“I can only tell you that my name is Liberato, I was born in Naples and I make music”
Liberato was well prepared for this pandemic: he’s been a masked man for the past four years. The enigmatic Italian singer really isn’t one for putting a face to a name: hood pulled up over his head, bandana covering all but his eyes and sunglasses on, he’s got vision yet provides no visuals.
However, the mysterious musician isn’t here to deny all your senses: he may be stingy on sightings, having taken the Banksy approach to publicity via the nagging allure of the unknowable, but he’s generous to a fault on sounds. He has been releasing songs in a steady drip, drip fashion since 2017 (including Massive Attack collaborations, more on which later), culminating in his first, eponymous album in 2019. His lyrics define eclecticism: listen closely and you’ll hear a mixture of Italian, French, Spanish and English. They contribute, on a number of levels, to an electric sound that merges trap, trip-hop and trance influences.
Another noticeable influence is musica neomelodica, or neomelodic music: it’s a style rooted in Naples that’s a fusion of Neapolitan love songs, a bit of Spanish guitar, cheesy pop and Euro-trance. And it makes perfect sense that Liberato would channel this genre (as well as throwing in some Neapolitan dialect) for this is a man who is clearly in love with Naples and, specifically, in love with Napoli.
Take a look at his music videos on YouTube and you’ll feel like you’re on a gritty sightseeing tour, with the Piazza Mercato, Quartieri Spagnoli, Lungomare and Mount Vesuvius among the hot spots that make an appearance. And in each video you’re guaranteed to see at least one reference to the football club, be it the stadium, flags, shirts, graffiti or some other nod to the Azzurri. Such regalia is noticeably out in force for We Come from Napoli, a collaboration with Massive Attack frontman 3D – otherwise known as Robert Del Naja, who was born in Bristol, comes from a Neapolitan family and supports Napoli (naturally). Liberato even namechecks a few players at the end of his second single, including captain Lorenzo Insigne.
Then there’s the fact that Liberato’s concerts always open with a remix of the Opus track Live is Life. Why? It’s the song that accompanied Diego Maradona’s famous warm-up routine before Napoli’s 1989 UEFA Cup semi-final in Munich.
Liberato was well prepared for this pandemic: he’s been a masked man for the past four years. The enigmatic Italian singer really isn’t one for putting a face to a name: hood pulled up over his head, bandana covering all but his eyes and sunglasses on, he’s got vision yet provides no visuals.
However, the mysterious musician isn’t here to deny all your senses: he may be stingy on sightings, having taken the Banksy approach to publicity via the nagging allure of the unknowable, but he’s generous to a fault on sounds. He has been releasing songs in a steady drip, drip fashion since 2017 (including Massive Attack collaborations, more on which later), culminating in his first, eponymous album in 2019. His lyrics define eclecticism: listen closely and you’ll hear a mixture of Italian, French, Spanish and English. They contribute, on a number of levels, to an electric sound that merges trap, trip-hop and trance influences.
Another noticeable influence is musica neomelodica, or neomelodic music: it’s a style rooted in Naples that’s a fusion of Neapolitan love songs, a bit of Spanish guitar, cheesy pop and Euro-trance. And it makes perfect sense that Liberato would channel this genre (as well as throwing in some Neapolitan dialect) for this is a man who is clearly in love with Naples and, specifically, in love with Napoli.
Take a look at his music videos on YouTube and you’ll feel like you’re on a gritty sightseeing tour, with the Piazza Mercato, Quartieri Spagnoli, Lungomare and Mount Vesuvius among the hot spots that make an appearance. And in each video you’re guaranteed to see at least one reference to the football club, be it the stadium, flags, shirts, graffiti or some other nod to the Azzurri. Such regalia is noticeably out in force for We Come from Napoli, a collaboration with Massive Attack frontman 3D – otherwise known as Robert Del Naja, who was born in Bristol, comes from a Neapolitan family and supports Napoli (naturally). Liberato even namechecks a few players at the end of his second single, including captain Lorenzo Insigne.
Then there’s the fact that Liberato’s concerts always open with a remix of the Opus track Live is Life. Why? It’s the song that accompanied Diego Maradona’s famous warm-up routine before Napoli’s 1989 UEFA Cup semi-final in Munich.
Back to those videos, though. They are directed by another Neapolitan maestro in the form of Francesco Lettieri, who has made his name by putting together visuals for music but has recently helmed his first feature film. It’s a Netflix movie about fan culture in his home town – and you can probably guess who provided the soundtrack.
But wait: are director and composer one and the same? That’s one of the many theories doing the rounds as Liberato fans try to get to the bottom of the singer’s elusive identity. Other hypotheses: that he’s Emanuele Cerullo, a writer from the notorious suburb of Scampia; that he’s Italian rapper Livio Cori; or that he’s actually a team of rappers. He doesn’t make things any easier at his gigs, with three separate performers dressed as identical Liberatos having appeared on stage at the same time.
“I don’t care who Liberato is – for days I have been injecting Nove Maggio and Tu t’e scurdat’ ’e me into my eardrums.” Praise for two of Liberato’s best-known tracks from none other than Roberto Saviano, another Naples native and author of bestselling book Gomorrah. Mayor Luigi De Magistris has also declared himself a fan, suggesting in 2018 that he would be attending a concert on the Lungomare. He was in good company: the free gig ended up attracting more than 20,000 people from across Italy, smashing the expected turnout of about 6,000.
So Liberato loves Naples and the city, particularly Napoli’s fanbase, loves him right back. That’s even though – or perhaps because – they are showing their appreciation for an idea, a shared passion, as opposed to feeling a palpable connection to a fellow person. In a rare interview that he gave to the Italian version of Rolling Stone (via email rather than in person or on the phone), he endeavoured to simplify things: “I can only tell you that my name is Liberato, I was born in Naples and I make music.”
Of course, that still leaves us with a lot of unanswered questions.
Liberato was well prepared for this pandemic: he’s been a masked man for the past four years. The enigmatic Italian singer really isn’t one for putting a face to a name: hood pulled up over his head, bandana covering all but his eyes and sunglasses on, he’s got vision yet provides no visuals.
However, the mysterious musician isn’t here to deny all your senses: he may be stingy on sightings, having taken the Banksy approach to publicity via the nagging allure of the unknowable, but he’s generous to a fault on sounds. He has been releasing songs in a steady drip, drip fashion since 2017 (including Massive Attack collaborations, more on which later), culminating in his first, eponymous album in 2019. His lyrics define eclecticism: listen closely and you’ll hear a mixture of Italian, French, Spanish and English. They contribute, on a number of levels, to an electric sound that merges trap, trip-hop and trance influences.
Another noticeable influence is musica neomelodica, or neomelodic music: it’s a style rooted in Naples that’s a fusion of Neapolitan love songs, a bit of Spanish guitar, cheesy pop and Euro-trance. And it makes perfect sense that Liberato would channel this genre (as well as throwing in some Neapolitan dialect) for this is a man who is clearly in love with Naples and, specifically, in love with Napoli.
Take a look at his music videos on YouTube and you’ll feel like you’re on a gritty sightseeing tour, with the Piazza Mercato, Quartieri Spagnoli, Lungomare and Mount Vesuvius among the hot spots that make an appearance. And in each video you’re guaranteed to see at least one reference to the football club, be it the stadium, flags, shirts, graffiti or some other nod to the Azzurri. Such regalia is noticeably out in force for We Come from Napoli, a collaboration with Massive Attack frontman 3D – otherwise known as Robert Del Naja, who was born in Bristol, comes from a Neapolitan family and supports Napoli (naturally). Liberato even namechecks a few players at the end of his second single, including captain Lorenzo Insigne.
Then there’s the fact that Liberato’s concerts always open with a remix of the Opus track Live is Life. Why? It’s the song that accompanied Diego Maradona’s famous warm-up routine before Napoli’s 1989 UEFA Cup semi-final in Munich.
Liberato was well prepared for this pandemic: he’s been a masked man for the past four years. The enigmatic Italian singer really isn’t one for putting a face to a name: hood pulled up over his head, bandana covering all but his eyes and sunglasses on, he’s got vision yet provides no visuals.
However, the mysterious musician isn’t here to deny all your senses: he may be stingy on sightings, having taken the Banksy approach to publicity via the nagging allure of the unknowable, but he’s generous to a fault on sounds. He has been releasing songs in a steady drip, drip fashion since 2017 (including Massive Attack collaborations, more on which later), culminating in his first, eponymous album in 2019. His lyrics define eclecticism: listen closely and you’ll hear a mixture of Italian, French, Spanish and English. They contribute, on a number of levels, to an electric sound that merges trap, trip-hop and trance influences.
Another noticeable influence is musica neomelodica, or neomelodic music: it’s a style rooted in Naples that’s a fusion of Neapolitan love songs, a bit of Spanish guitar, cheesy pop and Euro-trance. And it makes perfect sense that Liberato would channel this genre (as well as throwing in some Neapolitan dialect) for this is a man who is clearly in love with Naples and, specifically, in love with Napoli.
Take a look at his music videos on YouTube and you’ll feel like you’re on a gritty sightseeing tour, with the Piazza Mercato, Quartieri Spagnoli, Lungomare and Mount Vesuvius among the hot spots that make an appearance. And in each video you’re guaranteed to see at least one reference to the football club, be it the stadium, flags, shirts, graffiti or some other nod to the Azzurri. Such regalia is noticeably out in force for We Come from Napoli, a collaboration with Massive Attack frontman 3D – otherwise known as Robert Del Naja, who was born in Bristol, comes from a Neapolitan family and supports Napoli (naturally). Liberato even namechecks a few players at the end of his second single, including captain Lorenzo Insigne.
Then there’s the fact that Liberato’s concerts always open with a remix of the Opus track Live is Life. Why? It’s the song that accompanied Diego Maradona’s famous warm-up routine before Napoli’s 1989 UEFA Cup semi-final in Munich.
Liberato was well prepared for this pandemic: he’s been a masked man for the past four years. The enigmatic Italian singer really isn’t one for putting a face to a name: hood pulled up over his head, bandana covering all but his eyes and sunglasses on, he’s got vision yet provides no visuals.
However, the mysterious musician isn’t here to deny all your senses: he may be stingy on sightings, having taken the Banksy approach to publicity via the nagging allure of the unknowable, but he’s generous to a fault on sounds. He has been releasing songs in a steady drip, drip fashion since 2017 (including Massive Attack collaborations, more on which later), culminating in his first, eponymous album in 2019. His lyrics define eclecticism: listen closely and you’ll hear a mixture of Italian, French, Spanish and English. They contribute, on a number of levels, to an electric sound that merges trap, trip-hop and trance influences.
Another noticeable influence is musica neomelodica, or neomelodic music: it’s a style rooted in Naples that’s a fusion of Neapolitan love songs, a bit of Spanish guitar, cheesy pop and Euro-trance. And it makes perfect sense that Liberato would channel this genre (as well as throwing in some Neapolitan dialect) for this is a man who is clearly in love with Naples and, specifically, in love with Napoli.
Take a look at his music videos on YouTube and you’ll feel like you’re on a gritty sightseeing tour, with the Piazza Mercato, Quartieri Spagnoli, Lungomare and Mount Vesuvius among the hot spots that make an appearance. And in each video you’re guaranteed to see at least one reference to the football club, be it the stadium, flags, shirts, graffiti or some other nod to the Azzurri. Such regalia is noticeably out in force for We Come from Napoli, a collaboration with Massive Attack frontman 3D – otherwise known as Robert Del Naja, who was born in Bristol, comes from a Neapolitan family and supports Napoli (naturally). Liberato even namechecks a few players at the end of his second single, including captain Lorenzo Insigne.
Then there’s the fact that Liberato’s concerts always open with a remix of the Opus track Live is Life. Why? It’s the song that accompanied Diego Maradona’s famous warm-up routine before Napoli’s 1989 UEFA Cup semi-final in Munich.
Back to those videos, though. They are directed by another Neapolitan maestro in the form of Francesco Lettieri, who has made his name by putting together visuals for music but has recently helmed his first feature film. It’s a Netflix movie about fan culture in his home town – and you can probably guess who provided the soundtrack.
But wait: are director and composer one and the same? That’s one of the many theories doing the rounds as Liberato fans try to get to the bottom of the singer’s elusive identity. Other hypotheses: that he’s Emanuele Cerullo, a writer from the notorious suburb of Scampia; that he’s Italian rapper Livio Cori; or that he’s actually a team of rappers. He doesn’t make things any easier at his gigs, with three separate performers dressed as identical Liberatos having appeared on stage at the same time.
“I don’t care who Liberato is – for days I have been injecting Nove Maggio and Tu t’e scurdat’ ’e me into my eardrums.” Praise for two of Liberato’s best-known tracks from none other than Roberto Saviano, another Naples native and author of bestselling book Gomorrah. Mayor Luigi De Magistris has also declared himself a fan, suggesting in 2018 that he would be attending a concert on the Lungomare. He was in good company: the free gig ended up attracting more than 20,000 people from across Italy, smashing the expected turnout of about 6,000.
So Liberato loves Naples and the city, particularly Napoli’s fanbase, loves him right back. That’s even though – or perhaps because – they are showing their appreciation for an idea, a shared passion, as opposed to feeling a palpable connection to a fellow person. In a rare interview that he gave to the Italian version of Rolling Stone (via email rather than in person or on the phone), he endeavoured to simplify things: “I can only tell you that my name is Liberato, I was born in Naples and I make music.”
Of course, that still leaves us with a lot of unanswered questions.
Liberato was well prepared for this pandemic: he’s been a masked man for the past four years. The enigmatic Italian singer really isn’t one for putting a face to a name: hood pulled up over his head, bandana covering all but his eyes and sunglasses on, he’s got vision yet provides no visuals.
However, the mysterious musician isn’t here to deny all your senses: he may be stingy on sightings, having taken the Banksy approach to publicity via the nagging allure of the unknowable, but he’s generous to a fault on sounds. He has been releasing songs in a steady drip, drip fashion since 2017 (including Massive Attack collaborations, more on which later), culminating in his first, eponymous album in 2019. His lyrics define eclecticism: listen closely and you’ll hear a mixture of Italian, French, Spanish and English. They contribute, on a number of levels, to an electric sound that merges trap, trip-hop and trance influences.
Another noticeable influence is musica neomelodica, or neomelodic music: it’s a style rooted in Naples that’s a fusion of Neapolitan love songs, a bit of Spanish guitar, cheesy pop and Euro-trance. And it makes perfect sense that Liberato would channel this genre (as well as throwing in some Neapolitan dialect) for this is a man who is clearly in love with Naples and, specifically, in love with Napoli.
Take a look at his music videos on YouTube and you’ll feel like you’re on a gritty sightseeing tour, with the Piazza Mercato, Quartieri Spagnoli, Lungomare and Mount Vesuvius among the hot spots that make an appearance. And in each video you’re guaranteed to see at least one reference to the football club, be it the stadium, flags, shirts, graffiti or some other nod to the Azzurri. Such regalia is noticeably out in force for We Come from Napoli, a collaboration with Massive Attack frontman 3D – otherwise known as Robert Del Naja, who was born in Bristol, comes from a Neapolitan family and supports Napoli (naturally). Liberato even namechecks a few players at the end of his second single, including captain Lorenzo Insigne.
Then there’s the fact that Liberato’s concerts always open with a remix of the Opus track Live is Life. Why? It’s the song that accompanied Diego Maradona’s famous warm-up routine before Napoli’s 1989 UEFA Cup semi-final in Munich.
“I can only tell you that my name is Liberato, I was born in Naples and I make music”
“I can only tell you that my name is Liberato, I was born in Naples and I make music”
“I can only tell you that my name is Liberato, I was born in Naples and I make music”
