Neffa Essentials

When Giovanni Pellino borrowed his stage name from a Paraguayan footballer in the ’90s, little did he know it would stick for decades to come. Indeed, throughout Pellino’s career as Neffa, he’s made the moniker synonymous with an oeuvre spanning R&B, jazz, pop and funk as one of Italy’s most diverse vocalists. But this wide-ranging approach has a through line—a breezy, laid-back lyrical tendency, as evident on the mellow “Sigarette” as it is in the defiant post-breakup reflection “Le ore piccole”.