Nayt does not arrive at Sanremo 2026 with the anxiety of someone who has to prove something. He arrives there after a long apprenticeship and is preparing to release his tenth album which is entitled on March 20th I Individual and which already from the graphic choice seems like a declaration of intent. Indeed, of identity first of all. «I'm not tense», he says about the Festival, «I just want to rock to bring my style».
Also because he is not an artist who exploded in one summer or thanks to a viral song on social media, but someone who has been writing since 2009, who has published nine records, has been independent for ten years, and has collected sold out tours. And perhaps this is what makes him feel focused today: «My long apprenticeship makes me feel centered and I have more enthusiasm than anxiety about the Festival. I am very sure of the path I have taken and that I am taking, who I am and who my audience is. The unknown is the meeting with the general public, who I know less, but I've been making music since 2009, I have nine albums under my belt and the tenth is coming out, with the first major album in 2019, many tours that went very well, all of the work that allows me to get to Sanremo with less pressure.”
The first piece he wrote? It wasn't immediately a masterpiece, he admits. But it is from the mistakes that the real evolution begins: «The first song was terrifying (laughs). I don't remember exactly how I wrote it, but I remember that I went to the studio to record the second one, as well as the third one. I immediately understood that they had to be activities that ran in parallel. Music is made up of many different factors, you have to keep them all together from the very first bars. However, the first text was very basic and sparse, but then, luckily, I had a nice turning point.”
Writing, for him, has never been an exercise in style, but a need: «It is also a central theme of my song in Sanremo. And for me it was the desire for recognition. But not about greatness or success, but about what I really feel about writing music. Even in this case I tried to stay in touch with myself, to bring something very personal to others.”
The song is called Beforewritten by Nayt and produced by Zef. And, even without a question mark, it seems more like a question than an answer: what remains if we manage to remove the superstructures? «Just look around. We are within the social fabric that we are given to live in, so it is natural that it influences us. As an artist I simply try to disrupt normal perspectives. And ask questions that we don't usually ask ourselves. Basically I ask myself why, if we recognize each other, we still can't communicate and be together?”.
In I Individual this reflection broadens. It appears as a record that talks about fragmented identity, about what constitutes an individual, about masculinity, about fragility, about conflict. It's also inside A manwhich contains the question he asked months ago: what is it like to be a man? And perhaps the answer is never definitive.
Labels, moreover, never fully convinced him. Rappers? Singer-songwriter? Urban artist? «I thought about it after the last album. Listening to it again I exclaimed: cool, no other rapper or songwriter could have made a record like that. We live in an era in which genres are increasingly contaminated, what matters is the imagery and poetics that you manage to bring through your works. Categorization in art, in general, has never driven me crazy. But I like both the definitions of rapper and singer-songwriter, also because I find myself in both.”
Ten years as an independent before landing in a major label, however, could be told in a romantic way, but the difficulties were not lacking: «At the beginning the problems depend above all on having few resources, little time and also finding the right people, because music is made with other people and not alone. So you need to find those who are in line with you, find the right times and the economic resources to make it all happen. I have always lived my journey as an independent with great passion and ambition, but I have also had many moments of crisis. I started very young, meanwhile I was growing as a man, so I often wondered what I was doing or if I was wasting my time. The fear was of not making it, of failing, that it was too late. But then I couldn't do anything other than this with the same passion as music. And at a certain point I closed myself off as much as possible, to commit myself on every front, from lyrics to production and up to communication.”
And then there is rap, which returns to Sanremo but continues to be accused of vulgarity and sexism. Nayt doesn't run away from the theme and from a technical explanation he also arrives at an artistic one: «Rap, from a textual point of view, is the most explicit we have available, also because it can use many more words than others. It means that he can express himself in more detail about everything, so he is the most loyal to society. It can reflect vulgar, sexist, materialistic, but also positive aspects, introspection, emotionality or political and social claims.”
On the covers evening he will go on stage with Joan Thiele to sing The song of lost love by Fabrizio De André. A choice that would seem far from urban, but only for those who have never understood the references while listening to his songs. «It's a coherent choice. He's a songwriter who used words in a very honest way. I am convinced that the truth does not worry about hurting feelings and gives us an opportunity for growth if presented in a constructive way. I chose De André because, in fact, he is part of my cultural and musical background. And that piece has always moved me.” In short, for Nayt Sanremo doesn't seem like a change of skin, but just the umpteenth mutation of a constantly evolving artist.
