Italy’s next musical generation is not following a single formula. Some artists are transforming Italian songwriting through electronics and experimental production; others are reviving guitar music, jazz, soul, punk and underground hip-hop. Many move freely between genres that once belonged to separate scenes.
I have selected 15 artists who represent this creative variety. Some are still known mainly within Italy’s independent circuit, while others are already beginning to attract larger audiences or international attention. They are not ranked: each offers a different doorway into contemporary Italian music.
If you are more familiar with established performers, you may also enjoy Italia Mia’s guides to the most popular female singers in Italy and the wider Italian music section.
How Italy’s New Artists Are Being Discovered
Sanremo remains enormously influential, but it is no longer the only route to recognition. Artists can now develop audiences through streaming playlists, independent festivals, social media, television competitions and European showcase events.
Spotify’s RADAR Italy program has highlighted performers including Coca Puma, okgiorgio and centomilacarie. Meanwhile, Eurosonic Noorderslag—one of Europe’s most important showcase festivals—featured 11 Italian acts in its 2026 program, demonstrating growing international interest in the country’s alternative scene.
The most interesting development, however, is stylistic. The division between pop, rap, electronic music and traditional songwriting is becoming increasingly fluid.
1. Coca Puma
Coca Puma, the artistic name of Costanza Puma, creates music suspended between dream pop, electronics, alternative R&B and intimate songwriting. Her work often feels cinematic: delicate vocals emerge through hazy synthesizers, restrained beats and carefully layered textures.
Rather than building songs around immediate pop hooks, she creates atmospheres that unfold gradually. This makes her music especially appealing to listeners interested in artists who treat sound production as part of the emotional storytelling.
Spotify selected Coca Puma for its RADAR Italy program, while her appearance among the Italian artists presented at Eurosonic confirmed her potential beyond the domestic market.
Why listen: For dreamy electronic pop with a personal, understated character.
2. okgiorgio
Producer and songwriter okgiorgio has become one of the most distinctive names in Italy’s new electronic landscape. His tracks combine repeating vocal fragments, acoustic elements, warm electronic rhythms and an almost communal sense of movement.
His music can feel introspective when heard through headphones yet surprisingly euphoric in concert. That balance has helped him move from the independent Italian circuit to festival appearances elsewhere in Europe.
He was selected for Spotify RADAR Italy and subsequently performed at international events connected with Europe’s emerging-talent network.
Why listen: For imaginative electronic music that feels both intimate and festival-ready.
3. centomilacarie
Behind the name centomilacarie is a young singer-songwriter who transforms vulnerability, confusion and emotional isolation into raw alternative pop.
His writing belongs to a generation that does not always separate traditional cantautorato from indie rock, bedroom pop or digitally produced music. Quiet passages can suddenly open into distortion and emotional release, making his songs feel like private thoughts that have become unexpectedly public.
He was another of the artists chosen for Spotify’s RADAR Italy program, giving wider visibility to a style built more on emotional honesty than conventional pop polish.
Why listen: For fragile, intense songs that connect Italian songwriting with contemporary alternative rock.
4. Sayf
Sayf has emerged as one of the most compelling voices in contemporary Italian rap. His music draws on Genoa, Mediterranean identity and the experience of growing up between cultures, but it avoids being reduced to a simple autobiographical label.
He combines sharp observation, irony and social awareness with an instinct for melodies that can reach listeners outside traditional hip-hop circles. His second-place finish at the 2026 Sanremo Music Festival brought him substantially greater national attention.
Sayf is an example of how Italian rap continues to evolve: regional, multilingual and increasingly difficult to contain within a single genre.
Why listen: For thoughtful rap shaped by contemporary Italy and its changing cultural identity.
5. Nicolò Filippucci
Nicolò Filippucci represents the more melodic side of Italy’s emerging scene. After building recognition through televised music competitions, he won the Nuove Proposte category at Sanremo, one of the most valuable showcases available to a young Italian performer.
His strength lies in emotionally direct interpretation. Rather than hiding behind elaborate production, he places the voice and the meaning of the song at the center of the performance.
Television exposure does not automatically guarantee a lasting career, but Filippucci now has the opportunity to establish an identity beyond the competition format.
Why listen: For contemporary Italian pop led by a powerful and expressive voice.
6. TonyPitony
TonyPitony brings theatricality, humor and unpredictability to Italian popular music. His performances mix retro references, character-driven storytelling and a deliberately exaggerated stage presence.
In an industry where emerging singers are often encouraged to resemble artists who are already successful, TonyPitony stands out because he appears committed to building his own peculiar universe.
His work may not appeal to listeners looking for conventional radio pop, but its eccentricity is precisely what makes it memorable.
Why listen: For playful, theatrical music that treats performance and personality as part of the composition.
7. Gaia Banfi
Gaia Banfi approaches the voice as both a narrative and electronic instrument. Her music brings together experimental pop, ambient sound, improvisation and elements of Italian songwriting.
Instead of using technology merely to decorate a conventional composition, she allows loops, processing and layered vocals to determine how a piece develops. The result is cerebral without losing its emotional dimension.
Her selection among the Italian performers presented at Eurosonic reflects the growing international audience for Italian music that exists outside mainstream pop and rock.
Why listen: For adventurous vocal music, ambient textures and experimental songwriting.
8. Il Mago del Gelato
Il Mago del Gelato is a Milanese group whose sound absorbs jazz, funk, Mediterranean influences and the cosmopolitan atmosphere of the city.
The band’s playful name matches music that is energetic, stylish and difficult to hear without imagining a live performance. Saxophones, bass lines, percussion and rhythmic guitar create a sound that can recall an earlier era while remaining unmistakably contemporary.
Their growing presence on European stages suggests that Italian music can travel internationally without imitating Anglo-American pop.
Why listen: For lively jazz-funk with Mediterranean warmth and Milanese character.
9. Laura Agnusdei
Composer and saxophonist Laura Agnusdei occupies a fascinating space between electronic experimentation, ambient music, jazz and contemporary composition.
Her work often develops slowly, using breath, repetition and electronic textures to create immersive environments. It rewards attentive listening and demonstrates how diverse the term “Italian music” has become.
Agnusdei is particularly interesting for anyone who wants to explore beyond vocal pop and discover Italy’s experimental instrumental scene.
Why listen: For atmospheric saxophone, exploratory electronics and music that unfolds like a landscape.
10. Glazyhaze
Glazyhaze belongs to the renewed Italian interest in shoegaze and dream pop. Distorted guitars, blurred vocals and dense layers of sound create music in which atmosphere can be as important as lyrics.
Although the group draws inspiration from recognizable alternative-rock traditions, it is part of a younger Italian scene rediscovering guitar music without simply reproducing the past.
Its inclusion in an international showcase such as Eurosonic indicates that Italy’s new rock bands are once again finding listeners beyond the country’s borders.
Why listen: For enveloping guitars, dreamlike vocals and a modern interpretation of shoegaze.
11. SKT
SKT brings together Italian hip-hop roots and the influence of British grime. Born in Calabria and raised in South London, he can move between Italian, English and dialect, giving his music a naturally transnational identity.
His lyrics combine street-level realism with introspection, while his delivery reveals familiarity with both British and Italian rap traditions. Collaborations and live appearances alongside established performers have helped draw attention to his distinctive perspective.
Why listen: For hard-edged rap connecting Calabria, London and contemporary Italian hip-hop.
12. Sara Baroni
Sara Baroni represents a new generation for whom musical identity is international from the beginning. Born and raised in Singapore before moving to Italy, she writes English-language bedroom pop influenced by confessional contemporary artists.
Her songs focus on the uncertainties of adolescence and early adulthood, using an intimate style that feels suited to headphones but can also create a strong bond with a live audience.
Her background offers a useful reminder that emerging Italian music is no longer necessarily defined by birthplace, language or a single national tradition.
Why listen: For warm, intimate bedroom pop with an international outlook.
13. Caleydo
Caleydo combines hip-hop technique with literary ambition and a wide musical vocabulary. His influences extend from Italian songwriting to international alternative rap, helping him avoid the predictable formulas of commercial trap.
His collaboration with respected producer and rapper Bassi Maestro gave him an opportunity to demonstrate that thoughtful concepts and carefully constructed lyrics can still thrive within modern Italian hip-hop.
Caleydo’s music rewards listeners who pay attention to words, references and the ideas behind an album rather than concentrating only on individual singles.
Why listen: For articulate Italian rap with strong concepts and classic hip-hop foundations.
14. Jungle Julia
Jungle Julia’s music balances spiritual reflection, emotional intensity and the physical energy of alternative rock. Her artistic development included training through Officina Pasolini and recognition at the Premio Bianca d’Aponte, an important event dedicated to female songwriting.
Her influences range from PJ Harvey and Radiohead to the more abrasive energy of contemporary post-punk. The resulting songs can be graceful one moment and forceful the next.
She is among the emerging artists demonstrating that Italian cantautorato can be experimental, visceral and resistant to easy categorization.
Why listen: For intense songwriting that brings vulnerability and rock tension together.
15. Ottobre
Ottobre channels early-2000s pop-punk, alternative rock and nu metal into songs about vulnerability, relationships, frustration and survival.
Her music belongs to a broader guitar revival among younger listeners who discovered artists such as Paramore and Avril Lavigne through both personal memory and social platforms. However, the emotional directness of her writing gives the songs a contemporary Italian perspective.
The contrast between melodic accessibility and heavy guitars makes her one of the more immediate artists in the current alternative scene.
Why listen: For emotionally charged pop-rock with punk attitude and heavier edges.
Five More Names Worth Exploring
No selection can fully represent such a fragmented and rapidly changing scene. Listeners interested in going deeper should also look for:
- Alex Fernet, whose music explores funk, soul and sophisticated retro production.
- Evita Polidoro, a drummer and composer working between jazz, electronics and experimental song.
- Gabriele Poso, whose percussion-led music connects jazz with Afro-Latin traditions.
- Kodaclips, an Italian band exploring shoegaze, noise and atmospheric guitar music.
- Sink, an experimental project that challenges familiar boundaries between electronic music and live performance.
All five appeared among the Italian artists selected for Eurosonic, alongside Coca Puma, Gaia Banfi, Glazyhaze, Il Mago del Gelato and Laura Agnusdei.
What Makes the New Italian Scene Different?
The most noticeable characteristic is freedom. Younger performers do not appear particularly concerned about whether a song should be classified as indie, pop, rap, jazz or electronic music.
Geography matters too. Milan and Rome remain important centers of the recording industry, but compelling music is emerging from Genoa, Calabria, Tuscany, Veneto and many other parts of the country. Some performers also combine Italian roots with formative experiences abroad.
Language has become equally flexible. Italian remains central, but English, regional dialects and multilingual lyrics coexist naturally. This reflects a country whose musical identity is increasingly connected to migration, digital culture and international collaboration.
Where to Discover Emerging Italian Music
Streaming services are a practical starting point, but they should not be the final destination. Editorial programs such as Spotify RADAR and discovery playlists can introduce new names, while independent Italian publications provide valuable context that algorithms cannot.
Live music remains essential. Showcase festivals, local clubs and events devoted to independent artists allow audiences to hear how these projects work outside the studio. Eurosonic has also become an important gateway for Italian performers seeking international festival bookings.
Sanremo Giovani and the Nuove Proposte competition continue to identify accessible pop voices, while organizations such as Officina Pasolini and the Premio Bianca d’Aponte support different traditions of songwriting.
A New Chapter for Italian Music
Italian music has always been much broader than the familiar international image of romantic singers and Sanremo ballads. Today’s emerging artists are making that diversity impossible to ignore.
Coca Puma and Gaia Banfi are expanding the possibilities of electronic songwriting. Sayf and SKT reflect a multicultural, regionally grounded evolution of rap. Il Mago del Gelato brings jazz and funk back to the dance floor, while Glazyhaze and Ottobre demonstrate the renewed appeal of guitars. Artists such as Jungle Julia, centomilacarie and Sara Baroni are finding new ways to turn private emotions into shared experiences.
Not every musician on this list will become a mainstream star—and that is not necessarily the objective. What matters is that together they reveal a creative Italian landscape that is adventurous, varied and increasingly connected with the rest of Europe.