Achille Lauro

Histrionic, eccentric, unique: ladies and gentlemen, here's Achille Lauro!

The popular singer of Domenica and Rolls Royce not only amazes his fans with his songs with provocative lyrics and his eclectic streak which ranges from American hip hop to the Beatles via Vasco Rossi, but also captures attention thanks to a style which we could easily define as "extreme" in certain aspects but which he hides, behind pompous hairpieces and costumes, a frantic search for detail, attention to every single detail, a perfect correlation between the various elements that make up his look.

 

Biography

Born as Lauro De Marinis on 11 July 1990, Achille Lauro takes his stage name from the shipowner of the same name from Campania. Son of a magistrate, Nicola, and his mother Cristina Zambon, the young singer-songwriter has an older brother who introduces him to the fascinating universe of rap.

He became famous not only thanks to his music, but also thanks to his participation with his faithful friend and collaborator Boss Doms in the reality show Beijing Express. His debut in the universe of seven notes dates back to 2012; 2019, however, is the year of Lauro's consecration as a mainstream star, thanks to his participation in the Sanremo festival with the song Rolls Royce. Lauro will also return to the Ariston stage in 2020 competing with the hit Me ne frego, while the following year he participates in the Festival in times of lockdown as a guest star, offering an all-round performance every evening.

In 2022 Lauro returns to compete with Domenica and subsequently wins the competition which allows him to compete in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 as a representative of San Marino.

Interview

Achille Lauro has never had a problem in telling details, even troubled ones, about his life and career in numerous interviews, many of which he gave to the presenter Mara Venier, much loved by the singer-songwriter.

The artist born in 1990 has always underlined in his television appearances the need to expose himself to the general public with new songs, which present unusual sounds, different from those offered to the masses.  During one of the numerous appearances on “Domenica In”, for example, the Capitoline artist explained the choices that pushed him to make his debut at his first Sanremo with Rolls Royce: a song which, in one way or another, made its impact on the public and the press.

"There are numerous sacrifices I have made to follow this path - Achille Lauro began - the search for something new is first and foremost a personal need, not a way to impress people. I hope I can be a good example for young people".

Behind a face full of tattoos and an eclectic style hides a young man who wants to enjoy life to the fullest, without forgetting his roots.

 

Musical influences

Achille Lauro shows all his eclecticism in terms of musical influences. From underground rap to trap to a Latin version of the latter genre - renamed samba trap - the singer-songwriter ranges in terms of sound and offers lyrics that are often contested but never predictable and above all very original.

In Rolls Royce, for example, Achille Lauro decides to veer towards a more rock sound. His muses in terms of artistic production are numerous: in addition to the aforementioned Vasco Rossi and the Beatles, the performer has admitted to loving Elvis Presley, Kurt Cobain, Rino Gaetano, Lucio Battisti, Travis Scott, 6lack and Young Thug.

Controversy and controversies

The figure of Achille Lauro and his performances were not free from controversy, sometimes understandable, sometimes ferocious.

In 2019 his participation in Sanremo with the song Rolls Royce received attention from the popular satirical news program “Striscia La Notizia“. The object of the dispute is the text of the song, starting from the title: the editorial staff of the Mediaset broadcast, in fact, found a "surprising" analogy between Lauro's Rolls Royce and the name of an ecstasy tablet . As proof of this, the entire lyrics of the song appear to be a list of famous people who have used drugs, sometimes with dramatic results.

In 2022 the Capitoline singer returns again as a competitor with the single Domenica, which recalls the sounds of Rolls Royce but which scandalises the public and press not so much for the lack of originality of the song but for the performance staged on the stage of the Ariston in Lauro. The young man "self-baptizes" to celebrate his mother's birthday: an unwelcome and probably misunderstood gesture, condemned without any ifs or buts by most journalists.

Stylistic preferences of Achille Lauro

Achille Lauro is an authentic style icon. Each performance by the artist is transformed into a all-round artistic representation : a clear demonstration of this was his five days in Sanremo in 2021, which saw Lauro stage as many " paintings " thanks to the precious help of Alessandro Michele , Artistic Director of Gucci and the stylist Nicolò Cerioni .

A partnership, that between the performer and the two creatives, but above all that between Lauro and the well-known fashion house that brought to the stage the desire to break every barrier of respectability, bringing out the purest part of the singer. A clear demonstration of this desire for freedom is the distortion, sometimes extreme, of the look of characters who really existed, belonging not only to the musical panorama but also to history or religion, such as St. Francis.

In a recent interview, the Capitoline singer spoke of the close link between musical and stylistic research. “Those who think it's marketing have understood nothing, I would like him to stay with us for a week, while we spend sleepless nights to create an image that accompanies the performance“. A look, that of Lauro, which is therefore created down to the smallest details, clearly inspired by glam-rock, which found its full realization in the maison Gucci.

Rhinestones, feathers, pearls and lots and lots of colour to express the sensations and nuances of each of his singles: Lauro's style often breaks the existing barrier between masculinity and femininity, generating a sort of rather extravagant "hybrid" but which works perfectly for the young singer.

A fusion of styles, a mix of different materials to express the state of mind that Achille Lauro wants to convey in each of his songs and which might seem to often overwhelm the quality of the singer-songwriter's artistic work, even if he himself is keen to underline that this attention to style is part of the performance itself, as well as its essence. “They asked me if my character could overpower my music, but I'm not afraid to change, otherwise I would have remained in my comfort zone. What should I do, deny who I am?”.

Achille Lauro is a 360 degree show and his outfit is an integral part of his staging which becomes a more unique than rare event, a reality in its own right, as happened to David Bowie before him.

Discography

Below we report the complete discography of Achille Lauro: the albums, EPs, mixtapes, singles and cover albums created by the histrionic artist.

Album in studio

• 2014 – Achilles Immortal Idol
• 2015 – God exists
• 2016 – Boys mother
• 2018 – For love
• 2019 – 1969 – Achille Idol Rebirth
• 2021 – Lauro – Achille Idol Superstar

Album covers

• 2020 – 1990
• 2020 – 1920 – Achille Lauro & The Untouchable Band

EP

• 2015 – Young Crazy

Mixtape

• 2012 – Barabbas
• 2012 – Harvard

Singles

• 2011 – Giovani Crimini (feat. Read)
• 2013 – Shoes with heels 3 – The end (feat. Martina May)
• 2013 – White Christmas (feat. Rasty Kilo)
• 2014 – Polanski
• 2014 – No Twitter
• 2014 – Real Royal Street Rap (feat. Marracash e Ackeejuice Rockers)
• 2014 – I choose the stars (feat. Coez)
• 2015 – Ghetto Dance (feat. Gemitaiz)
• 2015 – Bonnie & Clyde
• 2015 – Now I know (feat. Marracash)
• 2015 – Playground Love (feat. Caputo)
• 2016 – CCL
• 2016 – Theater & cinema
• 2017 – Elevator to Hell (feat. Coez)
• 2017 – Ulalala (feat. Gemitaiz)
• 2017 – Love me
• 2017 – You're not like me
• 2018 – Thoiry Remix (feat. Gemitaiz, Quentin 40 and Puritano)
• 2018 – Midnight Carnival (feat. Gow Tribe e Boss Doms)
• 2018 – Ammò (feat. Rocco Hunt and Clementino)
• 2018 – Angelo blu (feat. Cosmo)
• 2018 – Mamacita (feat. Vins)
• 2019 – Rolls Royce (feat. Boss Doms e Frenetik&Orang3)
• 2019 – C’est la vie
• 2019 – 1969 (feat. Boss Doms and Frenetik&Orang3)
• 2019 – Delinquente (feat. Boss Doms)
• 2020 – I don't care
• 2020 – March 16 (feat. Gow Tribe)
• 2020 – Bam Bam Twist (feat. Gow Tribe)
• 2020 – Rude
• 2019 – 1990
• 2020 – Jingle Bell Rock (feat. Annalisa)
• 2021 – Only us
• 2021 – Marilù
• 2021 – Mille (with Fedez and Orietta Berti)
• 2021 – Latte+
• 2021 – You and me
• 2022 – Sunday
• 2022 – Stripper

Other activities

In addition to an extraordinary corpus of records, Achille Lauro has vented his creative streak in other forms of communication by writing books, participating in artistic exhibitions or simply taking part in various television formats. Let's discover the thousand faces of Lauro together.

Achille Lauro in the bookshop

• Lauro De Marinis, It's me Hamlet, Rizzoli, 15 January 2019
• Lauro De Marinis, 16 March: The Last Night, Rizzoli, 19 May 2020
• Achille Lauro, 24 ORE Culture, 23 September 2021

Achille Lauro in art: exhibitions

• Love is Love (Turin, National Cinema Museum, 25 October 2020), curated by Lauro De Marinis
• Achille Idol Is Present. Photo Book Experience (Milan, Museum of Cultures, 22 September 2021 – 10 October 2021), curated by Lauro De Marinis, Nicolò Cerioni and Leandro Emede

Filmography and television appearances

• No face 1, with Sebastiano Bontempi, 2019 (as director and producer)
• Terrurismo, directed by Vito Cea and Roberto Moliterni, 2018 (short film, producer and in the role of himself)
• Applause, directed by Angelo Calculli, 2018 (feature film)
• Happy Birthday, directed by Lorenzo Giovenga, 2019 (short film)
• Return to crime, directed by Massimiliano Bruno, 2021 (feature film, in the role of himself)
• Dog Years, directed by Fabio Mollo, 2021 (feature film, in the role of himself)
• Lucky Bat (singing) in Puppets to the Rescue, directed by Kelly Asbury, 2019 (animated film, voice actor)
• Beijing Express, Rai 2 (2017)
• Extra Factor, Sky Uno (2019)
• 71st Sanremo Festival, Rai 1 (2021) – regular guest
• Celebrity Hunted: Manhunt 2, Amazon Prime Video (2021)

Quotes

Among the most significant quotes by Achille Lauro we cannot fail to mention excerpts from his most famous songs.

• “Disgusting fifty-year-olds, homophobic males. I have had to deal with these vulgar people for years because of my travels. I grew up with this crap. The air thick with fake testosterone, the constructed tribal language, devoid of affection towards the feminine and in general the image of the woman as an object with which I grew up. I'm allergic to the ignorant, masculine ways I grew up with. So wearing women's clothing, as well as makeup, the confusion of genders is my way of disagreeing and reiterating my anarchism, of rejecting the conventions which then generate discrimination and violence. That's how I am, I wear what I want and like: are the fur coat, the clutch bag, the glittery glasses feminine? So I'm a female. Is that all? I want to be mortally infected by femininity, which for me means delicacy, elegance, candor. Every now and then someone says to me: what happened to you? I reply: “I have become a young lady”“
• “Understand/ I know you can do it, finish me/ I wait for the end, betray me/ Then tell me: “It's over”, shut me up” (C'est la vie)
• “Adrenaline/ We are on a counter, you and I, because/ Yes, yes it's a robbery/ I empty my pockets and fill myself with you/ Yes, child woman/ It's a little Madonna who cries for me/ But then it ruins me/ And I know how to be ruined by you/ Yes, let's dance” (Bam Bam Twist)