Sfera Ebbasta

Biography

Gionata Boschetti (Italian: [ˈdʒɔːnata boˈsketti]; born 7 December 1992), known professionally as Sfera Ebbasta (Italian: [ˈsfɛːra ebˈbasta]), is an Italian rapper. He rose to prominence after the release of XDVR (2015), recorded with the collaboration of producer Charlie Charles and DEACC, which achieved commercial success in Italy. This success was replicated with Sfera Ebbasta (2016), Rockstar (2018) and its re-issue Popstar Edition (2018), and Famoso (2020). He was the best-selling artist in Italy of the 2010s and currently holds the record for most songs reaching No. 1 in the country (24).

First years

Sfera Ebbasta was born in the Milanese town of Sesto San Giovanni, but grew up in the neighbouring town of Cinisello Balsamo. His parents separated two years after his birth, and his father died when he was only 13. He dropped out of school at the age of 14.

First songs (2011–2013)

The rapper began his musical activity by uploading videos on YouTube between 2010 and 2012, without any success. In this period he started getting into contact with producer Charlie Charles, met while trying to illegally enter a Hip Hop TV concert in Milan. Thus, they formed the collective Billion Headz Money Gang, better known by the acronym BHMG. On 15 September 2013, he published Emergenza Mixtape Vol. 1.

XDVR (2014–2016)

Since November 2014, he has produced several pieces in collaboration with Charlie Charles and published them on YouTube with their videos. After the release of the song "Panette" he began to be contacted by some record labels.
On 11 June 2015 he made his debut with the first studio album, XDVR (standing for "per davvero", "for real" in English), made up by some of the singles published in the previous months, as well as other unpublished ones. Initially released as a free download, the album was reissued in a reloaded version on 23 November through Roccia Music, an independent record label of Marracash and Shablo, and distributed in the national sales circuits; in addition to the songs already present in the original, the tracklist included the unreleased "XDVRMX" (with Marracash and Luchè), "Ciny" (referring to his hometown Cinisello, of which a video clip was also shot) and "Trap Kings". The album had success in the underground musical scene and greatly increased the popularity of trap music in Italy, also receiving excellent feedback from the specialized critics; however it was also the subject of numerous criticisms as various songs spoke of life in suburban neighborhoods (mainly inspired by the street reality of his city, Cinisello Balsamo), including criminal activities and consumption of drugs such as codeine and marijuana.
On 20 January 2016 the video of the unreleased track "Blunt & Sprite" was published on YouTube, while during the same year Sfera Ebbasta featured in a track of the album Anarchie by the French rapper SCH, positively impressed by listening to the rapper's pieces during a stay in Italy: he also made the track "Cartine Cartier", produced by Charlie Charles and DJ Kore, extracted as a promotional single of the album.

Sfera Ebbasta (2016–2017)

On 9 September 2016 the rapper published his first solo studio album, the self-titled Sfera Ebbasta, distributed by the record Universal (in collaboration with Def Jam) and anticipated by the singles "BRNBQ×BRNBQ11 May 2016 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1BRNBQ3:43" (which received a golden record certificate for over 25,000 copies sold), "Cartine Cartier" and "Figli di papà", the latter a platinum-certified record for having sold over 50,000 copies. In this album the rapper detached himself from the more gangsta themes of XDVR to open himself to wider topics. Supported by a promotion also at a television level, participating in broadcasts such as Matrix Chiambretti on Canale 5 and the radio program Albertino Everyday, conducted by Albertino on Radio Deejay, the album received great success in Italy, debuting at the top of the album charts, as well as entering the charts of various European countries; the album was also certified as a gold record by FIMI for having sold over 25,000 copies. Between October 2016 and March 2017, the rapper promoted the album through the Sfera Ebbasta Tour, performing in various cities of Italy.

Rockstar (2017–2018)

On 10 March 2017, Sfera Ebbasta released the single "Dexter", produced by Charlie Charles and Sick Luke.
On 22 September of the same year Gué Pequeno released the single "Lamborghini" from his album entitled Gentleman, which featured the vocal participation of Sfera Ebbasta;
On 3 January 2018 the rapper announced his third studio album, Rockstar×Rockstar19 January 2018 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracks1Rockstar3:152Serpenti a sonagli3:143Cupido3:304XNX2:235Ricchi x sempre3:436Uber3:077Leggenda3:098Bancomat3:089Sciroppo3:251020 collane2:0811Tran Tran3:39, produced again by Charlie Charles and released on the 19th of the same month. The album was commercialized in Italian and international editions, the latter characterized by collaborations with various artists such as Tinie Tempah, Rich the Kid and Quavo; the album debuted at the top of the FIMI Album Ranking. At the same time, all 11 tracks have conquered the top twelve positions of Top Single (with the sole exception of Ed Sheeran's Perfect single, in sixth place). Also, thanks to the success of his album, the rapper became the first Italian artist to position himself among the first hundred of the world ranking compiled by Spotify.
On 13 March 2018 the rapper, along with Charlie Charles, announced the establishment of the record label Billion Headz Music Group, while on 4 May the unpublished single "Peace & Love" was released, which also involved the rapper Ghali.
On 7 December 2018 the re-edition of Rockstar, subtitled Popstar Edition, was published, including a second disc containing some remixes and the unreleased tracks "Popstar", "Uh Ah Hey" and "Happy Birthday" (the latter extracted as a single).
On the night of 7 to 8 December 2018, Sfera Ebbasta was due to perform in a nightclub in Corinaldo, near Ancona; during the wait for his appearance, at around 1 am, a panic induced stampede caused six deaths and dozens of injuries.

Collaborations and Famoso (2018–2024)

After Rockstar, Sfera Ebbasta has collaborated with many Italian and non-rappers in some tracks, without announcing a new album.
In September 2019, he was a judge on The X Factor Italy. His first featured music appearance was on 22 May 2020 when Italian rapper DrefGold released his second album Elo, in which Sfera Ebbasta was featured in the single "Elegante". On 5 June the single "Miami" was released; it is the result of a collaboration with US rapper Ronny J and Argentinian rapper Duki, while a week later it was the turn of "M' manc", a single recorded with the producer Shablo and the Neapolitan rapper Geolier.
On 26 June, Italian rapper Gué Pequeno released his seventh album, Mr. Fini, in which Sfera Ebbasta duets with him on the track "Immortale". Another collaboration occurs on 10 July when Mahmood released the single "Dorado", realized with Sfera Ebbasta himself and Colombian rapper Feid. The last collaboration was on 11 September, when Padre figlio e spirito, the second studio album of the trap group FSK Satellite, was released and Sfera Ebbasta appeared in the track "Soldi sulla carta".
In early October 2020, Sfera Ebbasta shared an Instagram teaser announcing his third studio album. On October 13, he revealed the title, *FAMO$O* (Italian for “famous,” with the S stylised as a dollar sign), and the tracklist, which for the first time includes major international collaborations with Offset, Future, Steve Aoki, Diplo, and J Balvin. The only Italian collaboration is with Marracash and Gué Pequeno on one track. Scheduled for release on November 20, 2020, the album also features production from Steve Aoki, Diplo, and London on da Track. The final track, “$€ Freestyle,” is notable for being the first song produced by Sfera Ebbasta himself.
Alongside the musical project Sfera Ebbasta released the documentary of the same name, exclusively on Prime Video, which shows some anecdotes of his musical growth and the making-of the new album.
On 28 October, he released the first single "Bottiglie privè", the unique which is produced by his producer Charlie Charles, who is executive producer of the entire album.
With the release of Famoso, a collaboration with the famous American fast food restaurant chain KFC was announced.
In July 2021, his collaboration with Italian rapper Blanco titled "Mi fai impazzire" ("You drive me crazy") peaked at No. 1 on the Italian singles chart, giving him his 18th number one single, and is certified seventh platinum by FIMI.

Santana Money Gang (2025-present)

On 11 April 2025, he released a new album Santana Money Gang×Santana Money Gang10 April 2025 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1SNTMNG3:122Non metterci becco3:023Sei persa2:594Molecole sprite2:545Maybach2:436Neon3:477MNGSNT2:368D&G3:539VVS Cartier3:0110Over (demo)3:3011Come se non fossi nei guai3:3012Paranoia3:46. The album was done in collaboration with the Italian rapper Shiva. Sfera Ebbasta was ranked as one of the most listened to Spotify artists of the year, based on Spotify Wrapped data. For the year of 2025, he was ranked as Italy's Global #1 most listened to artist. In September 2025, he was the only Italian guest to join Drake onstage during two shows he had in Milan.
In June 2026, Sfera Ebbasta collaraboted with Colombian rapper Feid on a song titled Pienxa en Mi, part of Feid's new musical project El Moco Verde.

Personal life

In January 2019, an investigation was opened against him for "instigation to the use of drugs" by the Pescara Public Prosecutor's Office, following a complaint by senators Lucio Malan and Massimo Mallegni from the political party Forza Italia.