A phenomenon in his country, he is able to fill stadiums while preserving his anonymity. Like every May 9, Liberato releases a new title, just before starting its first European tour, still without dropping the mask.
When we ask him for some clues, it’s always the same answer, the same embarrassed pout, the air of telling his interlocutor that he knows a little, but does not intend to say too much. A little over six years ago, Francesco Lettieri, director, received a song, New Maggio(nin May in French), and a request for collaboration from a mysterious Liberato.
He goes on to say:The budget for the first clip was less than 1000 euros, there was no promo, nothing. But in a few months, me who was the director, I found myself assailed by the major record companies, the requests for partnership. I improvised as manager of a gigantic project“.
Since then, the two men have not left each other, Liberato has released two albums, triumphed in Italy, signed the soundtrack of the Netflix series Ultrasnotably signing a title with 3-D, from Massive Attack.
But from the beginning of the project, Liberato wanted to decide everything: no interview, a light and independent structure respecting his anonymity. Very early on, however, a French promotion agency contacted him. His representative wants to remain anonymous, scalded by the advances of curious fans, but recognizes it easily: “Its best promoter is the public“.
That’s the beauty of music sometimes, and projects like that: you don’t do anything and only the music speaks.
The representative of the French promotion agency of Liberato, at franceinfo
According to him, if Liberato is a hit, it is also for what he sends back from Naples: “He manages to transcribe the colors and the feeling of the city in a sensitive way. Suddenly you find yourself at a concert in Milan with people singing Neapolitan“. Dubbed very early on by Roberto Saviano, Liberato also fights against the clichés linked to his city.
In his clips, Francesco Lettieri has built a particular aesthetic: “At the time, Naples was known through Gomorra and its criminality, the dark side of the city. So we wanted to tell a more classic story, imbued with love“.
Our idea, quite new, was to transcribe a more diverse Neapolitan aesthetic.
Francesco Lettieri, at franceinfo
And Liberato couldn’t be absent from what’s making Napoli roar at the moment. On Sunday May 7, he sang at the Diego-Maradona stadium, in unison with Napoli fans who had been waiting for a title for 33 years.
The music of Liberato, the Neapolitan mystery, is finally being exported on tour this summer | Reporting by Yann Bertrand
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Liberato, in concert on June 14 and 15 at the Cabaret Sauvage in Paris, as part of the Fiore Verde festival.