Blanco and Mahmood, the new world is here

Two young artists who are tearing apart rankings, prejudices, predictions and conjectures. Two guys outside the box, capable of conquering all of Italy with the purity of their universal message. We are obviously talking about Blanco and Mahmood, absolute protagonists of the new issue of Vanity Fair, on newsstands from tomorrow 23 February. The winners of Sanremo tell their stories as never before in 15 surprising pages of stories and visions. The images were taken by Luigi & Iango, two of the greatest photographers on an international level, talents loved by Madonna and other stars. The cover has all the iconic power of a poster destined to last: Blanco and Mahmood naked, with two doves on their shoulders and their gaze fixed on the reader: “We portrayed them like this because their stories are like a blank page, full of tattoos and of dreams, of youth, something so strong as to shake us all », writes the director Simone Marchetti in his editorial. The real country needs this. Of visions. Of dreams. Of freedom. Someone who has the courage to make us understand what we still don’t know we need to understand ».

In his interview, Blanco reflects: «Writing music has changed my life. I think everyone has something to bet on: you have to get your balls out and try, whatever it is. ” For music he gave up on football («I was a central defender, they called me a ‘blacksmith’») and studies («Leaving school is something that, however, I do not recommend to anyone: you really need an education»). At the beginning “it happened that every free minute I wrote, that I worked in a pizzeria to be able to pay for the recording studio, which I also sang at the Sagra della Porchetta, I hope the video never comes out because I was drunk”.

Then came Sanremo, an adventure that already on the first evening, with him tugging and hugging Mahmood on stage, conquered the audience, «It was an outlet, because I love Ale, but he’s a pain in the ass. He meant: oh, we did it! Then people made some crazy trips on that gesture. True, it was a gesture of passion. Even in a friendship there is passion ». Then the sudden and enormous success: «he has changed everything, maybe the only one who hasn’t changed is me». The risk, now, is to change, «and it would be bullshit because success came to me precisely because I am genuine. I could not keep it by changing this nature ». Blanco continues talking about love “There is Giulia, a person I care so much” and about the pain he spoke about in one of his most famous songs, Celeste: writing it helped him, “if you say something, you said, it is outside of you, it is no longer on your shoulders. It’s like placing something at the bottom of the sea. If I want to see it again, I know where to find it ».

The baton then passes to Mahmood, who, speaking of Chills and Sanremo, comments: «Both the song and the content have passed. It seems to me that even the people who appreciated the piece live the feelings like me, in complete freedom. Our country does not need to underline. Or rather: politically, the need is there, there is always. Homophobia is present in our society and I hope that the principles of the Zan bill become reality as soon as possible. I have always stood up in defense of rights, against gender discrimination. At the Festival this year a song sung by two singers arrived with two different love stories, two completely different experiences. When something is natural, spontaneous and taken for granted, people don’t give a damn: you have to normalize your feelings, not ghettoize them. “

The artist then dwells on his private life, talking about his mother (“She also acted as a father for me for a long time, I grew up a lot with her. That’s my strength. Seeing how one person can do for two) and about the father , absent for a long time: «I keep asking myself questions, but I don’t know, I can’t give myself answers. I haven’t heard from him for a while now. Maybe I’ll hear him later, I’ll meet him. Everyone in life has his own problems, his past traumas. It’s too easy to talk bad about someone all the time if you don’t know the whole story. And I think the same is true with my father. I like to keep myself neutral because I’m nobody to judge anyone, we all do shit in life ». Will the aspiration continue now, after the goals achieved? “That hunger is always there. When I reach something my happiness is beautiful, intense but short. And when that happiness ends I want to move on to the next step right away. And over the years the desire to do has always gotten bigger. The important thing is to always be honest in the songs. Don’t write lies. And every now and then I have written bullshit: I have listened to them again and I have thrown them away. I have thrown away a lot ».