Francesco Servidei (born 27 December 1989), better known as Frah Quintale, is an Italian rapper and singer-songwriter. After debuting with the hip hop duo Fratelli Quintale in 2006, he launched his solo career with independent label Undamento. His first solo album, Regardez moi, was released in 2018, and was certified platinum in Italy.

Frah Quintale
Frah Quintale performing in Rome (2018)
Frah Quintale performing in Rome (2018)
Background information
Birth nameFrancesco Servidei
Born (1989-12-27) 27 December 1989 (age 34)
Brescia, Italy
Occupation(s)Singer, songwriter, rapper
InstrumentVocals
Years active2006–present
LabelsUndamento

Biography

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Servidei was born in Brescia on 27 December 1989.[1] He grew up in the Urago Mella district, in the Northwest suburbs of Brescia.[2] He has two older brothers.[3] During elementary school, his teacher asked Servidei and his classmates to compose a song, as part of a group assignment. This experience led him to develop an interest in writing songs.[4] At the age of 16, he first approached the hip hop culture as a writer.[4] He created graffiti on walls beside the Mella river and on abandoned industrial buildings in his hometown.[2]

In 2006, he formed the duo Fratelli Quintale, together with fellow rapper Mr.Merio.[5] Despite the group name, literally meaning 'Quintal Brothers', Frah and Merio are not brothers in real life. The term 'Quintale' refers to his components weight when they formed the band. After the duo split, Frah decided to keep 'Quintale' as part of his stage name, although he had already lost weight at the time.[3] In 2012, the duo released the album One Hundred as a free download, followed by All You Can Eat in 2013.[6] They later signed a deal with Carosello and released the studio album Tra il bar e la favola, which peaked at number 69 on the FIMI Italian Albums Chart and spawned the singles "Semplice" and "Avrei fermato il tempo".[5][7]

Frah Quintale's first solo project was the extended play Idiot savant, released as a free download in 2012 and conceived as a side project during his work as part of Fratelli Quintale.[8] His second extended play, titled 2004, was released in 2016 by Undamento.[9] It was followed by the album Regardez mois (2017),[10] later certified platinum by the Federation of the Italian Music Industry.[11] Between 2017 and 2018, he promoted the album touring across Italy, with more than 70 shows.[12] In 2018 he also performed at the International Workers' Day Concert in Rome,[13] and he released the single "Missili", recorded with singer Giorgio Poi and produced by Takagi & Ketra.[14] On 29 June 2018, the project Lungolinea was released. Initially created as a playlist preceding the release of his debut album, Lungolinea evolved to a compilation album featuring previous singles, new songs, and vocal messages originally sent to producers while working on Regardez mois.[15][16]

Between 2020 and 2021, Frah Quintale released a two-albums project titled Banzai and composed of the records subtitled Lato blu (2020) and Lato arancio (2021).[17] Banzai (Lato blu) was certified Gold by FIMI in 2021.[18] Frah Quintale also appeared in the single "Venere e Marte" by producers Takagi & Ketra and also featuring vocals by Marco Mengoni.[19]

Notes

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  1. ^ Fabio Tranchina (18 March 2019). "I 10 artisti Indie che devi assolutamente conoscere". Indie Life (in Italian). Retrieved 26 July 2021.
  2. ^ a b Davide Campione (19 November 2018). "Lo 'street tour' di Brescia insieme a Frah Quintale" (in Italian). Agenzia Nazionale Stampa Associata.
  3. ^ a b Francesca Milano (12 June 2018). "Ridateci il Festivalbar e fate vincere Frah Quintale". Il Sole 24 Ore (in Italian). Retrieved 27 July 2021.
  4. ^ a b "A proposito di Frah Quintale". Il Giornale di Brescia (in Italian). 10 June 2018. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
  5. ^ a b Carlo Piantoni (29 June 2015). "Fratelli Quintale. Leggi l'intervista". La Casa del Rap (in Italian). Retrieved 27 June 2021.
  6. ^ "Fratelli Quintale" (in Italian). Carosello Records. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
  7. ^ "Italian Charts – Fratelli Quintale – Tra il bar e la favola". Hung Medien. Italiancharts.com. Retrieved 27 June 2021.
  8. ^ "Frah Quintale, ecco chi si nasconde dietro quella testa gigante di cartapesta" (in Italian). Rockol.it. 30 October 2017. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
  9. ^ Marco Jeannin (3 November 2016). "2004 è il nuovo EP di Frah Quintale: leggi qui la recensione" (in Italian). Rockol.it. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
  10. ^ Valentina Cesarini (24 November 2017). "Frah Quintale, Regardez Moi: un disco di treni, città, amori e sbronze". TV Sorrisi e Canzoni (in Italian).
  11. ^ "Italian certifications – Frah Quintale" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved 27 July 2021. Select "Tutti gli anni" in the "Anno" drop-down menu. Type "Frah Quintale" in the "Filtra" field. Select "Tutte le sezioni" under "Sezione".
  12. ^ "Frah Quintale, annunciato il Regardez Moi winter tour: le date dei concerti" (in Italian). Sky Italia. 20 September 2018. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
  13. ^ Carlo Moretti (1 May 2018). "Il rock di Gianna Nannini al Concertone: parolacce, grande musica e il finale è dance". la Repubblica (in Italian).
  14. ^ Claudio Biazzetti (2 May 2018). "Frah Quintale e Giorgio Poi: è uscito il pezzo dell'estate". Rolling Stone (in Italian). Retrieved 27 July 2021.
  15. ^ "Frah Quintale: vinile di Regardez Moi ed esce anche Lungolinea". Rap Burger (in Italian). 29 June 2018. Archived from the original on 5 March 2021. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
  16. ^ Vittorio Farachi (29 June 2018). "Cambia tutto sì, ma non me: Frah Quintale racconta il suo ultimo anno" (in Italian). Rockit.it. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
  17. ^ "Frah Quintale annuncia l'album Banzai lato arancio e il tour 2022: info e date" (in Italian). Sky Italia. 3 May 2021.
  18. ^ "Italian certifications" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved 20 September 2021.
  19. ^ "Takagi & Ketra, Mengoni, Frah Quintale: ecco il video di Venere e Marte" (in Italian). Radio Italia Solo Musica Italiana. 11 January 2021. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
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