It is alternative and ‘fluid’ in every way, from the sound to the visual, to the idea borrowed for a large part in the lyrics of her eccentric songs, born out of a need to express herself at 360 degrees without filters A not abusive language and traditional, which praises freedom: to be yourself, to express yourself, to love long and free sex, as you want and with whom you want. Rosa Chemical – real name Manuel Franco Rocati, 25, revelation artist of the seventeenth edition of the Sanremo Festival – took to the stage of the Arena del Mare in Porto Antico this evening (there will also be Mice Ceta and the opening, emerging Ligurian artists Emma, Halsey and Televitreo) as part of the concerts of the Live in Genoa festival, the review organized by Dumilagrandiventi which every year brings the best of the contemporary music scene to the Ligurian capital. The date takes place in collaboration with Liguria Pride and will be an opportunity to support gender inclusion and civil rights in the LGBT+ world through music and entertainment.
Let’s start with the concert: what should we expect?
A show suitable for everyone from children to adults, a party with a few moments of reflection and lots of dancing, my ‘old’ songs that fans know well and that have been appreciated by those who met me Sanremo At the festival, some unreleased, remixes and covers. I will be accompanied by a keyboardist and a guitarist, as well as a dancer.
What will he do?
“I will not anticipate anything, but I will tell you one thing: I am a big fan of Cesare Cremonini so a small tribute is dedicated to him”.
Cremonini? We expected more from him.
“But I really listen to everything, I’ve never had a favorite genre of music and I’m not a rapper as some people define me. I don’t come from rap, my background is rock, metal, pop and so on. My rating ranges from Justin Bieber to Marilyn Manson, Mina, Calcutta and, as mentioned, Cremonini.
What inspired you to throw yourself into music?
“I am a very creative person, I have always been passionate about music. This prompted me to go to London, I dropped everything, even my studies and went there. I worked a variety of jobs to make ends meet, from tattoo artist to graphic designer, layout designer for a fetish magazine, even a butcher. I wanted to make music, I spent everything I could on equipment to record and produce my songs, I lived in poverty and ate mostly rice and tuna. Besides, out of pride I didn’t want to ask my mother for money, I had to do it myself. When I hear that today’s youth don’t know what an apprenticeship is or don’t want to do it, I always reply ‘It depends who you’re working with.’ I did it all right, pausing. I had a goal. Finally the turning point has come.
Meanwhile, his mother always believed in him,
“My mother has always been close to me, she was the first woman to believe in me, she taught me to respect all living beings and what it means to be independent, she taught me to love. He never forced anything on me, he always tried to understand me even when I left high school. , For her my name is Roja Chemical, Roja is her name, she is 56 years old and of inquisitive nature. Chemical Derivatives as now known from the group My Chemical Romance, I loved them too.
She has modeled for Gucci in the past.
“Yes, in 2019 I did some advertising campaigns as well. My current job somehow pushes me to pose again, for example for shoots. But it was a parenthesis, a way of expressing the thousand aspects of me. Maybe soon I will become an actor despite my many tattoos, who knows”.
And that she represents the Italian sex?
“Actually ‘Cesso Italiano’ is a nickname given to me by fans because I’ve always been very open and direct in talking or discussing it, I’ve always approached it like many other topics, without any Of prejudice. I’ve always tried to normalize this thing, sex shouldn’t be taboo or always stigmatized.”
As in his songs…
“But I’m not shameless: I’m just being myself. My message is one of freedom, a slice of reality. Then yes, I love having sex, not just talking about it, taking pictures of it and taking pictures of myself doing it. Therefore? I don’t feel like a revolutionary, at a niche level it certainly happened already in the 80s, but I think I was the first to do it at a mainstream level; I brought a little erotic play on stage in Sanremo; First person to talk about sexy feet in a song with 30 million streams, always me.
After “Made in Italy”, with which he became most known, “Bello Guaglione” was released, a new song born from a sample of the famous “O’ Saracino” by Renato Carasone and Nicola Salerno.
“It was my producer’s idea, it is already a known song which is good for summer. I just gave it a meaning, a more fluid identity for today’s times. I co-wrote it with Alessandro La Cava and produced it with my historical collaborators, Bedop and Greg Willen. In short, we have overturned the model of the handsome “boy who makes all women ‘Nnammura'” to a handsome boy who wears heels to go out, is free from prejudice and Symbolizes love without pre-established rules. Criticisms? They don’t touch me. Sooner or later a lot of ignorance – in the sense of ignoring something – ends up in those who make decisions and set boundaries. Will go”.