Emiliano Rudolf Giambelli (born 14 November 1989), known professionally as Emis Killa, is an Italian rapper.
Early and personal life
Emiliano Giambelli was born in
Vimercate,
Lombardy, to a
Sicilians mother from
Palermo who worked as a
metalworker and a Lombard father who also performed as a musician. His father struggled with
bipolar disorder and died due to cardiac arrest in 2010.
Since late 2019, Emis Killa has been in a relationship with fashion model and designer Martina Bottiglieri. He has a daughter, Perla Blue, born on 17 August 2018 to his former partner Tiffany Fortini, and a son, Romeo, born 18 June 2024 to Bottiglieri.
Career
2007–2010: The beginnings
In 2007, at just 17 years old, Emis Killa was the winner of an Italian
Freestyle rap competition called TecnichePerfette.
Emis Killa cooperated with the independent company Blocco Recordz with which he published a mixtape,
Keta Music (2009), followed by the album
Champagne e Spine (2010).
2011–2012: The Flow Clocker Vol.1 and L'erba cattiva
In 2011 he published the mixtape
The Flow Clocker vol. 1, followed by the album
L'erba cattiva (2012).
The music video for his song "Parole di ghiaccio" (meaning Cold words), the third track from the album L'erba cattiva, received 7.5 million views on YouTube in less than two weeks, reaching 20 million in three months, breaking the record for Italian music.
2013–2015: Mercurio
On 12 July 2013, Emis Killa published Vampiri, as an anticipation of the rapper's second studio album. The video clip of the song was successfully released on 17 July.
2020: 17 with Jake La Furia
On 18 September 2020, Emis Killa released
17, an album in collaboration with Jake La Furia.
2024–present
In December 2024, Emis Killa was announced as one of the participants in the Sanremo Music Festival 2025.
He was due to compete with the song "Demoni". However, he ultimately withdrew from the competition in late January amid legal issues.
Awards and nominations
On 5 May 2012, Emis Killa won "Best emerging artist of 2012" at the TRL awards.
On 12 December 2012, during the Hip Hop Awards in the category of Best New Artist and Best Collaboration he won along with Club Dogo, J-Ax and Marracash with his song "Se il mondo fosse".
In January 2015, Mercurio received a nomination for IMPALA's European Independent Album of the Year Award.
Discography
Albums
-
Il peggiore (2011)
-
L'erba cattiva (2012)
-
Mercurio (2013)
-
Terza stagione (2016)
-
Supereroe (2018)
-
17 with Jake La Furia (2020)
-
Effetto notte (2023)
