Shiva Italian Rapper With 1.3M YouTube Subscribers

Early life

Shiva is the stage name of Andrea Arrigoni, an Italian rapper and singer born on 27 August 1999. He grew up in the Milan metropolitan area, in the town of Corsico. For a short period his family lived in Tuscany, and it was there that he became interested in street art and in music, rap and punk in particular.

Career

Shiva started making music in 2013 and in 2014 released his first EP, La via del guerriero, on SoundCloud. The following year he put out his first self-produced video, for the song "Cotard Delusion", and then videos for "Anima" and "Nuvola Bianca", the latter produced by Yazee. In 2015 he also signed with the Rome-based label Honiro Label. His first album, Tempo anima, appeared in 2017, the same year he featured on "Amore sporchi" from Mostro's album Ogni maledetto giorno. A second album, Solo, followed in March 2018, with videos for "Ragazzi Miei", "Fuoco" and "Esse".

His commercial breakthrough came in 2019 and 2020. The singles "Mon fre", a duet with Emis Killa, and "Bossoli" were both certified platinum by the Italian Music Industry Federation. That year he also worked with several artists from the Italian hip hop scene, including Sfera Ebbasta, whose single "Soldi in nero" reached second place on the Top Singles chart. On 31 January 2020 he released the EP Routine, led by the single "Calmo", recorded with Tha Supreme. "Calmo" reached the top of the Top Singles chart and became his first number one, while the EP entered the album chart at second place. In March 2020 he released "Auto blu", which samples "Blue (Da Ba Dee)" by Eiffel 65, who are credited as guest artists. Some rap purists among his fans criticised the song, but it quickly became widely known regardless.

On 11 June 2021 Shiva released his third studio album, Dolce vita, promoted with "La mia storia", "Fendi Belt" and "Non sai niente". It was followed by the singles "Take 3" in November and "Aston Martin", featuring the British rapper Headie One, in December. In 2022 he released the Dark Love EP on 24 June, preceded by "Pensando a lei" and "Niente da perdere". His fourth studio album, Milano Demons, came out on 25 November 2022 after the singles "Soldi pulite", "Non è Easy", "3 Stick Freestyle" and "Take 4". Other 2022 releases include "Alleluia" and "Compliquè".

The fifth album, Santana Season, was released on 9 June 2023, with "100 Opps" issued beforehand as a single. "Syrup", produced by Finesse, followed in September, and "Everyday" and "Gelosa" are also listed among his 2023 singles. In 2024 he released "Milano Shotta Freestyle" on 10 January, "First Day Out" on 22 May and "Take 5" on 28 August, along with "Polvere" and "Una vita fa". His sixth studio album, Milano Angels, appeared on 6 September 2024 and included guests from the Italian and international scene: Paky, Tedua, Geolier, Mondo Marcio, NLE Choppa, Lil Tjay, Tony Boy and Kid Yugi.

In 2025 he released Santana Money Gang, an album made with Sfera Ebbasta, along with the singles "Neon" and "Anno fantastico". On 25 November 2025 he issued "Take 6", which entered the Top Singles chart at number one. It led into the album Vangelo, released on 10 April 2026 in four limited-edition cover versions. The record has thirteen tracks, six of them collaborations with Anna, Geolier, Kid Yugi, Lazza, Sfera Ebbasta and Tiziano Ferro. The single "Bugie" is also dated 2026.

His catalogue, as recorded, spans eleven albums and dozens of singles released between 2014 and 2026, and his releases are associated with Columbia Records. His listed genres are Italian hip hop and trap. As of October 2025 his YouTube channel had about 1.3 million subscribers.

Recognition

Shiva's recognition comes mainly from sales and chart performance. Two of his singles from 2019, "Mon fre" and "Bossoli", received platinum certification in Italy. "Calmo" became his first number one on the Top Singles chart in 2020, and "Take 6" repeated that result when it debuted in first place in November 2025.