Born Giovanni Pellino in 1967, Neffa first saw the light of day in the modest Italian town of Scafati, close to Naples, although his formative years unfolded mainly in the northern centers of Turin and Bologna. He launched his creative path pounding drums for several hardcore outfits, most notably the seminal group Negazione, where he went by the alias Jeff, before shifting his focus toward hip-hop. Adopting the stage name Neffa in tribute to a Paraguayan Cremonese footballer, Pellino joined forces with DJ Gruff and Deda to establish the crew Sangue Misto, whose 1994 debut SXM quickly earned recognition as the inaugural landmark Italian rap release. Venturing out on his own in 1996, he issued the aptly named Neffa & I Messaggeri della Dopa, enlisting a collective of Italian and American musicians known collectively as I Messaggeri della Dopa. He retained the services of Gruff and Deda for the 1998 full-length 107 Elementi, then delivered the concise five-track EP Chicopisco the following year. At that juncture Neffa turned toward soul, funk, and R&B textures, which surfaced prominently on his 2001 set Arrivi e Partenze. Although segments of the Italian rap scene voiced disapproval, the record achieved solid sales and broadened his reach to a wider listenership. Building on that momentum, he returned two years later with I Molteplici Mondi di Giovanni, Il Cantante Neffa, and in 2006 unveiled his third vocal-oriented effort, Il Mondo Nuovo, on Italian soil.
