Armed struggle is back in style

The ‘years of lead’, or anni di piombo, represented a dense moment of political and social tension in Italian history (from the late 1960s well into the 1980s) marked by widespread political violence, terrorism and intense conflict between armed revolutionary left-wing groups, clandestine left-wing organizations, such as the Red Brigades, as well as right-wing paramilitary organizations, the latter often linked to state actors. P38 is an Italian hip hop collective founded in 2020 whose songs and live performances construct an unmistakable visual and thematic parallel with militant left-wing organizations of the 1970s. Their debut record Nuove BR (New Red Brigades, 2021) is a direct reference. Notorious for wearing ski masks during their performances, the group hides behind pseudonyms (Yung Stalin, Jimmy Penthotal), and its name evokes the Walther P38 (the weapon employed by extra-parliamentary left movements). In line with the key themes of this special issue, this article examines how P38 selects and uses different, old and contemporary, musical and extra-musical elements (style, music, lyrics) by simultaneously engaging with and diluting established historical narratives, from the tradition of Italian protest music to a more locally specific interaction of rap music and hip-hop culture, passing via the dynamics of a larger global contemporary history of musical and political protest, rupture and dissent.