Who is Big Fish? Producer biography

Recording activities of Massimiliano Dagani in art Big fishas a DJ and producer begins in 1994 with “Especially Downstairs”Sottotono’s debut album: first single “My ladybug” he immediately became a hit of the era, drawing the attention of the whole country to the project.

1996 is the year of the consecration of the duet created by the producer. Big fish and rapper/singer Tormento: their second album “Under the influence of stone” reaches the double platinum milestone and each of the three extracted singles (“Tranquillo”, “Solo Lei Ha Quel Che Volo” and “Dimmi Di Sbagliato Che C’è”) exceeds 200,000 copies sold.

Thanks to their extraordinary success, they performed on stages all over Italy, including the Festivalbar (in which they received the award for the best artist of the year in 1997) and MTV Days in 1997 and 1999. In 1999, “Sotto Lo Stesso” was released by Effect, Sottotono’s third LP, which stylistically maintains an unmistakable mix of West Coast rap, r’n’b and soul.

In 2001, after participating in the Sanremo festival with “Half-truth”release “…In Teoria”, their last album before the breakup of Sottotono.

2001 to 2005 Big fish he mainly devotes himself to the activities of a disc jockey, playing in the most important clubs in Italy: in 2005 he contains in his first solo album “Robe Grosse” the club sound of his DJ sets, using collaborations with artists such as Esa, Kelly Joyce, Mondo Marcio and Vacca.

Thanks to the remarkable results obtained, 6 singles were extracted from the album: “Resta Ancora”, “Grossa”, “Cos’è Che Volta Da Me”, “Niente E’ Per Semper”, “Tu Mi Porti Su” and “Fa Ugly”. In 2006 Big fish

produces “Betrayal” The Fabri Fibra album that brought success to the March rapper, selling over 130,000 copies and laying the foundation for a new cycle of mainstream rap in Italy; in 2007 the results are repeated with the next album “Liar”.

WITH Big fish he has established himself as a reference producer of the italian hip hop/urban scene, working on albums and singles for artists such as Amis Killa, Jake La Furia, Gue Pequeno, Elodie, Eliza, Gemon, Nesli, Rocco Hunt, Ensi and many more. 2012 is the year Big Fish is once again focusing on solo activities as they begin work on their second official album. “Nothing personal”which will be released in 2013 and expected as singles “Dance” (with the participation of Nesli), “Only with a microphone” (featuring Caparezza) and “I do” (featuring Morgan).

After twenty years in the world of hip-hop, in which he dictated trends and anticipated fashion, it was time for Italy’s number one urban producer to take on a new challenge: to combine the worlds of electronic music and songwriting to kick-start. and renewal of the Italian music scene. His tribute to Lucio Dalla in a drum and bass key at the finale of X-Factor 6 last December marks a conviction Big fish that the evolutionary trajectories of the Italian song cannot ignore, on the one hand, the historical and artistic contribution of the songwriters of our tradition, and, on the other hand, the sonic research that gives the music quality and evolution.

Looking forward to the release of the album in the summer of 2013. Big fish brings dubstep to prime time on Rai 1 at the Wind Music Awards and at the stadiums of San Siro (Milan) and Olimpico (Rome), presenting with Negramaro his remix of the single “A simple story”, which will be included in “Niente”. di Staff””.

Expected at the end of August, the fourth single – the drum version of “Let me lick the Adrenaline”, sung for the occasion by Manuel Agnelli – “Niente di Staff” will be released in digital stores on September 24th. Italian market, since 2015 Big fish also becomes the protagonist of the international electronic music scene: September 1, 2015 on Mad Decent, the label of Diplodei Major Lazer, his new project “Midnight Express” is released, followed by the single “Everyone has what he deserves (Theron remix)”. (featuring Fabry Fibre).

Shortly thereafter, he always released his remix of the Diplo & Sleepy Tom single “Be Right There” on Mad Decent and then a mix for Diplo & Friends on BBC Radio 1Xtra. In February 2016, he released two important new releases: the single “Go” (featuring Elisa) and the new official version of Anastacia’s hit “I’m Outta Love”, exactly 16 years after the original was released. The single can be heard on Anastasia’s YouTube/Vevo channel.

Officially joined the line-up of Mad Decent, on June 30, 2016 he released a new EP for the Good Enuff sub-label. “Manifesto”, which immediately receives positive reviews from artists such as Diplo, Major Lazer, Dillon Francis and 4B. 2017 opens with his new single. “Get Crazy” with Kende and David Blank, released by Dim Mak, Steve Aoki’s label.

On March 31, his official remix for “Run” new Major Lazer single with Partynextdoor and Nicki Minaj, for whom he also mixes for their Lazer Sound radio show on Apple Music (he is the first Italian artist).

In 2018, he worked for The X Factor as a coach and art producer for Manuel Agnelli’s team in the Under Women category. Moon Single “Los Angeles”which he produced reaches the platinum disc mark. February 15, 2019 he releases his new single “Torsida”, in collaboration with some of the top Italian rappers: Jake La Furia, Fabri Fibra, Emis Killa, Chadia Rodriguez. A song with samples and a strong influence of the 90s, mixed with a modern sound.

Along the same lines “Fucked Up” which comes out in April 2019 and is a collaboration between Tormento, Nitro and Nerone. He also works for The X Factor in the 2019 edition producing Sierra’s unreleased platinum single “Enfasi”. In May 2020, Mondadori publishes his book “The Circus Director” in which he speaks primarily to aspiring musicians and emerging artists, sharing his knowledge and valuable advice, as well as providing basic guidelines for building a solid and lasting career.

Big fish he is also an entrepreneur who, in the course of his career, founded various structures that act as labels and managers for new talent: after the experience of Area Cronica in the 90s, Doner Music was born in 2006, which launched artists such as Rancore, Nesli , Ensi and electronic music producers with international experience such as Aquadrop, Kharfi, Retrohandz. In 2019, Yalla Movement was born, a new structure along with Jake La Furia that handles label and management for artists such as Chadia Rodriguez, Luna Melis. , Neyma Ezza and many others.

In 2020, he founded Tempo Academy, an educational portal that aims to be the new reference model for smart learning in the music field, with well-known professionals in the field such as Big Fish himself, Marco Zangirolami, Giuliano Salha, TY1, Low Kidd. Tempo Academy launched in October 2020 in collaboration with Tik Tok, and its challenge reaches 10 million views in one week, and also ranks first in the platform’s trends.

In 2023 Big fish appears at the Sanremo Festival as Georgia’s conductor during the performance “The words are poorly spoken.”

(last updated: August 6, 2023)