Interview / J-Ax: "Me, a talent scout for passion ... and mission!"

by Laura Frigerio

J-Ax is the character of the moment: everyone wants him, everyone looks for him ... but few manage to get him. Instead, we managed to meet him thanks to Pepsi, who wanted to involve him in a contest for young artists. A dimension, that of the talent scout, which he does quite well is in the broadcast "The Voice", which recently ended with the victory of the his "pupil" Sister Cristina, who in her label Newtopia, founded together with Fedez. It is precisely here that we meet him ...


Let's start by talking about Pepsi Beat on Stage. Can you explain what your role will be?
The boy who wins will duet with me in a piece that I will write specifically for the occasion. I asked for total freedom of expression and they granted it to me. I must say that Pepsi arrived at the right time: now, thanks to TV, they have learned to know me all for who I really am, they know the passion I put into things and therefore they know that if I accepted to participate in a competition like this it is because I believe it and I think it's worth it.

You talked about freedom of expression, but if a girl happens to you, what will you do? In Italy, "female" Italian music is still very "educated" ...
I'm not used to thinking in these terms, to differentiating between male and female. Then I might even get a super-masculine girl who tells me she only wants to do anarchist punk rock. My dream, I admit, would be to find myself in front of a group like Pussy Riot. It is that they are fans of a femininity that goes against the classic canons, which other males like so much. Just to give you an example: I was a fan of the concept behind the first ones SuicideGirls, who have invented a new type of sexuality.

What do you like and what do you dislike of the new generations?
If I take the generation of my partner Fedez, or that of YouTube, I can say that I admire them for the fact that they have no filters and, precisely for this reason, they reach people better. Before, however, there were more superstructures.For example, at a certain point in my career I decided to get out of this track and take a new one, which did not have the radio hit at all costs as its destination and I do not regret it. The problem is that fame often takes the artist away from the streets and thus becomes too self-referential. Today's kids have the network, which allows them to listen to everything and so it may also happen that they discover the Article 31 or the 883 and find them. grandiose, without knowing that maybe at the time they were considered in a certain way. What I do not like? The fact that he often misses the culture of the great classics: just the other day I "scolded" Fedez because he didn't know Rebel Rebel by David Bowie ".

About Fedez. How did the idea of ​​opening a record label come about?
Fedez and I have always been in tune, even when we made political comments via Twitter while watching political debates. As we talked, we realized that both of us weren't happy with the system we were in and so we thought about jumping in, taking risks and being bosses ourselves. Less than a month after we had opened the Newtopia, we were contacted by Raidue who wanted to interview us for an economics column, because apparently our gesture in this moment of crisis seemed revolutionary!

Rap success can be considered as a revolution, even on TV ...
For years they've been trying to corner us, pretending we didn't exist, but in reality we've always been on the kids' iPod. The result is that in the last 20 years they have separated from people and now they are running for cover, also because there are those who like me are 40 years old and want the truth from music, not things that leave nothing behind. Art and entertainment must provoke something, stimulate, anger or smile, otherwise it is water and the latter will also give life but not flavor.

And you also brought this truth to "The Voice" ...
They say my arrival on TV led to a media short circuit, but I just bring myself. I am a troll, I say what I think and I am not afraid of causing controversy, of having "haters". Indeed, it is from the latter that the most stimulating things come out, because they write to me and there is a comparison, a dialogue. I am happy with this experience, also because now there are even grandmothers who are wondering what rap is!