Almamegretta

About

This Neapolitan group's name is a macaronic Latin and Italian phrase meaning "migrant soul" and is a testament to the continued displacement and mixing of people and ideas. Multiculturalism Italian-style. Raiss, Gennaro T, Paolo and D.RaD formed the group in the early 1990s with a musical and ideological commitment to the use of the Neapolitan dialect as oppose to standard Italian, to the exploration of musical mixing of roots music from their home region of Campania with reggae, funk, and North and Sub-Saharan Africa musical traditions, and to the exploration of political and social issues like the historical exploitation of the Italian South and racism against immigrants in Italy. Raiss left the band in 2003 to embarked on a solo career. He was replaced by Lucariello. In November 2004, 38-year-old D. RaD aka Stefano Facchielli, one of the group's founding members died in a scooter accident in Milan.