Bassi Maestro

Bassi Maestro, the stage name of Davide Bassi, is an Italian rapper, producer, DJ and sound engineer born in Milan in 1973. He started as a DJ in his early teens, competing at DMC turntable finals in the early 1990s before turning to rapping, releasing his debut demo Furia solista in 1992 and his first album Contro Gli Estimatori in 1996. Two years later he broke through with «Foto di gruppo», whose title track became one of the defining songs of Italian hip hop.

In 1995 he co-founded the Mixmen Connection crew, and the following year, together with DJ Zeta, launched Sano Business, an independent label that grew into a collective with the addition of rappers from the Cricca dei Balordi. In 1998 he opened his own Milan studio, La Fortezza delle Scienze, cementing his role as both artist and producer for the city's underground scene.

From 2002 to 2004 he ran the weekly event The Show Off with his partner Rido, staging rap and beat battles that gave a platform to Milan's emerging hip hop talent. Bassi Maestro remains one of the most respected veterans of Italian rap, valued for his technical delivery, hard-hitting production and lasting influence on the Milanese scene.