Salmo took his first steps in music at the end of the 1990s, releasing several demos and collaborating with the rap metal band Skasico. The turning point came in 2011 with the release of his debut album, The Island Chainsaw Massacre, followed by Death USB (2012) and Midnite (2013), a Double Platinum album that topped the Italian charts and established him among the leading figures in the rap scene.
In 2014, he co-founded Machete Crew, a collective with which he released the Machete Mixtape, projects that helped redefine Italian rap and launch new talents. In particular, Machete Mixtape vol. 4 (2019) proved to be a sensational success: certified four times Platinum, the album debuted at the top of the FIMI charts and broke numerous records. Featuring collaborations with big names like Fabri Fibra, Marracash, Guè, and new talents like thasup, Lazza, and Massimo Pericolo, the mixtape created a bridge between different generations, confirming Machete as one of the most influential realities in the national urban scene at the time.
In 2016, Salmo released Hellvisback, certified Triple Platinum, while in 2018, Playlist was released, an enormously successful album that dominated the FIMI-GfK charts with record numbers, reaching 7 Platinum discs. After breaking all records on Spotify, Salmo became the first Italian artist to launch a music video exclusively on Netflix and to have a dedicated channel on Pornhub, where - through an out-of-the-box marketing operation - he presented the release of the new album. The album features hits like 90min, Il cielo nella stanza, and Cabriolet. Following the album, the Playlist Tour in the main Italian arenas sold out completely, with over 220,000 attendees, leading to the Playlist World Tour.
In 2021, he released the album FLOP (Triple Platinum), and the music video for the track ALDO RITMO was nominated for the 2022 Berlin Music Video Awards in the Best Animation Video category. In May 2022, the album Blocco 181 - ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK was released, for which Salmo took on artistic direction. The album is based on the Sky Original series “Blocco 181,” where the artist is a supervisor, music producer, creative producer, and actor. From October 3, “Salmo Unplugged (Amazon Original)” is available on Amazon Music Italy, a special editorial project featuring 10 unplugged tracks and 10 exceptional music videos recorded in Sardinia.
Among the most energetic performers in Italy, Salmo has always stood out for his stage presence and memorable live shows, which are true heart-stopping spectacles. On July 6, 2022, he made history by becoming the first crossover rock rapper to perform at San Siro Stadium. The concert, which featured guests like Lazza, Nitro, and BLANCO, preceded the Flop Tour, which registered numerous sold-out shows in the main Italian arenas at the end of 2022.
In 2023, Salmo collaborated with Noyz Narcos for the album CVLT, a project that merges the dark, raw sounds of Roman rap with Salmo's versatility and experimental approach. The result is an album, certified Double Platinum and acclaimed by critics and the public, featuring tracks that range from hardcore rap to more electronic productions.
Passionate about cinema as much as music, Salmo brings a cinematic aesthetic to his productions that has become one of his trademarks over the years. Each music video is a short film in itself, inspired by cult movies and great directors: from the western style of Don Medellín, which evokes the worlds of Tarantino and John Ford, to the explicit reference to From Dusk Till Dawn in the video of 1984, his visual imagery is powerful and recognizable.
