Combining '80s electro and Italo house with pop, hip-hop, rock, and soul, beatmaker, rapper, producer, and DJ
Don Joe is one of the leading figures of the contemporary Italian urban scene. Born Luigi Florio in the small town of Bresso, just outside Milan, in 1975, his music career began when R&B singer
Irene Lamedica invited him to be her official tour MC, and after a short stint in collective Le Sacre Scuole, he formed
Club Dogo with two of the collective's members,
Gue Pequeno and
Jake La Furia. The trio released its 2003 debut, Mi Fist, before joining forces with a whole host of other rappers and DJs to create the 17-strong Dogo Gang crew.
Don Joe continued to alternate between the two projects, while also producing records for bandmates
Marracash and
Vincenzo da Via Anfossi as well as established American names like
Cassidy and
Styles P; collaborating with
Grand Agent for the 2005 album Regular; and releasing several mixtapes under the Dogoinfamous brand. In 2011, he achieved his biggest success with Thori e Rocce, a studio album with Italian-Argentine producer DJ Shabla, which featured a "who's who" guest lineup of his homeland's biggest hip-hop stars. ~ Jon O'Brien