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Michele Zocca, professionally known as Michelangelo, is an Italian record producer, songwriter and musician, best known for his frequent collaborations with Blanco. He became interested in music at an early age and later joined a conservatory, but soon left to study music production as an autodidact. He rose in popularity after producing Blanco's debut studio album, Blu celeste, and his entry for the Sanremo Music Festival 2022, "Brividi", a collaboration with Mahmood. In 2022, he was the third songwriter with the most certified copies in Italy, having sold 1.8 million copies across all his collaborations.

Life and career

Michele Zocca was born in Cremona, Italy, in 1994 and lives in the comune of Vescovato, where his recording studio is currently situated. His mother, Raffaella Mari, is a PE teacher and a sports manager. His maternal grandfather is sports shooter Italo Mari. A self-taught musician, he became fascinated with the drums when he was in elementary school and went on to learn multiple instruments, including the electric guitar and the bass. Among his influences, he cited the duo Battisti⁠—Mogol. During high school, he joined several bands. He pursued his education at the Conservatorio Arrigo Boito in Parma, but he quit a year later to dedicate more time to his growing career. He started studying music production and audio mixing as an autodidact. From 2016, Zocca started working with renowned artists such as Loredana Bertè, Paola Turci and Niccolò Agliardi [it]. He first met Blanco at a studio in Milan in November 2019. After working together for a year, Blanco released his debut studio album, Blu celeste, featuring Zocca as the main producer.

In 2022, Zocca produced Mahmood and Blanco's entry for the Sanremo Music Festival 2022, "Brividi". The song ended up winning the contest and Zocca was subsequently awarded by the administration of Vescovato. That same year, he was the third songwriter with the most certified copies in Italy, having sold 1.8 million copies thanks to his partnership with Blanco and his collaborations with other Italian rising artists such as Ariete and Rkomi. In April 2023, Blanco released his second studio album, Innamorato, written in collaboration with Michelangelo. In June 2023, he wrote and featured on Drillionaire's song "Bon ton" along with Blanco, Sfera Ebbasta and Lazza, which reached number one on Italy's FIMI Singles Chart. In September 2023, Michelangelo appeared on the third season of the Italian edition of MTV Cribs.

The following year, Michelangelo wrote two entries for the Sanremo Music Festival 2024, "Casa mia" by Ghali and "I p' me, tu p' te" by Geolier. At Sanremo, "I p' me, tu p' me" finished in second place, while "Casa mia" placed at number four; "I p' me, tu p' te" also reached number one on the FIMI Singles Chart.

Personal life

Zocca married stylist Cecilia Molardi, with whom he had a daughter, born in 2021.

Selected production discography

References

1. ^ "Michele Zocca, l'orgoglio del sindaco Conti e di Vescovato per il trionfatore di Sanremo" [Michele Zocca, the pride of mayor Conti and of Vescovato for the winner of Sanremo]. La Provincia di Cremona (in Italian). Archived from the original on 10 March 2022. Retrieved 11 May 2022.
2. Ferrari, Matteo (6 February 2022). "Michelangelo, Sanremo nel destino: la mamma incinta al 'Karaoke' di Fiorello" [Michelangelo, Sanremo in his destiny: the pregnant mother at Fiorello's 'Karaoke']. La Provincia di Cremona (in Italian). Archived from the original on 31 August 2023. Retrieved 31 August 2023.
3. ^ "Michelangelo, la mano dietro il successo di 'Brividi'" [Michelangelo, the hand behind the success of 'Brividi']. Rockol. Archived from the original on 11 May 2022. Retrieved 11 May 2022.
4. "Michelangelo e il successo di 'Brividi'. 'La canzone buona? La becchi per puro caso'" [Michelangelo and the success of 'Brividi'. 'The right song? You find it by chance']. La Repubblica (in Italian). Archived from the original on 4 April 2022. Retrieved 11 May 2022.
5. ^ "Michele Zocca in arte Michelangelo, chi è il produttore di Mahmood e Blanco" [Michele Zocca known as Michelangelo, who is the producer of Mahmood and Blanco]. Corriere della Sera (in Italian). Archived from the original on 12 May 2022. Retrieved 11 May 2022.
6. ^ "La carriera di Michelangelo, il producer determinante del successo di Blanco" [The career of Michelangelo, the key producer of Blanco's success]. All Music Italia (in Italian). Archived from the original on 10 February 2022. Retrieved 11 May 2022.
7. ^ "'Blanco mi ha insegnato la libertà, ecco com'è nata Brividi'- Chi è Michelangelo, il braccio destro del vincitore di Sanremo: l'intervista a FQMagazine" ['Blanco taught me freedom, this is how Brividi was born'- Who is Michelangelo, the right hand of Sanremo's winner: the interview at FQMagazine]. Il Fatto Quotidiano (in Italian). Archived from the original on 10 April 2022. Retrieved 11 May 2022.
8. "La classifica degli autori più certificati nel 2022. I producer, da Zef a Michelangelo, sempre più protagonista. Davide Petrella resiste sul podio" [The ranking of the most certified author of 2022. The producers, from Zef to Michelangelo, ever more important. Davide Petrella holds out on the podium]. All Music Italia (in Italian). 9 January 2023. Archived from the original on 31 August 2023. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
9. Colosimo, Valentina (23 March 2023). "Blanco è Innamorato: in arrivo il secondo album (dopo le polemiche di Sanremo)" [Blanco is Innamorato: the second album is coming (after the controversy of Sanremo)]. Vanity Fair. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
10. ^ Meo, Oriana (22 June 2023). "Drillionaire fa il botto: per il singolo chiama Sfera Ebbasta, Lazza e Blanco (con Michelangelo)". All Music Italia. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
11. "Classifica settimanale WK 26 (dal 23.06.2023 al 29.06.2023)". Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
12. "MTV Cribs Italia, tutti i protagonisti della terza stagione" [MTV Cribs Italy, all the protagonists of the third season]. Sky TG24. 19 September 2023. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
13. ^ Alicandri, Alessandro (30 January 2024). "Sanremo 2024, chi ha scritto le canzoni? L'elenco degli autori e produttori". TV Sorrisi e Canzoni. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
14. Prisco, Francesco (10 February 2024). "Sanremo, vince Angelina Mango. Troppi artisti e poco coraggio". Il Sole 24 Ore. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
15. "Classifica settimanale WK 6 (dal 02.02.2024 al 08.02.2024)". Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
16. ^ "Blanco, l'anima tormentata della musica italiana torna con "Innamorato" (tracklist e testi)" [Blanco, the tormented soul of Italian music comes back with "Innamorato" (tracklist and lyrics)]. All Music Italia. 13 April 2023. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
17. "Amatoriale (prod. Michelangelo)". SoundCloud. Archived from the original on 11 May 2022. Retrieved 11 May 2022.
18. Vincenzo Nasto (9 June 2023). "Testo e significato di Aranciata: Madame ricorda l'adolescenza e una frattura che non si risana". Fanpage.it (in Italian). Archived from the original on 31 August 2023. Retrieved 7 July 2023.
19. "Blanco: un flusso di coscienza nel singolo d'esordio "Belladonna (Adieu)"". All Music Italia. Archived from the original on 26 September 2021. Retrieved 11 May 2022.
20. "Ariete su RTL 102.5: "Il mio nuovo album 'Specchio'? Lo consiglio a persone di un'età più avanzata per capire che a volte non siamo noi il problema". RTL 102.5. Archived from the original on 18 March 2022. Retrieved 11 May 2022.
21. ^ Claudio Cabona (10 September 2021). "Blanco può piacere (quasi) a tutti". Rockol (in Italian). Archived from the original on 31 August 2023. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
22. "Blanco, Finché non mi seppelliscono: il testo del nuovo singolo". Sky TG24 (in Italian). 12 November 2021. Archived from the original on 31 August 2023. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
23. "Rancore: Da Michelangelo a Dade, tutti i produttori e i dettagli su nuovo disco, "Xenoverso"". All Music Italia. Archived from the original on 11 May 2022. Retrieved 11 May 2022.
24. "Credits / Ladro di fiori / Blanco – TIDAL". Tidal. Archived from the original on 14 March 2022. Retrieved 14 February 2022.
25. "Blanco & Sfera Ebbasta - Mi Fai Impazzire (Radio Date: 18-06-2021)". EarOne.it. 16 June 2021. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
26. "Testo Monday - Geolier feat. Shiva & Michelangelo". Rockol. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
27. "'Nemesi' di Marracash: cosa fa di noi stessi il nemico più temibile". 7 January 2022. Archived from the original on 20 May 2022. Retrieved 13 May 2022.
28. "BLANCO - Nostalgia (Radio Date: 03-06-2022)". EarOne. 3 June 2022. Archived from the original on 10 June 2022. Retrieved 10 June 2022.
29. Nicolò Pagliari (27 February 2021). "Blanco pubblica l'atteso singolo Paraocchi". La Casa del Rap (in Italian). Archived from the original on 14 March 2022. Retrieved 15 February 2022.
30. "Madame, tracklist e duetti del primo album: da Ernia a Fabri Fibra". Sky TG24. 15 March 2021. Archived from the original on 4 February 2023. Retrieved 4 February 2023.
31. Verderio, Daniele (18 May 2023). "Ariete continua un bel viaggio con "Un'altra ora"". Radio Italia. Retrieved 11 June 2023.

• Living people
• 1994 births
• Italian record producers
• Italian male composers
• 21st-century Italian composers
• 21st-century Italian male musicians
• Musicians from Cremona
• Parma Conservatory alumni