In the spirit of keeping up with Italian pop music, we present to you the infamous Dark Polo Gang, a trap group based out of Rome, Italy that has been proudly melting the hearts of Italian girls and enraging Italian parents for about 4 years.
The DPG is composed of four friends that grew up in the center of Rome (Trastevere, Monti area) who started rapping in their teen years and creating videos and uploading them to Youtube. Some say the Gang's fame started after this 2015 collaboration with Italian trapstar Sfera Ebbasta.
For many Italians the DPG is the worst thing that could have ever happened to Italy and Italian culture; they see the "Gang" as a group of middle class Italian kids, very influenced by American trap culture, who stand for no other value than finding money and spending it. That said, many young Italians see the DPG as a group who stands for personal freedom in a country where family, society, government and church are always influencing how individuals think and live their lives. DPG is also one of the few artists who have created an empire without the help of record labels, amassing a huge fan base by posting whatever they wanted to post on Youtube and Instagram.
Here is one of the latest hits by the DPG titled Cono Gelato. Watch also below a "reaction video" of two American guys listening to the same song. CAUTION: all of this content contains very explicit language in Italian & English!
The DPG owes quite a bit of their success to the unique and bouncy beats created by Italian American producer Sick Luke, the son of a legendary Italian rap star called Duke Montana.
According to this Interview, Sick Luke started making beats for his father when he was 11. His relationship with his father is certainly very unique, unlike anything you tend to see in the U.S.
Although Sick's beats and productions are usually very simple, his music has been played millions of times on Youtube, making him into one of the top producers in Italy at the moment. He is only 22 years old.
Love them or hate them, this is the DPG. Perhaps they will vanish in a few years, perhaps they will continue on evolving and we'll see them for a while. Who knows...
What's important to note is that the DPG is part of the new Italy. Their way of seeing life has had a big influence on millions of Italians.
We leave you here with two more of their hits, Caramelle and the infamous Sportswear. All of them as shallow and offensive as they can be, exactly the reason why so many people love them.
What do you think about the Dark Polo Gang?