Write or perform songs: Choose.
“It’s like if I had two children and they asked me which one to save… I would become an architect.”
Was it Plan B?
“The C.”
And the B?
“Be a dancer. I studied dance since I was a child, but things didn’t go well.”
Angelina Mango is staying true to Plan A for now. Singer-songwriter like her father, who tragically died in 2014, and like her mother Laura Valente, long-time voice of Matia Bazar. After winning the “singing” group of “Amici”, Angelina, with her smile and overwhelming positivity, found her place in the slogan challenge with “We’ll think about it tomorrow”; Now there is a sold-out tour in the clubs and “Che t’o dico a fa” has just been released, the best female debut of 2023 on streaming platforms.
A song with Naples in the background. City that returns in its concerts with “Tammurriata nera” and Liberato, but she was born in Basilicata …
“At this moment I feel like I resemble Naples: it reflects my enthusiasm. I don’t see singing as Neapolitan cultural appropriation: music never plunders, at most it borrows and gives away.”
What are you giving her?
“The public welcomes me. Unsatisfactory training has paid off.”
When did it start?
“The first evening at the age of 12 with my band. For a few evenings we called ourselves “Black Lake” (by Lagonegro ed.), then I became “Angelina Mango”.
Haven’t you thought about using a stage name tag?
«My first EP “Monolocale” was full of personal songs: it seemed logical to use my first and last name. And even if I had been called Papaya, everyone would have immediately understood who I was.
Double the daughter of art: the disadvantages?
“As a child, the rumors of those who talk without knowing you well.” You get an A in school and someone says you don’t deserve it. Attitude I find on Instagram.”
Are you afraid of confrontation with mom and dad?
“I have no sense of competition: music is a passion, not a challenge.” I am inspired by what I like, but not so much by my family. Or maybe they’re just things I already have inside me.
The first tour: sensations?
“80% of what I sing comes from my diary: when I realized it gave me goosebumps.” For the “Will to Live” booklet, I sent mom to get the diaries, I have about 300 of them to select a few drawings… Result? I have no more secrets…”
The first song?
“At the age of 5, I “fell in love with myself.” I had a theory: A woman doesn’t have to get married to fulfill herself.
“I see myself dressed as a bride / Everything is so banal,” she sings now.
“I’m talking about these written stories: friends, marriage, children. It scared me back then, I was the first of the “substitutes” and I wanted to be tough: now it would be okay for me.”
Aside from the cars, what was it like as a kid?
“Until I was 15, I lived in Lagonegro with 5,000 inhabitants. As a child I had a lot of suggestions at home, but I often went out in the evenings: the country allows you to do that.”
Now that he lives in Milan, he wrote this post: “I wanted to wear leggings, but I was wearing a loose jumpsuit.” Is it possible that he is so afraid?
“When I’m out alone in the evening, I worry about my outfit. This sums up the situation we find ourselves in. The only concern is the problem, it shouldn’t be there.
In 2022, only 9 women are in the top 100 albums…
“The goal would be to get to where we don’t expect it.”
What do you think of the machismo of many trappers?
“If that attitude exists, I think it’s toxic.”
In 2020, the first EP with a multinational company didn’t move anything. Were you afraid of having to give up?
“I scored 100 points and got zero points… There were a few moments where I said, ‘Maybe that’s not the case.’ I was about to go to the US for six months when Amici arrived.
When did you notice that something had changed?
“On the journey from Rome to Milan the day after the final. In my jacket pocket I found a letter in which a girl confessed to me how much my songs had helped her feel better. It was a jolt that connected me to reality.
His portrait is clear. The GenZ?
“I see a generation that repairs: we have to fix the mistakes of the previous one. It seems banal and it’s bad, but we have to save the planet.”