Caparezza

From Mikimix to Caparezza

CapaRezza ?! Salvemini returned to Molfetta with no intention to further pursue a musical career but soon began to compose music in his garage. He also stopped cutting his hair and beard and changed his pseudonym from Mikimix to Caparezza ("Curly Head" in the Molfetta dialect). In 2000 he published his first album under his new stage name?!. In the album, he rejects the music he produced as Mikimix in favor of his new musical style. Reviewing the album for AllMusic, Jason Birchmeier wrote "The Italian rapper drops his rhymes with just as much fluency and dexterity as his American peers throughout the album. [...] Caparezza's mastery of the Italian dialect [makes] this album so stunning." In a mixed review, AllMusic writer Mariano Prunes called it "ambitious but definitely overreaching", saying that "its length and unyielding energy can get grating as it goes along". In this album, recorded in Molfetta and then mixed in Los Angeles by Chris Lord-Alge, Caparezza uses as a medium several famous pieces of art as well as artistic movements to explain various concepts revolving around art and connected to it, but also modern themes and problematics – thus using art as a way to escape from the violence of the world as art creates a parallel, ideal reality. The artist describes this album as "his own museum" and the composition of the album describes a tour in this ideal museum of his.

The album has also been his first album to reach position nº 1 in the Italian FIMI album chart.

Prisoner 709 Announced the 13 June of the same year, on 15 September 2017 Caparezza's seventh album, Prisoner 709, is published. This concept album is greatly different from the previous ones as Salvemini imagines himself as a prisoner of his own mind: this album has been inspired from a crisis and a consequent deep depression born after Salvemini begun suffering tinnitus in 2015, condition around which the album revolves.

In this album, as already said, Salvemini talks about being caged inside his own mind and uses this as a way to express himself, his drive, his personal issues and his beliefs – also by comparing himself Michele and himself Caparezza (this is also highlighted by the fact that the "7" and the "9" in the album title are referring to the letters' number respectively of the names "Michele" and "Caparezza"). Every song of this album also has a subheading that tells step by step the various phases of imprisonment and jailbreak.

The album has been introduced by the videoclips of two songs: the nominal track "Prisoner 709" and the single "Ti fa stare bene" ("Makes You Feel Good"), published respectively on 7 and 15 September 2017. The publication of this two songs also reflect the duality of the album, with "Prisoner 709" having hard tones and an anguishing atmosphere while "Ti fa stare bene" is a more cheerful, light-hearted song. This duality is shown even further in the album special edition (called the "Escape Edition"), including two LPs, one black and one white, in which the songs are divided whether they were, respectively, sharp or energetic. On 12 January 2018, "Una chiave" ("A Key") is released as the second single of the album; the videoclip of the song is published on YouTube on 26 January. On 21 May is released the videoclip for the third single "Larsen".

Exuvia In 2021, Caparezza released his eighth solo album Exuvia. The rap-rock record was a jam-packed effort, with 19 songs included on the album. El Sendero, the biggest hit on the album featured Mishel Domenssain's vocals that evoke an oneiric quality. Another popular track from the record was La Scelta, which incorpated elements of funk.

Orbit Orbit Caparezza announced he would be working on a new album in October of 2024 via Instagram post. The following year BMG announced his signing to their label. In July of 2025, Orbit Orbit went on pre-order alongside a tie in comic book of the same name. Salvemini subsequently announced that he would return to touring in the summer of 2026. The music video for the first single, "Io Sono Il Viaggio" ("I am the Journey") dropped on his birthday date ( 9th of October). The album was released on 31st October.

Caparezza detailed that in Orbit Orbit he "tried to close a circle that start with Prisoner and continued into Exuvia, so, prisoner and escape. Now I am at the chapter on freedom." He stated that his hearing problems continued and where music did not, comics had helped him channel energy. During this appearance, he stated he drew inspiration for the album from Giorgio Moroder, Kraftwerk, and The Rockets, all artists he was interested in as a child. In a separate interview he talked about including sounds from science fiction movies.

Band members and collaborations Michele sings together with Diego Perrone, who replaced Stefano Ciannamea (the creator, and now administrator of Caparezza's official web site). Diego Perrone is also the lead singer in the band Medusa. Caparezza was also a member of Sunny Cola Connection, a group who sings in the Salento dialect. He has also worked with many other musicians, like the Italian rappers Puni, Piotta, 99 Posse ("Tarantelle pé campà") and Mondo Marcio and with pop musician Roy Paci & Aretuska, and with Medusa.

Caparezza's band includes Rino Corrieri (drums), Gaetano Camporeale (keyboards), Giovanni Astorino (bass) and Alfredo Ferrero (guitar).

Style and influences According to Jason Birchmeier, Caparezza's music features "an uncanny style of beats that defy much of the precedent established by [American hip hop]". Mariano Prunes describes Caparezza as "[defying] classification with his fascinating cross-contamination of styles". Caparezza's music incorporates breakbeats and live instrumentation, encompassing influence from American West Coast and East Coast hip hop, europop, Birchmeier says that Caparezza's beats "draw their sounds from everywhere" and "it's [his] experimental approach to beat-making, [and] mastery of the Italian dialect, [which makes his music] so stunning." Caparezza is backed by a rock band, rather than a DJ.

Discography As Mikimix Tengo duro (1997) La mia buona stella (1997)

As Caparezza ?! (2000) Verità supposte (2003) Habemus Capa (2006) Le dimensioni del mio caos (2008) Il sogno eretico (2011) Museica (2014) Prisoner 709 (2017) Exuvia (2021) Orbit Orbit (2025)