Alessio Mariani better known with the pseudonym Murubutu or also M-theory and Roc Mariani (Reggio nell’Emilia, July 27, 1975) is an Italian rapper.
He is the founder and voice of the Reggio Emilian band La Kattiveria. His music, defined as “literary-inspired rap” or “letteraturap,” distinguishes Murubutu (solo) from all other Italian rappers, making him unique in his genre because he is particularly skilled at mixing rap, literature, history and non-fiction. Peculiarity that places the artist among the best storytellers known to the Italian rap music scene.
He first approached the world of hip hop as a breaker, skater and writer, then later as an MC. The latter would prove to be his unique and definitive artistic vocation. He began his artistic career in 1991 in Reggio nell’Emilia when with Depy MC, Mastrosuono and Muracaman he founded the Kattiveria Posse, the first musical band in Reggio nell’Emilia linked to the Posse phenomenon. It becomes known for theatrical performances based on Political rap with the use of period costumes, as well as for its successes in various regional music competitions. At the end of 1999, a radical line up mutation takes place; Dj Gamon, U.G.O. and Il Tenente will join the crew. The name of the band is changed to La Kattiveria. In the nine years of activity the Posse will produce a demotape, Nati in Kattività (1993) and an EP, Scellerati nella prassi (1998).
With La Kattiveria, which to date is composed of Murubutu himself, Il Tenente, U.G.O., Yanez Muraca and Dj Caster, he produced two albums: in 2006 Dove vola l’Avvoltoio and Sillabum Delirorum in 2008. In 2009, at the same time as the La Kattiveria project, he embarked on a solo career by releasing his first album entitled Il giovane Mariani e altri racconti, while in 2011 he presented his second album La bellissima Giulietta e il suo povero padre grafomane. In Murubutu’s solo albums, the artist’s desire to propose a rap that conveys messages close to songwriting stands out, freeing it from the cliché that identifies it as a genre for teenagers only.
In Bologna, after one of his concerts held in early January 2014, he was accused by members of Forza Nuova (F.N.) of praising left-wing extremism after singing the song Martino and the Cherry Tree. According to F.N., the “Martino” mentioned in the song is identified as Prospero Gallinari, a never repentant Red Brigades exponent who was one of those responsible for the Moro kidnapping. With Martino and the Cherry tree Murubutu always declared that he never supported the armed struggle and made apologia for it. The song, which, today is one of the most appreciated pieces by his fans, the artist declared that he had been freely inspired by a book written by Gallinari, but that it was precisely sociological and anthropological storytelling, and from the stage Murubutu himself distanced himself from it by telling the audience that “Martino” was wrong, that his life was marked by a mistake.
In 2014, the release of the rapper’s third solo album, The Bouncin’ Mutineers or Mirabulous Adventures of Men and Seas, was announced. The album, released on May 2 and preceded by the release of the video for the track Green Island, concurrently sees the return to the scene of the historic hip hop label Mandibola Records. On April 22, it is premiered streaming on the la Repubblica XL website. The album has, for the first time in Murubutu’s artistic career, a central theme that appears in all the songs: the sea. Murubutu explains that in this album he wants to talk about the sea also understood as a medium through which to read complex phenomena such as migratory flows, detention, loneliness, abortion, and disability.
In 2015 he collaborates with experimental hip hop duo Uochi Toki on the track Rest in Prose, Rest in Poetry contained on the album The Crossable Limit. The track is dedicated in Murubutu’s rhymes to the figure of the novelist Giovanni Verga and in Uochi Toki’s Napo rhymes to the poet Giacomo Leopardi.
On July 18, 2016 via a Facebook post he announces his new album, titled The Man Who Traveled in the Wind and Other Tales of Breezes and Currents for Mandibola/Irma Records. The album is released on October 14, 2016. It consists of 15 tracks, linked by the theme of wind, tales of breezes and currents in Murubutu’s own narrative style. The title of the album and the song of the same name are inspired by the figure of aviator Angelo D’Arrigo, a hang gliding champion who died in 2006. The album boasts collaborations from Italian rap exponents such as Dargen D’Amico, Rancore, Ghemon, as well as members of La Kattiveria.
By profession he is a philosophy and history teacher at Liceo Matilde di Canossa in Reggio Emilia.
He has a son, to whom he dedicated a song as well as the title of the album Il giovane Mariani e altri racconti, and a daughter, to whom the song La bellissima Giulietta is dedicated (Official site)
To learn more about
From the song writing to the rap: the dialogue between Francesco Guccini and Murubutu
