Rino Cerrone, Italian techno pioneer, dies aged 52
Born in Naples in 1972, Cerrone will be remembered for pioneering a techno style that would come to dominate and define the southern Italian city in the early-2000s. First gaining attention as a member of the live production ensemble Q-Men, alongside Lino Monaco and Nicola Buono, the crew would put their first EP out through Marco Carola’s Design Music in 1997.
By the turn of the millennium, Cerrone had launched his own imprint, Ri’li:s, with Mario Manganelli, which would prove hugely influential in the Neapolitan sound’s development. Informed by minimal and funk, artists like Flavio Diaz, Luigi Madonna, and Markantonio all came out of the movement. The latter collaborated with Cerrone on the Junction Hands project.
In 2005 Cerrone set up Loose Records, a label focused on new emerging artists, and Unri’li:s, a platform for his own productions. In addition to the imprints he ran, Cerrone would also grace the likes of Saw Recordings, G-Force Records, Speaker Attack, Genetic Recordings, Music Man Records and Phont Music. As a DJ, he was a familiar face at landmark venues and festival across the world until 2014, when he announced his retirement.
“When he stopped playing, the Naples scene felt finished,” Capriati told RA in an interview following news of Cerrone’s passing. “I feel blessed and honored to have spent six years of my career very close to him… He started the Neapolitan minimal funky sound, that music is timeless. Everybody in Naples’ techno scene speaks about him like a hero.”
