he started the musical project Due di Picche with the rapper

J-Ax Alessandro Aleotti (; born 5 August 1972), known as J-Ax (), is an Italian rapper, formerly in the rap group Articolo 31 with his DJ Vito Luca Perrini (DJ Jad). He is the brother of Weedo (also known as Grido from boyband Gemelli DiVersi). On ...

. In 2016 he returned to compete at the 66th edition of the Sanremo Music Festival with the song "Sogni e nostalgia".

Discography

* 1996 – ''Neffa & i messaggeri della dopa'' * 1998 – ''107 elementi'' * 2001 – ''Arrivi e partenze'' * 2003 – ''I molteplici mondi di Giovanni, il cantante Neffa'' * 2006 – ''Alla fine della notte'' * 2009 – ''Sognando contromano'' * 2013 – ''Molto calmo'' * 2015 – ''Resistenza'' * 2021 – ''AmarAmmore''

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Neffa 1967 births Living people People from Scafati Italian singer-songwriters Italian male composers Italian songwriters Male songwriters Italian drummers Male drummers Nastro d'Argento winners Soul musicians Italian rappers Folk-pop singers Funk musicians