Among the protagonists of the 2026 Sanremo Festival there is also Mecna, the stage name of Corrado Grilli, an Apulian rapper and singer-songwriter originally from San Giovanni Rotondo and raised in Foggia. Active for over twenty years, he is one of the most recognizable voices of introspective Italian rap, capable of standing out for his profound writing and highly refined visual aesthetics – it is no coincidence that he also works as a graphic designer, personally following the image of his projects.
The roots in the underground
His musical history begins in the early 2000s in the independent hip hop scene, first with the group Microphones Killarz (from which No Problem in 2005 and No Sense in 2007) and then with the solo project Propaganda in 2006. In 2009 he joined the Blue Nox collective together with names such as Ghemon, Kiave and Macro Marco, further refining his artistic identity through a series of EPs.
The turning point and the solo journey
The breaking point comes with Winter Disco (2012), an album positively received by critics and awarded as best solo work at the MEI. From then on his career took off: Laska (2015) brings electronic influences into its sound, while Paranoia waterfront (2017) lands in the top ten of the best-selling albums in Italy. With Blue Karaoke (2018) moves to Universal Music, marking a further leap in scale.
Among the most recent works stand out Neverland (2019), made with producer Sick Luke, and While no one is looking (2020), certified gold. It came out in 2023 Stupid lovefollowed in 2025 by his ninth studio album, Discord, harmony and other moods.
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The new album
In the new album “Discordia, Armonia E Altri Stati D’Animo” we find the song “A ciel sereno”, which comes from a true and painful story: the loss of a child during the pregnancy of Mecna’s partner. The project retraces the entire emotional trajectory of that experience, from the beginning of the relationship to the birth of the son who arrived later, building an intimate and chronological narrative that transforms private pain into music.
This is not a completely new theme for Mecna: already in “Canzone da dedicate” (2023) he had hinted at that loss, and more recently, in “BASTA SESSION N.5” (November 2024), he had instead celebrated fatherhood with the verse “We greet each other with a fleeting kiss while taking our son to school”ideally closing the circle.
In the Italian rap scene, a similar emotional territory had been explored by Ernia in 2022 with “BUONANOTTE”, although in that case the story concerned a voluntary pregnancy termination, making the two episodes very different in nature and in the type of elaboration they require.
How tall is Mecna?
Mecna has a stage presence that is difficult to ignore: with his two meters tall, slender build, red hair and light complexion, the Apulian rapper has a completely recognizable image in the Italian music scene.
Training and work as a designer
Alongside his musical career, Mecna has built a solid path in design, crowned by a degree with honors from the IED – European Institute of Design. This is not a parallel interest, but a central component of his artistic identity: Grilli personally takes care of the aesthetics of his projects and actively collaborates with many other Italian and international artists. Among his best-known works are the covers created for rappers such as Fabri Fibra, Gué Pequeno, Mistaman and Clementino, but also for pop artists such as Emma Marrone, Levante, Zero Assoluto and Stadio.
On social media
On Instagram Mecna has over 200 thousand followers, where he shares updates on his music and creative work.
The covers evening at the Ariston
On February 27, in the evening dedicated to covers, Mecna will share the Ariston stage with Mara Sattei to reinterpret The last kissthe song brought to success by Carmen Consoli in 2000 and inextricably linked to the film of the same name by Gabriele Muccino.
