[1][2][3] Mahmood has released three studio albums, Gioventù bruciata, Ghettolimpo and Nei letti degli altri.

In 2017, he released the single "Pesos", with which he participated in the fifth edition of the Wind Summer Festival, winning the third episode of the Youth section.

In November 2018, Marco Mengoni released his fifth album, Atlantico, which features three tracks co-written by Mahmood, including the single "Hola (I Say)".

[12] Mahmood was placed first in the second episode of the show, with his entry "Gioventù bruciata", also receiving the Critics' Award among acts performing in the second final.

[15] Mahmood performed the song for the first time during the first live show of the 69th Sanremo Music Festival, which was held on 5 February 2019.

[20] As a result, Mahmood gained a spot in the top three acts of the competition and after an additional performance, the song was declared the winner of the 69th Sanremo Music Festival.

The song topped the charts in Greece, Israel, Italy and Lithuania and reached the top 10 in five more countries, eventually becoming the most-streamed Eurovision song ever on Spotify, a record held until late January 2021 when it was surpassed by the 2019 Eurovision winner, "Arcade" by Duncan Laurence.

[26][27] Mahmood performed at the closing ceremony of the 2019 Summer Universiade in Naples with three of his songs "Soldi", "Gioventù bruciata" and "Anni 90".

[28] The album's release was preceded by five singles: "Rapide", "Dorado" (in collaboration with fellow Italian rapper Sfera Ebbasta and Colombian singer Feid), "Inuyasha", "Zero" (also included in the soundtrack of the 2021 Netflix series of the same name) and "Klan".

[32] Being a popular Eurovision star, Mahmood was one of the guest artists invited to sing at the grand final interval act "Liverpool Songbook" of the ESC 2023, he sang Imagine by John Lennon.

[6] He has stated that "labelling ourselves creates distinctions" and that "there is no need to explain our own preferences, until homosexuality will be perceived as a normal thing, which it is".

[7] Mahmood has cited American singer Frank Ocean as his biggest influence: "[His music] is very free and in which everyone can identify themselves, gay or straight, because the essential is the person and the energy that he transmits and not the sexual orientation".