Club Dogo

All Music Guide:

The Milan-based hip-hop trio Club Dogo were spawned from the larger and more influential Sacre Scuole crew, a famous Italian hip-hop institution. Formed by rappers Jake La Furia and Guercio (sometimes recording under names such as Guè Pequeno and Lucky Luciano) and producer/beatmaster Don Joevanni, the Sacre Scuole crew was a loose affiliation including a number of other artists such as freestyle champion Dargen. Club Dogo earned a reputation via their collaborations with artists like Zippo & Chief, DJ Skizo, and DJ Enzo, who appeared on mixtapes and collections throughout their early years. The group released its debut record in 2000, entitled MC Al Cubo. While not largely successful, the trio's follow-up release certainly was: 2003's Mi Fist, which featured a number of Italian hip-hop A-listers (Aken, Issam Lamaislam, and Dargen), was an immediate success. It became one of Italy's best-selling independent records of the year, so much so that it was re-released a year later by the Vibra Records label. Club Dogo's next production was a double-feature LP performing opposite the popular Porzione Massiccia crew of Bologna. PMC vs. Club Dogo was a huge success for both camps, each earning a reputation as the premier hip-hop outfit in its respective city. Their second solo studio record, Penna Capitale, was released in 2006, marking a notable shift toward themes of street life, establishing the group as Milan's voice of "gang urbana" culture. Club Dogo turned a corner with their 2007 release, Vile Denaro, their first record released by a major label. Though they've since drawn criticism for stylistic shifts credited to their contract with EMI, the album reached the group's largest audience to date.

Wikipedia:

Club Dogo is an Italian rap group from Milan (Lombardy) that consists of the rappers Guè Pequeno and Jake La Furia, and the beatmaker Don Joe.

The Group

Sacre Scuole

A former music group named "Sacre Scuole" was born from the union of the writer and MC Jake La Furia, whose tag-name was "Fame", with Guercio (now Guè Pequeno) and Dargen D'Amico, both rappers from Milan. In the late 90's the group collaborated with high-profile names of the underground rap scene like Solo Zippo, Chief, Dj Enzo, Dj Skizo and Dj Zak (from Alien Army).

In 2000, the group published an EP entitled "3 MC's al Cubo", produced by Chief. At the same time the producer Don Joe, who worked with R&B singer Irene Lamedica, started to collaborate with them producing a track in the extended play of "3 MC's al Cubo".

In 2001, the group disbanded citing creative differences between Jake La Furia and Dargen D'Amico

Mi Fist

After the experience with Sacre Scuole, Don Joe joined Jake La Furia and Guercio to form a new rap group: "Club Dogo". Their first album, Mi Fist (released in 2003), had a notable success in the underground music scene. Mi Fist arrived at the top of Italian indie charts, and in 2004 was re-issued with bonus tracks under the label Vibra Records.

Penna Capitale

After nearly three years and some mixtapes and street albums including Regular, made by Don Joe and the Philadelphia rapper Grand Agent, Roccia Music (a compilation featuring many Italian artist) and Hashishinz sound Vol.1 (ep by Guè Pequeno and the beatmaker Deleterio a.k.a. Del) on March 2006 they released their second album: Penna Capitale. The title is a metaphor about the power of written words.

After about 150 live performances between 2004 and 2005, and appearances on various Italian rap records, Club Dogo released videos for the singles Butta via tutto, Una Volta Sola and D.O.G.O. This album is characterized by the sound created by Don Joe, mixing 80's songs samples with synths.

Vile Denaro

In 2007 Club Dogo, after getting signed to Virgin Records, made their third album titled Vile Denaro, and the first single Mi hanno detto che has been spun in heavy rotation by radio and TV obtaining good success in the top charts. The second single of Vile Denaro is Tornerò da Re.

Dogocrazia

In June 2009, after the passage to the Universal Music, Club Dogo release Dogocrazia. The First single is Sgrilla and the Second is Brucia Ancora featuring J-Ax, which became a huge hit. They released three other singles from this album, Il mio mondo, le mie regole, Ragazzi fuori and Nè Fama, Nè Soldi.

Che bello essere noi

The 5th of October 2010 has been released their 5th studio album Che bello essere noi, anticipated by the single Spaccotutto.

Dogo Gang

In 2005 Club Dogo formed the crew named Dogo Gang, membered by other Mc's a DJs from Milan that gradually joined the collective. Roccia Music is the first official compilation of Dogo Gang, released at the end of 2005. Benvenuti nella Giungla (meaning Welcome to the jungle) is the title of the later one(March 2008).

Members of the crew are: