The Anunnaki are a group of deities in ancient Mesopotamian cultures, particularly Sumerian, Akkadian, Assyrian, and Babylonian. They are often described as creator gods or powerful beings who came to Earth from the heavens.
In the context of the song, the artist uses "Anunnaki" to evoke a sense of powerful, almost otherworldly presence and movement through the streets: "Per 'ste vie dei come gli Anunnaki" (Through these streets like the Anunnaki). It's an intriguing and somewhat obscure reference that adds a layer of mystique and grandeur, suggesting they move with a god-like authority or influence.
UPPER is a posse cut built by the producer Drillionaire around two of Italian rap's most recognisable voices, thasup and Shiva. The hook is a haze. The narrator is smoking upper after upper, and the smoke is doing double duty as a mood and as a wall. His partner reads his distance as cheating, "Lei pensa che ho altre, altre / Perche son distante", but the song never confirms it. He is simply somewhere else.
Underneath the haze is a self-made story told without much warmth. He gave the work everything and built it alone, "Fatto tutto da me, da me", and he would rather not say it out loud. The verses fill in the world that money bought: cars swapped like he is in Abu Dhabi, a West side where beef is free, weapons talked about as toys, another million counted off. The only fear he admits to is the police.
The most interesting turn comes late. He is tired of the scene, and he says why in a pun: "Si chiama cosi perche e tutta scena", it is called a scene because it is all an act. People he has never met call him bro and cannot quite remember his name. His answer is to stay low to the ground, shaking the stones out of his Nikes so his feet touch more of the earth, not less.
For learners this is a good song for everyday spoken Italian at speed. It is full of clipped and contracted forms, "son" for "sono", "abbiam" for "abbiamo", "frate" for "fratello", "'sta" for "questa", alongside the English loanwords that Italian rap reaches for constantly.