Neomelodic Notes: Social Aesthetics, Political Economies, and Networks of Asymmetric Exchange within the Neapolitan Periphery

Abstract

The term "neomelodic" defines a musical and aesthetic genre that has dominated the mediascape of Naples, Southern Italy, since the early 1990s. Neomelodic cultural productions express "glocalizing" narratives that explicitly aim to represent the experiences of socially marginal Neapolitan subjects, with a remarking preference for those involved in organized crime activities. In spite of the structural poverty illustrating the life conditions of the Neapolitan underclass, the neomelodic musical industry brings in millions of euros per year in that city. Most of this money eventually flows into the pockets of the Neapolitan Camorra, that is one of the most powerful Italian criminal cartels. Camorra affiliates invest impressive amounts of capital into the neomelodic industry, and thus influence this musical genre’s aesthetic forms, economic value, and socio-cultural meanings. This article focuses on the coalescence between neomelodic aesthetics, Neapolitan political economy, and the local cultural sphere to offer insight into the articulation of licit and illicit political economies within the context of contemporary neoliberal Italy. It does so by exploring the commodified aesthetics leading to the entrenchment of organized crime in Naples.