“Diamond Disc. Persona. It’s an honor to bring it here to this neighborhood where it all began, a neighborhood that has been my identity, my narrative, my story, and above all, my motivation.”
So says Fabio Rizzo, known by his stage name Marracash, who on March 2, 2026, announced on his Instagram account that he had achieved a historic milestone in his career: the Diamond Record for the album Persona. To celebrate, he returned to his neighborhood of Barona in Milan, to the streets where he grew up, to share the excitement with those who have always believed in him.
In front of the Sant’Ambrogio Comprehensive School, which the artist himself attended, Marracash announced a special event for Barona and its people: “I’ve wanted to give something back to my neighborhood for a long time.” Thus, on April 18, 2026, his block party in Barona took place. But what exactly is a block party?
What is a “block party”?
Literally “neighborhood parties, ” block parties originated in the 1970s in the suburbs of the United States. Barbecues, group games, and music blaring in the streets: that’s how they’re still celebrated today. And it was precisely from block parties that hip hop was born, when on August 11, 1973, in the Bronx, Cindy Campbell organized a party to raise funds for school uniforms. Spinning the records was her 18-year-old brother, Kool Herc, now recognized as the father of hip hop.
Block parties arrived in Italy in the late ’80s and early ’90s. Born in the underground scene, they spread thanks to community centers, bringing rap and DJing from American suburbs to neighborhoods in cities like Milan. Marracash’s event is just one of many organized in Milan, but certainly one of the most important in the Barona neighborhood.
“A party that brings my music back to its true audience,” explains the artist. The event will take place on Saturday, April 18, 2026, starting at 6:00 p.m. on Via Enrico de Nicola, which will be closed to traffic for the occasion. All proceeds from the Marra Block Party will go toward social projects and the neighborhood’s revitalization.
The Barona neighborhood
“From those arcades, in those whirlwinds and without realizing it, we’ve become kings,” sings Marracash in his hit “One Love,” and indeed, the artist from Barona has become, according to many, the king of Italian rap. Barona was originally an agricultural area belonging to the Corpi Santi di Porta Ticinese, the zones outside Milan’s city walls where the deceased were buried. The rural village that sprang up there was annexed to the municipality, like many other outlying suburbs, only in 1873.
A neighborhood where the community feels like a second family. In the 2000s, thanks to Fondazione Cariplo, BPM, and 1,500 volunteers, Villaggio Barona was established: Milan’s first social housing project, featuring 80 rent-controlled apartments for 300 people—refugees, students, former drug addicts, single mothers, and families in need.
When talking about Barona, it’s practically impossible not to mention Barrio’s, one of Milan’s most active youth centers. Founded in 1997 by Don Gino Rigoldi and Comunità Nuova, its iron structure somewhat resembles a mushroom. A hub for young people, it often hosts classical music concerts and jazz festivals —recently visited by Jake La Furia as well. It was right here that all tickets for the Marra Block Party were sold, reserved primarily for Barona residents.