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Much of Naples’ more interesting contemporary music over the last 10 to 15 years has been born from the left-wing, often illegally occupied centri sociali (social centres), in particular Officina 99, via Gianturco 101, T 081-7349091, http://www.officina99.org, from which rap group 99 Posse were born. Much of their music is associated with marginalized youth and the disaffected and is sung in dialect. 99 Posse are now rich pop stars but still sing and rap in dialect, and remain political. Almamegretta, http://www.almamegretta.net, is another political Neapolitan band whose mixing of musical roots from Campania with reggae, dub, funk and African musical traditions has brought them national success. They continue to explore serious issues, particularly the political and economic exploitation of the south, and have worked with Massive Attack. Their 2001 album Immaginaria was critically acclaimed. Pino Danielle came from a similar background, starting as a protest singer for Neapolitan workers, but he has now become mellow and rather dull (and a national superstar) and sings in Italian as opposed to dialect. The other strong thread running through local contemporary music is that of the Nuovi Melodici. Originating in the Quartieri Spagnoli, the music of the various artists classed as the Nuovi Melodici is also sung in dialect but is much more conservative, both musically and thematically. Venues for contemporary music in the city are generally small- scale, such as Notting Hill and Vibes Bar, though large-scale concerts such as Festivalbar (in piazza del Plebiscito and Neapolis (currently in the Parco Virgiliano are becoming more of a feature.
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