Caparezza & Max Gazzé

Before he re-emerged in 2001 as Caparezza, Italy's Michele Salvemini was a clean-cut, B-boy-style pop singer named Mikimix. His 1999 full-length, La Mia Buona Stella, produced the Italian hit single "E la Notte se Ne Va," a slice of Europop closer to Color Me Badd or Enrique Iglesias than anything resembling American hip-hop. But it was the fluid style of Dr. Dre protégé Xzibit that Caparezza most closely resembled on Tutto Ciò Che C'è, the 2001 debut of his new moniker. Caparezza made clear the distinction between his past and present personas with furious raps about personal...