Angelina Mango’s positive and spirited energy is truly infectious. Not for nothing, after triumphing in the Sanremo Music Festival 2024, Angelina is enjoying one of the most exciting years of her career. Her pop-cumbia banger la noia, which she performed at Eurovision Song Contest earlier this year, is a vibrant antidote to boredom itself. Yet, Angelina’s songs are not just catchy tunes to blast on the radio. In this interview, she opens up about her never-ending thirst for musical experimentation and self-expression — from the very first song she wrote at six years old, all the way to her upcoming European tour.
First off, could you introduce yourself to our readers?
Hi! I’m Angelina Mango, I’m twenty-three years old and I was born in Maratea, a small town in Basilicata. I’m a singer-songwriter; I used to struggle to acknowledge it, but now I feel I can say it with less hesitation.
This year, you won the Italian song contest Sanremo, you performed at Eurovision, and you released a new album – what an incredible year! How does it feel to have accomplished so much in such a short time?
I feel honoured and grateful for the year I’ve just had, I didn’t expect it could hold so many beautiful things for me. In 2024, I experienced the most important events of my journey, starting from Sanremo victory, the Eurovision Song Contest and the release of my first album, and I am proud of how I lived through all of this, regardless of the results, because I managed to live and enjoy every minute of it. Astonishment is undoubtedly the feeling that characterised these experiences, and I have to say that I never want to stop being amazed by this kind of thing.
In your Eurovision song la noia, which literally translates to boredom, you express a need to escape monotony, seeking constant movement, stimulation and novelty. During such a busy year, what helped you keep your energy levels and enthusiasm so high? And how do you recharge?
It was definitely a busy year, but to recharge, I just needed the love that surrounds me: the love of the people around me, my family, my team, and the audience who never miss an opportunity to show it. This is my driving force, along with the push I get from the thought that I still have something to say and to share.
You were the first woman in over a decade to win the Italian song contest Sanremo – congratulations! I was rooting for you from abroad. What message would you want your female fans to take away from this milestone?
I am proud to have been the first woman to win Sanremo after ten years. I shared that stage with great women, and I consider it a victory for all of us, not to mention that I won with a team of women in an independent label at its first Sanremo experience. The truth, however, is that I hope – in music as in every other field – that soon a day will come when we no longer have to count the victories of men compared to those of women.
Your new album poké melodrama came out this May – a lot of the songs on the record are already playing all the time on the radio in Italy! What’s your inspiration behind the title and the album at large?
The title tells exactly what you can find in this album: a bit of everything! Poké is a dish where many ingredients are mixed, and anything can come out, and that’s the key of this album. With poké melodrama, I had fun experimenting with different genres, from rap to drum ’n’ bass, passing through urban and pop. At first, the heterogeneity of this album surprised me, but then I realised that it reflects who I am: a person used to exploring different genres in the studio, who doesn’t want to exclude anything.
The album opens with your song gioielli di famiglia (family jewels). Here, you talk about closing love inside a room, either to protect it or to live without it. Do you often feel like this about romantic connections in your life? What triggers this ambivalence?
This song talks about family love, and I believe there could be no better way to open this album: it’s me telling my story, talking about what our roots leave us, the traits we inherit, which often represent something we try to escape from, but in which we remain entangled until we realise the fortune of being who we are, thanks to the love we have received.
Maybe this is an unusual pick, but one of the songs that stuck with me the most from poké melodrama is edmund e lucy, named after the Chronicles of Narnia characters. Is this song about your relationship with your sibling? Are there specific moments with your brother that inspired the lyrics?
edmund e lucy is indeed about me and my brother: Filippo sent me the piano track, which for me clearly told our story. The lyrics came out all at once in thirty minutes. In this song, I talk about many things we experienced together that only we can understand, and in which only he and I understood each other. The moments I recount in the song itself are those when we played in a dark room, memories that I will always carry with me.
Going back to la noia (I can’t help it – it’s too good!), I found the line where you talk about wearing a crown of thorns as a dress-code to your party very interesting. Why did you choose this biblical reference? What does it symbolise?
I chose the crown of thorns to symbolise the cages we create for ourselves, made of negativity and worries. The message of this song is that we must be able to dance even with that crown of thorns on that any of us has.
When writing the album, did the lyrics or the beat come to you first?
The beautiful thing about being in the studio is that magic happens: the creative process is not fixed, sometimes the words come out before the beats like rivers in [a] flood, in other cases – as in edmund e lucy – it’s the music itself that dictates the words.
What was the first song you’ve ever written? What did it talk about, and what age were you when you wrote it?
I started writing songs at a very young age, I was six years old. My first song was titled Mi sono innamorata di me (I fell in love with myself) and explains how one can be satisfied with their life without necessarily imagining being in a couple. This was my view of the world in first grade (laughs).
You often describe your music as a space of intimacy and emotional expression – how do you balance your need for authenticity with commercial stylistic choices?
The truth is that I try not to focus on market logic; my music reflects what I feel in the moment I enter the studio. The key is to stay authentic and coherent, even if this – as in the case of my album – can result in songs that are different from each other, which is also the beauty of this job.
At Eurovision, you represented Italy – what do you think of the current musical scenario in Italy? What are its strengths and weaknesses?
What I appreciate the most about the current musical scenario in Italy is that it is increasingly broadening its horizons, and many women are gaining more space, that they deserve. The weakness? Probably the fact that there is still a need to reflect on this issue.
Your first European tour is coming up – best of luck! What are you mostly looking forward to about this new adventure?
Playing live is a vital part of my work, and I can’t wait to do it in Europe with my band, to make my music known abroad and embrace more and more people.
