Tony Effe did not comment on the exclusion from the New Year's concert at the Circus Maximus, wanted by the mayor of Rome because his lyrics are divisive and the December 31st event instead wants to be a party for everyone. «No censorship», said Roberto Gualtieri, «but it is inappropriate to use citizens' resources to host Tony Effe at the New Year's concert».
The organizers Vivo Concerti and Friends & Partners expressed their opinion on the exclusion in a joint note in which they speak of «deep amazement and regret since the decision was taken in the absence of valid reasons, even after the announcement and the press conference in which Tony's presence was announced and publicized.”
Pegaso, the rapper's management, instead speaks of an evident “damage to the image suffered by the artist” who was exposed to “strong media pressure, risking compromising his image and career”. The rapper would have hung the cancellation only from newspaper headlines. «There is thus a risk of compromising the image and career of one of the most relevant artists of this 2024, who, with his music, has been a strong reason for aggregation for many young people we have met during this year».
Among those who spoke out against the Capitol's decision is Junior Cally, at the center of controversy at Sanremo 2020 for the lyrics of his old song Witch. «Enough of those who consider young people to be idiots! I find it absurd that, even today, there are those who decide to censor an artist like Tony Effe, preventing him from performing at the New Year's concert in Rome. I hoped that what happened to me in 2020 in Sanremo would remain an isolated case. But it is clear that these episodes do not just concern a debate on Italian rap music and its lyrics, but there is a generational gap of great incomprehension that has never existed in the past.”
The lyrics of the songs, writes Junior Cally who gives the examples of Lou Reed and Eminem, «have always provoked, shocked and divided. Singer-songwriters also did it with their songs of denunciation and obviously rap does it with its raw language of the street, and even a hit like Nice bitch by Marco Masini, who has graced the stages of Ariston and concerts, which no one has ever dreamed of censoring, despite passages like “Beautiful bitch, who called the police that night… I would like to tear off those whore clothes and keep you on your legs open, until tomorrow morning comes'”. The problem is not the music, concludes Junior Cally. «Censoring an artist is a useless and harmful shortcut. Music should serve to stimulate dialogue, not to silence voices.”
The controversy is meanwhile moving to the political level and in particular to Tony Effe's participation in Sanremo 2025. If Laura Boldrini of the PD said to A day as a sheep that “the logic of the Municipality of Rome also applies to Sanremo”, that is, if it is right to exclude him from the New Year's concert he must also be excluded from the festival, Maurizio Gasparri of Forza Italia told the Mosquito that «if Rai kneels down to such a character, Carlo Conti will go out. This gentleman cannot go to Sanremo otherwise the Rai leaders and Carlo Conti will be held accountable.”
