Growing up in small-town northern Italy, Andrea Arrigoni was inspired by the hardcore hip-hop of Mondo Marcio and Noyz Narcos to jump into freestyle battles. By the age of 16 he’d won rap contest One Shot Game under the pseudonym Shiva, taken from an enigmatic graffiti artist. Within just a couple of years of that breakthrough, he hopped on tracks with MamboLosco and Aitch—and dropped two solo LPs proving his gift for styling hypnotic trap. Whether he’s serving smooth twilight bops or crafting dark couplets on poverty and ambition, Shiva’s pen is matched only by his formidable flow.