MANESKIN: THE PHENOMENON.

The phenomenon is not only European: The Italian group scores their first entry on the Billbard HOT 100 with Beggin' (#78). Since they won the Eurovision Song Contest, back in May, the band has experienced a huge ascent in popularity.

Let's analyse the keys to this phenomenon step by step:

1.SUCCESS IN ITALY 

Maneskin did not win X Factor (Italy) in 2017, but they were so close, and throughout the whole contest, they showed they had something special. In fact, they did since the very beginning: Their first audition felt like a freestyle and was later a track (Chosen) in their first project. The message of that song was basically  'I was born to do this', to be an artist. Damiano's fluency while moving onstage and the message did the rest and convinced the judges. Throughout the contest, they showed their passion for rock, covering The Killers' Somebody told me. They also covered Beggin', their biggest hit yet.  Moreover, they did not only had the rock sound, they performed like rockstars:Damiano jumped the drums and he learned pole dance, playing with the established genres, which has become a distinguishing mark in the group's fashion style. They stated since here their interest on rock music.

However, in their first album , Il ballo della vita (which could have been named Songs for Marlena) the rock sound seemed a little dispersed (some vocals on Morire Da Re or Close To The Top). It included hits like 'Torna a casa'or  'L'altra dimensione' and is now certified three times platinum in Italy. The ensemble is more directed to italian pop, with Mediterranean sounds.

This phase helped the band have a great fanbase in Italy, which will help them win Eurovision.

Despite not having that full rock sound on their debut, they kept waiting for the moment to go full rock and, as Chosen says, they had a plan in their mind and they won't let go. That moment was San Remo 2021. They presented Zitti e Buoni to the festival, a song that was written during their early years. The track is about being yourself without caring about what other people say, just like their staging and like they've done with some people who didn't like their style. It was very different to the other songs presented to the Festival. Surprisingly, they won, assuming they would represent their country on Eurovision. 

Despite they won San Remo, Zitti e Buoni didn't get to number one on the country. However, their album Teatro d'ira, released on March, is one of the best-selling albums of the year in the country, in the top 3 to date.

2. THE EUROVISION SONG CONTEST

This has been the starting point to their international career. They surprised everyone with their staging, Damiano's confidence and attitude and they won because of the spectators votes. Since then, their success has been unstoppable: Their performance in Eurovision had more than 30 million views in a week and they placed Zitti e Buoni in the TOP 10 of the most streamed songs on Spotify on that week and their monthly listeners increased from 3 million to nearly 10 million. Zitti e Buoni entered the UK's top 40, establishing records for italian artists. Maneskin was Trending Topic for a week and fan accounts were created if they hadn't existed yet.

The next question was: Would be Zitti e Buoni a one-hit-wonder for the band? What was the following step?

The answer is that, apart from a huge promo and performing live in European countries, such as France or Sweden, the band hasn't released new music yet. The fact is that their impact has been so big that they haven't felt that need yet. Their own music has been the solution. People started to listen, not only to the Eurovision-winning song, but their whole discography. Every song has experienced an increase in their Spotify listens and Youtube views. The following hit was I WANNA BE YOUR SLAVE, from Teatro d'ira (number 5 on the Official Chart ), which was popularized by a live session where the group performs it with Zitti e Buoni. Now, their next banger is Beggin' (2017, number 7 this week), showing that the fans have revisited completely their discography.

Beggin' is right now the most listened song today on Spotify, surpassing Olivia Rodrigo's Good For You. The phenomenon is not only European (I WANNA BE YOUR SLAVE has reached the top 2 in eight European countries, like Greece, Norway or Austria). This week they earned their first entry on the Billboard Hot 100 (#78), which opens the possibility to another dimension of success in the States, increased by the near release of the video for I WANNA BE YOUR SLAVE.