Rkomi: “Thanks to my cazzimma”

This article appeared in issue 21 of Vanity Fair, on newsstands until May 25, 2021.

Cowe fuck with tattoos. There is the eagle, engraved on the skin by his friend Falco on the occasion of the release of some songs, in 2016. There is a Maori symbol, legacy of a cultural passion of his brother. There are two fighters who salute the muay thai, Thai boxing. There is a medieval graphic, there is a little heart, there are many other small ornaments. Of all he says: «Unfortunately I have them».

Why unfortunately? “I’m a thread tamarri, I would have done well to avoid making them, luckily my tastes have matured with me over the years”.

In recent years Rkomi, born Mirko Martorana, who is 27 years old, has become one of the most promising names in Italian music, starting from rap and above all from nothing. Neapolitan family immigrated to Milan, father never known, single mother who brings up two children alone, council house in a suburb, Calvairate, little money and a lot of thirst for social revenge. With a special encounter that changes the course of his life forever: a muay thai teacher, who teaches Mirko not so much to hit, but the value of awareness, discipline, the practice of meditation and a passion for books. All things that help him when in the evening, after the exhausting shifts as a bartender and waiter, he goes to the studio to improvise lyrics and record songs, with the dream of living on music. After the first ep, Dj Shablo and Marracash, illustrious names in the world of rap, notice it. The rest is recent history: albums, important collaborations, Jovanotti who wants him at his Jova Beach Party at Linate in Milan. Today is the time for the new chart album, Taxi Driver, less rap and much more pop, with guests including Tommaso Paradiso, Gaia, Gazzelle, Sfera Ebbasta and Dardust among others.

Was she too tamarro?
“Never been a great tamarro, but in Calvairate, in my neighborhood, the tastes were the same: very tight clothes, brands in sight, huge shoes”.

What tribe were you in?
“My company was very cheap, we were less concerned with clothes and more with concrete things, like how to keep oneself. We did not have the myth of money, which I see spreading today instead ».

Does he still live there?
“No, but I often go there because my mother can’t get her out of the neighborhood, she likes it so much. And then there I opened a non-profit gym, where muay thai, yoga, tai chi are taught. We charge members based on income ».

Something left.
“I think so. I like the idea of ​​giving anyone the opportunity to participate, just as my teacher years ago made me follow his courses practically for free ».

Why did you open this gym?
“Because I wished there was such a place close to home when I was a teenager, muay thai saved me.”

From what?
“From the worst version of myself, which I’ve never actually seen but was creeping into my life. At 17 I left school, the hotel institute, shortly after I started working in bars and restaurants, at 18 I went to live alone. Then with a friend of mine, Tedua (rapper, ed), and other guys. I was struggling to meet basic needs, such as filling the fridge. I took 1,100 euros: I spent 500 on rent, 300 on food and the rest to try to make music ».

What’s the worst version of her like?
“I don’t know her exactly, I might not have done anything senseless, but a life without hope and full of anger is perhaps the worst thing that can happen to you.”

What did muay thai teach you?
«Discipline and mentality. I’m not a good fighter, but I really like the spiritual part, it helps me to think less, to stay in the present ».

One thinks of a rapper and does not associate him with spirituality. Is it a cliché?
«Apart from that I do a hybrid musical genre and not strictly rap, but in reality many artists like me practice meditation. Jovanotti, for example ».

Jovanotti started from rap like her and is an admirer of hers.
“Yes, he said of me: ‘I like Rkomi because he doesn’t go pissing in the poles where the others have stopped.’ Excuse the language, but it is a beautiful compliment and I find myself there: I never conform to what others do but not even to my past. I aim to evolve, to grow, I am constantly changing, I try to study and deepen ».

Are you sorry you dropped out of school?
“A lot, I only have eighth grade and it’s a bit of a shame. It didn’t take much to graduate. But sooner or later I’ll finish school and I also want to graduate, I’d like to study Philosophy ».

He said he already studies alone.
“Yes, everything I watch, every film, every record I listen to … Everything is material to study, I enjoy almost nothing, I’m always taking notes”.

How did he do it during the lockdowns?
“I was fine because I had the opportunity to slow down and started studying piano. I take lessons five days a week from a very good boy who has been playing since he was five ».

Why did you approach the music you played that comes from rap?
“I’ve always cherished the idea of ​​writing my pieces on the piano. It is the first time that I study an instrument and today when I talk about this passion I am also careful about how I tell it because there is always the risk of abandoning ».

Is he a little constant person?
«Actually, no, when I work hard I do it to the maximum, but in the past I started studying the guitar and then I gave up. I had probably not chosen the teacher well ».

In his life the masters are very important.
«Muay Thai has changed everything. He had never read a book before he was 25, then he became a great reader, he gave me his first books: Paulo Coelho, Osho, Orwell, for example. Maybe they are trivial titles for those who read a lot, but then I started to have my tastes, I finished recently The unbearable lightness of being and now I’m reading Lolita di Nabokov ».

Beautiful. Do books influence your music?
“I think so, but I don’t even want to find out where certain images come from.”

The most beautiful of the album?
“” My heart is attached to a parachute, you will drag me into the sand while I burn “, from Sea that you are not, a song that I sing with Gaia ».

There is also a piece, 10 girls, which mimics the song by Lucio Battisti.
“Yes, there is a quote, I too found myself in that situation where you can’t decide between different people.”

And in the end did he choose?
“I don’t know if I will ever choose or if I will ever be chosen, given my confusion. I like women so much, they inspire me too, but I fall in and out of love with the same ease. Now I have acquaintances, but I am always respectful, I never make fun of anyone ».

The album is titled Taxi Driver. What do you like about Martin Scorsese’s film?
“I must have seen it at least six times. It’s a disruptive film, I love seeing all of Travis Bickle’s personalities, I love De Niro. I liked the image of the taxi for the concept of the album which is full of passengers, my guests, which I carry around the city in unknown territories. Then there is also De Niro’s idea of ​​Vietnam, which in my case is my past, with due proportions ».

Did that past give you an extra boost?
“Yes definitely. The desire for revenge made me get this far, it is there cazzimma, the determination you only have if you come from certain contexts ».

Do you still have it?
“Sure. But it is a more cultural revenge today: there is less anger inside ».

He didn’t tell me where he lives today.
«In a large villa outside Milan, with an 800 square meter garden, I bought it last year. With the pandemic I discovered that I like tranquility, being in peace outside the noise of the city, the fireplace, barbecuing with friends and relatives, lying in the hammock ».

How did your mother react when she bought the villa?
«She is very proud. He often comes to visit me, as does my brother who lives near me. The beauty is that we are all fine, something that was not taken for granted for us ».

Photo by Cosimo Buccoleri.

Blouson in denim, Dsquared2. Ha collaborato Davide Spinella. Grooming Kim Gutierrez@studiorepossi.