Articolo 31 were formed by rapper J-Ax (real name Alessandro Aleotti) and DJ Jad (Vito Luca Perrini).

[1] Soon, they signed with BMG Ricordi and started to mix rap with pop music – a move that earned them great commercial success but that alienated the underground hip hop scene, who perceived them as traitors.

In 1997, DJ Gruff dissed Articolo 31 in a track titled 1 vs 2 on the first album of the beatmaker Fritz da Cat, starting a feud that would go on for years.

[2] Their 2002 album Domani smetto represented a further departure from hip hop, increasingly relying on the formula of rapping over pop music samples.

[1] Their posse, Spaghetti Funk, includes other popular performers like Space One and pop rappers Gemelli DiVersi.