Rose Villain
Rosa Luini, known professionally as Rose Villain, is an Italian singer-songwriter and rapper.
Villain first achieved popularity in 2016, thanks to the platinum certified single "Don Medellín" together with Italian rapper Salmo and then, in 2020, with the quadruple platinum certified single "Chico", together with Italian rapper Guè Pequeno. In 2021, she collaborated once again with Guè Pequeno on the songs "Elvis" and "Piango sulla Lambo". In 2022, her single "Michelle Pfeiffer" with Tony Effe was certified platinum. Furthermore, Villain signed a deal with the Italian hip hop label Machete Empire Records and also signed a record deal with Republic Records.
On 20 January 2023, Villain released her first studio album, Radio Gotham which was certified platinum by FIMI. The album contains the singles "Michelle Pfeiffer" and "Lamette", as well as the double platinum song "Fantasmi". In 2023, she also collaborated with Achille Lauro on the triple platinum certified single "Fragole". In 2024, she competed for the first time at the Sanremo Music Festival with the track "Click Boom!", ahead of the release of her second studio album Radio Sakura on 8 March 2024. She competed again the following year with the song "Fuorilegge".
Early life
Rosa Luini is the daughter of Milanese entrepreneur Franco Luini, founder of the fashion brand Tucano, and Fernanda Melloni. Born and raised in Milan, she discovered her predisposition for singing in elementary schools. She spent her life in Milan together with her family and her younger brother Alessandro; at age 18, she moved to Los Angeles, where she studied contemporary music at the Musicians Institute of Hollywood, majoring in rock music.Luini studied musical instruments and was encouraged by her teachers to write lyrics. While living in Los Angeles, she sang for a punk rock cover band called The Villains, from which her stage name, Rose Villain, was inspired. She later moved to New York City, where she completed her studies in Broadway. After completing her studies, she met her first managers: Mark Gartenberg, a former A&R for Sony Music Entertainment, and Eric Beall, ex-vice president creative of Sony ATV. She then signed with their company named Adesso, but reportedly decided to leave it in 2020.
As she met her executive producer, the Italian multiplatinum producer SIXPM, the two became engaged. The two married on May 28, 2022, in New York.
Career
2016–2017: Debut singles
In 2016, Villain signed with the famous Italian hip hop independent label Machete Empire Records, becoming the first female artist of the roster. On 19 July 2016, she released her debut single, "Get the Fuck Out of My Pool", which mixed electronic music and hip hop; the music video of the song was shot between Brooklyn and Manhattan. A couple of months later, she released her second single, "Geisha", which earned her the title "Artist of the Month" on the Italian MTV New Generation. On 11 November 2016, the Italian rapper Salmo released the single "Don Medellín", featuring Villain, for the re-release of his album Hellvisback; it peaked at number 13 on FIMI's singles chart and was certified platinum, in addition to being viewed over 16 million views on YouTube.In 2017, Villain signed a distribution deal with Universal Music Germany; through the label, she released the a remix of "Geisha", who was remixed by Swanky Tunes. In the same year, which was a difficult year due to the untimely death of her mother, Villain released the singles "Kitty Kitty" and "Don't Call The Po-Po", shooting and directing the latter's music video in New York. In 2020, "Don't Call The Po-Po" was included in the soundtrack of the second season of L.A.'s Finest. The first singles immediately caught the attention of Eddie O'Loughlin of Republic Records, who decided to meet Villain and offer her a record deal.
2018–2019: Signing with Republic Records
In early 2018, Villain announced the signing with Republic Records, becoming the first Italian artist to sign a record deal with the label. The first single with Republic Records, "Funeral Party", was released on 20 July 2018 and was a mix between pop and dancehall, the music video of the song was directed by the same Villain and was shot in Kingston, Jamaica. Later that same year, she signed with Next Model Management. On 26 July 2019, she released her second single with Republic Records called "Swoop!", produced by Sidney Swift and Sixpm; it contained a sample of Whoomp! by Tag Team. She also released "Kanye Loves Kanye" via Island Records UK, with MDNT and SIXPM.At the end of 2019, due to different artistic visions with her A&R, Villain ended her contract with Republic Records, refusing even to renew the deal, she decided to be an independent artist for a while; in fall 2019, she released two singles, "Sneakers" and "It's Snowing Motherfucker", releasing a music video for the former in December 2018.
2020–2022: Italian projects
In 2020, Villain joined MeNext Agency, signed a new record deal with Arista, Sony Music Italy, and she released her first single in Italian, named "Bundy". A couple months later, she released the official single in Italian titled "Il Diavolo Piange"; its music video was shot in New York and was directed by Joe Mischo, also known as Brume. In the summer of 2020, she was featured on "Chico" by the Italian rapper Guè Pequeno; the single was part of his studio album Mr. Fini and also featured Luchè. "Chico" became a success in Italy; it peaked at number 5 on FIMI's singles charts, was certified 4× platinum, and was named as one of the ten top-selling songs in 2020 in Italy.After the success of "Chico", Villain released her third single in Italian, titled "Goodbye". She appeared on "Stone Cold Digital", part of A Pale Blue Dot by Dreamshade, a Swiss melodic death metal band; the album was released in March 2021. She also appeared on Corona Love Story by Mondo Marcio, released in February 2021. On 13 April 2021, she announced her collaboration with Paco Rabanne, having been chosen as testimonial for the launch of the fragrance Lady Million Fabolous.
On 4 May 2021, Villain released "Soli" with Giaime. On 2 July 2021, she released via Coulumbia Records Italy and Arista Records Italy the single "Elvis" featuring Guè Pequeno and SIXPM who produced also the record, she recorded the record few months back in Santo Domingo, the single contains a sample of Heartbreak Hotel of Elvis Presley. The video of the single directed by The Astronauts was released on 6 August 2021. The single to date has surpassed over 3 million plays on Spotify. On 9 July 2021, Italian DJ and producer Don Joe released his album entitled Milano Soprano, the album contains the single "Kandinsky", which saw Villain and Italian rapper Ernia as featured artists. On 23 July 2021, Italian rapper Emis Killa released the mixtape Keta Music Vol 3; the mixtape includes the song "Psycho", which saw Villain as featured artist. On 1 September 2021, Villain was chosen by Apple Music as the Up Next Italia artist, the Apple Music initiative aimed at identifying and promoting emerging talents.
On 15 September 2021, on the occasion of 100 Years of Fashion of L'Officiel Italia, Villain has been selected by Italian singer Elisa as one of the most relevant female presences in Italian music. On 8 October 2021, the single "Eva+Eva" by Italian singer Annalisa was released, the song is contained in the album Nuda, for the occasion, the singer decided to revisit the song and launch it as a single in collaboration with another female artist of the Italian scene, so she chooses Villain. The music video of Eva + Eva was released on 12 October 2021, on the YouTube channel of Warner Music Italy. On 12 November 2021, Villain released the single "Gangsta Love" featuring the Italian rapper Rosa Chemical via Columbia and Arista records Italy.
On 10 December 2021, Billain's third collaboration with Guè Pequeno was released for the song "Piango sulla Lambo" included in the seventh album of the rapper titled Guesus. In the summer 2022, "Piango sulla Lambo" is certified platinum. On the same day, Orietta Berti's single "Luna piena", of which Villain was the songwriter, was released. On 18 March 2022, Italian rapper Fabri Fibra released his tenth studio album titled Caos. Villain is featured on the song "GoodFellas". On 22 April 2022, Italian rapper Fred De Palma released the EP PLC Tape 1. Villain is featured on the song "Au revoir" together Guè. On 13 May 2022, Villain released her single "Michelle Pfeifer" featuring Italian rapper Tony Effe. "Michelle Pfeifer" is certified gold by FIMI in October 2022, while is official platinum in February 2023.
On 20 May 2022, the official soundtrack for the Italian TV series Blocco 181 created and produced by Italian rapper Salmo was released. Villain is one of the artists chosen by the rapper for the soundtrack; she is featured alongside Italian rapper Jake La Furia on the song "M.S.O.M.". On 28 June 2022, Villain was chosen by the Italian rapper Fedez as one of the performing artists for the benefit concert Love Mi. On 22 July 2022, the collective Italian rap group SLF released the mixtape We The Squad Vol. 1 ; Villain is featured on the remix single "Travesuras" together MV Killa, Yung Snapp, Vale Lambo, and Fred De Palma. On 7 October 2022, Villain released her single "Rari". The official music video of "Rari", directed by Amedeo Zancanella, set in New York, and inspired by the movie Kill Bill was released on VEVO on 13 October 2022. On 4 November 2022, Italian rapper Rondodasosa released his debut album titled Trenches Baby; Villain is featured together Italian rapper Ghali on the song "Cell". On 18 November 2022, Italian rapper Ernia released his fourth studio album Io non ho paura; Villain is one of the writers of the single "Bella fregatura". On 25 November 2022, Irama released the deluxe edition of his album Il giorno in cui ho smesso di pensare with three new songs; one of them is "Canzoni tristi", where Villain is the featured artist.