Learn Italian With Shiva with these 10 Song Recommendations (Full Translations Included!)
Shiva is the stage name of Andrea Arrigoni, an Italian rapper born in 1999 in Legnano, a town near Milan in the Lombardy region.
He began releasing music as a young teenager, and a freestyle contest win in 2015 landed him his first record deal. His debut album, Tempo anima, came out in 2017, but it was the 2019 singles Mon fre, with Emis Killa, and Bossoli that made him a star.
Since then Shiva has become one of Italy's leading trap artists, topping the charts with albums like Milano Demons and Santana Season and teaming up often with fellow Milanese rapper Sfera Ebbasta. His music leans into a laid-back, melodic flow over stories of Milan's fast money and faster nightlife.
Gelosa catapults us into a neon–lit after-party where romance, fame and temptation crash into each other. Shiva, Sfera Ebbasta and Guè speak to a girl whose gelosia (jealousy) sparks playful friction: she scrolls Instagram, he begs her to put the phone down. Between purple drinks, late-night drives and whispered promises, the rappers reveal the tug-of-war between their high-speed lifestyle and the need for genuine connection. Lavish gifts, unanswered calls and a Glock under the pillow paint a picture of swagger mixed with vulnerability, as if luxury could plug the emptiness left when trust starts to crack.
Beneath its catchy na-na-na hook, the song is really a tug between possessiveness and freedom. The guys flirt with danger and success yet secretly fear losing the one person who sees past the spotlight. They offer trips to Paris or London, designer clothes and a name-drop in a song, but what they truly crave is her undivided attention. “Gelosa” turns the familiar club-track vibe into a candid confession: for all the bling, anxiety and jealousy still sit in the front seat, proving that even rap’s high flyers wrestle with the same messy emotions as everyone else.
Heartache can sound surprisingly catchy, and Shiva’s "Non Lo Sai" proves it. In this raw confession, the rapper pours his feelings into a cup of spiked Sprite, mixing late-night regrets with smoky memories of a love he never managed to treat right. He looks back on a relationship that was both treasure and trouble: he cheated, lost friends to street wars, drifted from his mother, and now drowns the loneliness in booze and blunt smoke. The lyrics swing between tough-guy swagger and vulnerable questions like “Mi ameresti ancora se non avessi più niente?”—would she still love him if the fame disappeared?
As the beat bumps, Shiva rewrites love songs by day and relives break-ups by night, painting scenes of hotel rooms, canceled concerts, and a life balanced on the edge of success and self-destruction. The hook repeats his aching admission, “Anche se non lo sai, eri tutti i miei guai,” turning guilt into a bittersweet anthem. The song captures the tug-of-war between street loyalty and romantic devotion, showing that even when you have diamonds, VIP passes, and Off-White bags, you can still feel empty without the right pair of eyes staring back at you. 🎧💔
This short interlude opens with a fake voicemail greeting: the called party's phone is off or unreachable, so leave a message after the tone. A run of wordless "uah" and "yeah" ad-libs bridges the joke into the real message underneath.
Once the singing starts, the mood turns to regret. Time is running out and she still isn't his; the two of them once planned to run away together, and he admits his own pride is probably the only thing to blame for losing her. By the end, someone else has taken his place, and the whole thing plays like a message left for someone who has already moved on.
Shiva turns late–night thoughts into a catchy soundtrack of infatuation in “Pensando A Lei.” Borrowing the irresistible hook “Shawty’s like a melody in my head” and blending it with Italian verses, he paints the picture of a young rapper who has gone from having nothing to wanting to give his dream girl everything. Her presence loops in his mind like an iPod stuck on replay, making even city skylines feel brighter. He’s honest about his flaws – the obsession with money, the DMs he could fill – yet he can’t shake the feeling that this girl is different. She’s a Nike-wearing model in his eyes, someone who makes him ditch distractions and redefine what truly matters.
At its core, the song is an energetic confession of love that feels both modern and timeless. Shiva admits his fears of commitment and the whispers that they’re “too young” to get serious, but he decides to live in the moment, breaking rules for a romance that’s as thrilling as it is uncertain. The repetitive hook mirrors the way she replays in his head, turning the track into an anthem for anyone who’s ever been stuck on a crush that’s impossible to forget.
"Bossoli" is Shiva's portrait of the fast, dangerous glamour of street life in Milan. He raps about spent shell casings ("bossoli") scattered near his boxers, cash stuffed into designer bags, and jewelry piling up as proof he made it.
Under the bragging, the song turns more reflective. Shiva talks about losing friends along the way and learning that this lifestyle always comes with a price, especially for anyone who grew up in it too young.
The track (and the album it named) became one of Shiva's signature hits, capturing both the swagger of his rise and the toll it takes to stay on top.
Niente Da Perdere is Shiva’s declaration that having nothing to lose can be the greatest super-power of all. The Indian rapper rewinds to the days when his heart felt like winter, friends were few, and the streets were his stage. Then a girl he never expected crashes the scene and suddenly gives every risk real weight. With her, he moves from sidewalks to spotlights, but the higher he rises, the more he worries about falling.
The lyrics bounce between gritty memories and glittering success, sketching out a tug-of-war: cold nights versus champagne toasts, good side versus bad side, loyalty versus mistrust. Shiva values loyalty over applause and admits he is still learning at just twenty years old. In the end, the song salutes the person who stands by you when you own nothing but dreams, showing that the real jackpot is someone who sees the right side of your wrong turns.
Get ready for a track that blends Italian and Spanish in a passionate story of escape and secret love! "Soli," which means "Alone," is all about two people who want to leave everything behind to be with each other. The singers, Shiva and Tiago PZK, describe a powerful connection that exists away from the public eye. They talk about running away from Italy, contrasting their fashionable public lives with the intense, private moments they share when they're finally alone.
The lyrics paint a picture of a complicated romance. One person is from a wealthy family with a police officer for a father, while the other is more of a street-smart "demon." Despite their different worlds, they share a deep bond, even sharing each other's scars. They promise to keep their relationship a secret, finding a sense of completeness only when they are together, away from everyone else.
What if it were up to me? Shiva’s raw rap anthem answers that question with equal parts swagger and soul. Over a hypnotic beat, the Milan-born artist imagines fleeing the concrete blocks and “dirty life” that shaped him, yet keeps choosing to stay. Why? Because the streets that once bruised him now fuel his mission: prove that sharing success with family, turning pain into poetry, and chasing huge dreams is possible for anyone who comes from nothing.
The lyrics flip between gritty memories and bright hopes. When the lights go out, fake friends vanish, mold creeps up the walls, and loyalty feels paper-thin. Still, Shiva lifts his mother into a new home, clings to true crew members at dawn, and raps into the mic like it’s therapy. Cash, demons, guilt, and scars try to pull him under, but he faces them head-on, asking a merciful God for forgiveness while vowing that money will never change the heart of the squad. In short, “Se Fosse Per Me” is both confession and celebration: a testament that even in a garden full of vipers, dreams can bloom if you refuse to run away.
Shiva’s “Soldi Puliti” is a flashy, high-octane snapshot of a hustler who barges into VIP parties uninvited, flaunts designer labels, and turns shady earnings into seemingly clean money. The lyrics swing between swagger and suspense: luxury cars roar, nine-millimeter danger lurks, and the rapper’s heart feels like cold metal behind a shop shutter. Each bar mixes vivid bragging (Hermès suits, untouched €6,000 jackets) with the constant buzz of street survival, as if riches and risk ride in the same Brabus.
Beneath the glitter, Shiva wrestles with loyalty, faith, and the heavy price of his environment. He calls out fake colleagues, vows never to betray his crew, and admits that prayer raises church costs more than it fixes problems. Critics make memes while he makes millions, but even success is a shield he keeps polishing to fend off the “devil” chasing him. In short, “Soldi Puliti” is both a celebration of rapid wealth and a cautionary anthem about the shadows that cling to every euro earned.
"Syrup" is Shiva's ode to having made it on his own terms. The syrup in the title is lean, the codeine drink that's become a staple image in trap music, and he uses it as the song's running symbol for a slower, more indulgent life he can now afford.
Most of the song is straight bragging, but it's bragging with a point: he made his money without signing to anyone, and he wants that independence heard in every line. He name-checks Milan as home turf, brushes off gossip and haters, and lists out the cars, jewelry, and cash that prove he doesn't need the industry's approval.
There's also a harder edge underneath the flexing. He talks about coming up through real hardship ("I've been through storms") and about rivals who talk badly about him now buying his music later. It's a song about turning doubt into fuel, and about a lifestyle built on staying in your own lane.
