Afro-Italian rapper Mista Tolu has released a new track reflecting on the current situation in Italy.
Titled “Welcome to Italy”, the new song tries to describe the country from the perspective of a young second generation Italian. (story continues after the photo)
Mista Tolu is a second generation immigrant living in Castiglione delle Stiviere, Mantova. His parents are originally from Nigeria.
“I sing about how the country is changing, about the impact of the social media on the people and about the young people’s emptiness and lack of dreams,” Mista Tolu says.
The track features Anastasia (Tacita Muta) whose sweet way of singing the chorus and pronouncing the words “Welcome to Italy” made Mista Tolu abandon the original title and decided to name it “Welcome to Italy”.
Instead of trying to use a song to pass across a message, Mista Tolu says, at times it is just enough to describe the situation and help people see what’s really going on in their environment. (story continues after the photo)
“Sometimes I realize that my Italian friends have no idea about what it is like to be a second generation Italian – they do not know about our struggles, the hostility we have to face and they don’t know anything about the lifestyle we live,” Mista Tolu says.
He blames the mainstream Italian media for ignoring the second generation Italians.
“Welcome to Italy” which is an independently produced track, will be part of an EP to be released in 2015.
Mista Tolu has been working with an Italian producer Matteo Nolli (Studionost) to develop a new sound. In this new track, various musicians were brought in to play real instruments. “We did this in order to give the track a real authentic feel,” Mista Tolu says.
Francesco Saviola helped produce the instrumental; Francesco Venturini played the trumpet while Anastasia (Tacita Muta) laid the vocals.
Mista Tolu says he would like to see more Italians “who are passionate about something – any form of art, sports, etc.”
“Go out there, find something that you love, and do it better than anyone else,” he says.
