Jovanotti
Jovanotti For President

Jovanotti made his debut in 1988 with "Jovanotti For President". This album represented a breakthrough and at the same time a novelty in terms of mass music consumption in Italy. For the first time, an album of Rap and electronics, produced by a team of Disc Jockeys and built on the basis of Samples and loops, which someone not in step with the times defined as "workshop music", achieved incredible success in Italy (400,000 copies sold). In my opinion, the components of this exploit were several: a) "Jovanotti For President" was an extremely innovative and vibrant product aimed at a young 'target', and for this reason, it was appreciated by many young people, who were often "overwhelmed" by proposals of mushy romantic Pop music b) Jovanotti's ability to engage the audience, his positive energy, his 'Live' charisma, the fact that Lorenzo was and is a true multimedia character (radio, TV, disco) c) the strength and brilliance of Claudio Cecchetto in record production.

Let's evaluate the musical aspect of the product, track by track: 1) "Go Jovanotti Go" authentic Rock Rap charge with angry guitars in the style of the Beastie Boys of "No Sleep Till Brooklyn" and "Fight For Your Right"; the piece showcases all of Lorenzo's grit and energy 2) "Party President" a very vibrant and festive track on a House base, it seems like a live performance where DJ Jovanotti interacts with his audience 3) "Gimme Five" a very popular and successful track that needs no introduction, very energetic and engaging, with a '70s Funk style rhythm and a typical '80s Sound; two other versions were produced "Gimme Five 2" (Rasta Five) and "Gimme Five 3" (Acid Five) 4) "I Need You" is a more intimate track (always speaking relatively to DJ music) where Jovanotti talks on the phone with his girlfriend and the discussion, initially calm, suddenly livens up and is accompanied by an electronic base with very powerful bass 5) "The Rappers" Lorenzo's tribute to all the musical figures who influenced him in his life and who accompanied his many nights spent in front of the mixer and with the microphone in hand rapping; the track is the best Rap on the record and Lorenzo, rapping, cites all the forefathers of the genre from James Brown to LL Cool J, from Afrika Bambaataa to Run DMC, from Beastie Boys to Public Enemy and so on...

6) "Jovanotti Sound" based on a splendid Funk base, the Song is a kind of "Sex Machine" by James Brown with the late '80s electronic Sound 7) "Ragamuffin" a track on a Reggae base, very fun and ideal for parties and celebrations with friends 8) "Mix" an authentic DJ track (Samples mixed on an electronic base) that wants to be a tribute to the work of the DJ itself (how wonderful to mix, find the right Sound, create the situation and get people dancing!). But the true masterpiece is 9) "Funk Lab" an incredibly innovative track that, between one Sample and another, in 4 minutes summarizes the album "Jovanotti For President" and much of the Dance Hits of the '70s and '80s. As Jovanotti says in his album presentation brochure: "Funklab" is legendary. For "Funklab" we risk being arrested. It was the first piece we did, and basically, it's made with nothing, a base "stolen" from a record, and the instruments on the base "stolen" from other records. So in the end, we did nothing, we just created the situation.

This is important in the key interpretation of listening to "Jovanotti For President": evaluating not only the musical aspect but the innovation and ideas it proposed, the situation that is created. With this album, musical elements from genres like Hip-Hop and early House, hardly accepted by the Italian general public at the time, were made accessible. Jovanotti in subsequent works will refine his style and Sound and will surround himself with very talented musicians, but probably, without the experience of this album, his 'historic' tracks like 'L'Ombelico del Mondo' and 'Penso Positivo' would never have been born.