JULY 23 - GIFFONI MUSIC CONCEPT / MUSIC&RADIO MASTERCLASS

Biography

Boomdabash is one of the best reggae bands in Italy. The group, from the Salento area in Puglia, was born in 2002 as a classic Jamaican sound system, founded by Blazon, now the quartet’s DJ and producer. Gradually the Boomdabash changed their features going through an artistic development process resulting in their first official work, "UNO" (2008). Little was left of the original sound system and the Boomdabash soon became a full-fledged music band. Blazon, Biggie Bash and Payà (the two singers) with Mr. Ketra, talented beatmaker from Abruzzo, started a more conscious and active adventure in reggae music.
Their debut album received a great and unexpected feedback. The project was a hit for its cool style, its innovative way of looking at reggae, its refined productions and the choice of expressing and communicating using two languages at the same time: the Jamaican Patois and the Salento dialect. All these features soon consecrated these four boys from the South as one of the most grounded and respected realities of Italy and, over the years, the Boomdabash became appreciated for their musical pliancy, their attention for social themes and their ability to innovate renew themselves.
In May 2001, three years after the hit of their first work, the Boomdabash published their second project, "MADE IN ITALY", anticipated by the hit track "MURDER", which earned the band the MTV New Generation Award on the stage of the MTV Days in Turin. After reaching this great goal, the Boomdabash started a two-year-long tour: From the North to the South of Italy with over 100 gigs.  This way “Made in Italy” became the most representative product of the band from Salento, as it was born from their personal and artistic development. The record is full of the most diverse musical influences but, despite this heterogeneity, it keeps a typical reggae mood.
In June 2002, "DANGER", another national success, was aired in radio rotation, very soon becoming one of the greatest summer hits. The greatest experience was in 2012 with the Hitweek Festival. The Boomdabash, in fact, were selected, with such big names of Italian music like Subsonica and Negrita, to represent Italy on a tour in the United States, specifically New York and Miami. This experience was a chance to export their characteristic sound to America, and in fact the song "Danger" soon was aired in radio rotation on MTV, Iggy and many radios in Florida. Back in Italy the Boomdabash published their single "THE MESSAGE" whose street video was shot in Manhattan and Brooklyn with DJ Double S, one of the giants of Italian rap music.
"The Message" is the first single of the much-awaited third record, "SUPERHEROES" (2013), which entered the iTunes Italian Top ten of the best-selling albums since its first day of release. "Superheroes" was a mature, complete and innovative record, hinting not only at reggae but all kinds of music, counting many Italian guests who enriched its 13 tracks and made the album a little masterpiece. In 2013, three other singles were extracted from this project: in May "SUNSHINE REGGAE", in July "REALITY SHOW" which saw the collaboration of Sud Sound System and in November "SOMEBODY TO LOVE".
The "SUPERHEROES TOUR", which accompanied this album’s release, saw the Boomdabash perform in over 50 concerts in 10 months, counting many sold-out shows all over Italy. In June 2014, the Boomdabash presented their new single, "L’IMPORTANTE", which saw the participation of the historic Roman group “Otto Ohm”, entering immediately the Italian iTunes top ten chart and firmly holding n.1 rank of the reggae chart of the same store for over six months. Again in June 2014, the band set off for their new summer tour, the "MAMMALACAPU SUMMER TOUR" which engaged them in 24 concerts all over Italy registering an astonishing audience presence, reaching peaks of 10,00 thousand people per show.
Also their "WINTER TOUR", in December 2014 and January 2015, was a big hit. All the dates, from the one at the historic Alcatraz of Milan to that of the Mammamia in Senigallia, saw the amazing presence of an audience at that point deeply fond of the band. 2015 was a year rich of news for the Salento ensamble which kicked it off in a great way, presenting their new single "UN ATTIMO", an ambitious project accompanied by a video directed by Mauro Russo and his production team “Calibro Nove”. The whole video was shot in the detention center of Borgo S.Nicola di Lecce and almost all the actors were inmates of the structure itself.
The single "Un attimo" served as marker of a new cycle for the Boomdabash, culminated on Tuesday, May 19, 2015, with the launch of the new single "IL SOLE ANCORA" Feat. The BlueBeaters. This single, available on all the online stores, was accompanied by a video directed by Luca Tartaglia in the streets of Vigevano. On June 10, 2015, the band’s fourth album, "RADIO REVOLUTION", was released.
This new album represented, at that moment, the highest peak in the Salento quartet’s career, and this is evident even only reading the album’s track list, which includes artists like Alessandra Amoroso and J-Ax, besides the already mentioned BlueBeaters. After two weeks from the new release, the Boomdabash started their new summer tour, rich of sold-out important shows in the top clubs of Italy and on the most prestigious stages as for instance the one of the PostePay Rock in Rome, opening the show of the reggae world legend Damian Marley. Upon closing the summer tour, in September the band launched the third single from “Radio Revolution” submitting to the audience their collaboration with J-Ax, titled "IL SOLITO ITALIANO".
This new release accompanied the band in all their winter tour up to the launch of the new unreleased single "PORTAMI CON TE", which was an immediate hit reaching 14 million views on YouTube with the video directed by Mario Russo and with the participation of Gianluca Di Gennaro, a talented actor present also in Gomorrah–The series. The "Portami in Tour" which accompanied this record release was an unprecedented success, reaching 25,000 spectators for some of the group’s shows that will become part of the band’s history.
Not long after the tour, between September 2016 and the first few months of 2107 many new surprises arrived: the band enjoyed the results of their hard work by reaching the prestigious goal of the FIMI (Italian Music Industry Federation) certificate of Gold Record for three songs. The first one was "A TRE PASSI DA TE" feat. Alessandra Amoroso, the second was for "L'IMPORTANTE" Feat. Otto Ohm, while the third was for "PORTAMI CON TE", which in the following months reached the most coveted goal for a band: The FIMI (Italian Music Industry Federation) certificate for the Platinum Record. These goals represent a great success for the band and for Soulmatical, the indie label which took care of the project ever since its birth. In the meantime, the Boomdabash took part in the Italian tour of two legends of world reggae, Alborosie and Gentleman, playing in the best Italian clubs.
In June 2017, the single "IN UN GIORNO QUALSIASI", with which the band landed to Universal Music, was released, and in the same year they received the Platinum Record for the hit "Portami con te" taking part in the Wind Music Award. In June 2018, they launched "BARRACUDA", their latest album, soon climbing every chart. The single "NON TI DICO DI NO" with Loredana Bertè, already a Platinum Record, was the most broadcast song by Italian radios in 2018 reaching the peak of the Top 100 of the year 2018, the yearly airplay chart of the most radio-broadcast singles. "Non ti dico no" also earned the Salento band the summer Rtl 102.5 Power Hits and the EarOne awards at the Wind Music Summer Festival.
A 2018 rich in gratifications for the Boomdabash who, following the sold-outs of the summer shows and a tour in the main European cities, opened 2019 by taking part in the 69th edition of the Festival of Sanremo where they were in competition within the category “Big” with the track "PER UN MILIONE".